I'm one of the rare people who has actually vacationed in the Dakotas.
While my friends were heading to Disney World, Cape Canaveral and Myrtle Beach, S.C. - getaways all the rage in the 1980s - my family went to visit my aunts and uncles in tiny Bottineau, North Dakota, near the Canadian border where my father was born. I can't complain. There were lots of ways to entertain a 10-year-old at uncle Jack's farm - how about prairie dog hunting! Yep, my sisters and I did that as kids.
Showing off his Dakota pride, my father swears that the Black Hills National Forest and Badlands National Park in South Dakota are two of the coolest spots he's ever seen in his life. The Black Hills are known for Mount Rushmore, but there's much more there. The Wind Cave National Park features the sixth longest cave system in the world (third in the United States). The Custer State Park, one of the nation's largest parks, is home to 1,500 bison and the Cathedral Spires. It's so remote that cell phone service is spotty.
Rugged terrain. Nature. No cell service. Sounds like a great place for a golf course, right? South Dakota has those, too. Actually, more than you'd think. There are more than 100 golf courses in the state, according to the South Dakota Golf Association. With only six of them private, traveling golfers should have no trouble accessing some of its best courses. Sadly, Sutton Bay, considered by many the state's No. 1 course, is private. So is the Minnehaha Country Club in Souix Falls, home to the state's first PGA Tour Champions event, the Sanford International, set for Sept. 21-23, 2018. Two-time U.S. Open champion Andy North is serving as tournament host. Jack Nicklaus will be tournament ambassador,
For those who need a geography lesson, South Dakota is shaped like a rectangle. Rapid City is the closest thing to civilization from the Black Hills near the state's western border with Wyoming. It offers perhaps the best concentration of public courses, a golf destination, if you will. You can play golf in the morning and go full-on tourist in the afternoon.
The Golf Club at Red Rock in Rapid City is its best option, a playground linksy with its bunkering and wispy native grasses. Tall ponderosa pines and dramatic elevation changes just like the nearby Black Hills add beauty and challenge. The Hart Ranch Golf Club, dating to 1995, and Meadowbrook Golf Course, just 23 miles from Mount Rushmore, are two other Rapid City favorites.
The Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort in Spearfish, more than 40 miles northwest of Rapid City, comes closest to resembling a golf resort. It has furnished cabins, RV hookups and an outdoor heated pool, hot tubs, lighted tennis & basketball courts, disc golf, horseshoes pits, a grocery store and cafe. A spa? Let's not get carried away, people. As for the Elkhorn Ridge Golf Club, the front nine is nestled on the side of a mountain, giving way to incredible views of the Centennial Valley, while the back nine winds through the Polo Creek Canyon and its rock wall backdrops. In total, there's more than 285 feet of elevation change to explore.
Back east, a 400-mile journey on Interstate 90 from Rapid City, you'll find Sioux Falls, the anchor of the golf scene near the Minnesota border. The city has partnered with Landscapes Management Company to operate its three municipal golf courses - the best being Prairie Green Golf Course, designed across prairie wetlands by the late Dick Nugent. Heading south 45 minutes, halfway between Sioux Falls and Sioux City, is The Bluffs Golf Course, a 6,684-yard course set upon the beautiful Missouri River Bluffs.
South Dakota isn't on everybody's bucket list for golf, but it is on mine. It's one of the few states I haven't played in yet. And maybe along the way, I could set up a family reunion for some more prairie dog hunting.
Regarding Sioux Falls area courses - and the 3 city courses run by Landscape Management specifically - Elmwood is by far the better experience. More fun, more challenging, and more scenic, I'd take it over Prairie Green everytime. It always seems to be kept in better shape as well, probably the reason it is chosen to host the bigger tournaments such as the state AM. Also, I feel that Willow Run Golf Course - part of the Great Life by Malaska chain of courses - is the best option in Sioux Falls for a higher end golf experience. The course is always meticulously maintained, it provides the most challenges to navigate throughout the round, and the service is top-notch. Willow Run plays host to a Symetra Tour event every year so you know they know what they are doing over there. It's expensive for the area and can get busy on the weekends but if you want to play the best in Sioux Falls, it's a must.
I'm a 10 handicap and play 70-80 rounds a year all over SD and MN. Looking forward to a trip to Breezy Point, MN in 3 weeks to play Deacon's Lodge for the 2nd time.