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This course has the potential to be the best course in the state. The views of Lake Sakakawea on nearly every hole, the drastic elevation changes(one par 3 feels similar to the famous one at Torrey Pines), the bunkering, the beautiful fescue create such an incredible atmosphere of feeling like you're the only person within 100 miles... and then you get to the greens.

The complexes themselves are good, even interesting, however the amount of winter kill on them for a round at the end of June is unacceptable. A local told me that they took the tarps off too late but these greens aren't even close to being acceptable.

I fancy myself a pretty solid golfer(hover right around a 1 handicap) but I couldn't even sniff the hole on the 6 or 7 birdie chances I had within 8 feet of the hole. They were so bad it started to get in your head by the end of the round.

This course has unlimited potential but the greens need to be brought under control if they want repeat business from golfers like myself driving across the state to play it. If they could do this, people may travel across the country to play it.

This course is known for holes 14-16 that provide spectacular views while playing over and around canyons but from a golf design perspective they might be the worst 3 holes on the course. Fairways and greens built on the side of hills make this seem too tricked up and take any rhythm out of your round that you may have had. Specifically, the fairway and green on 14, the green on 15 is comically small(makes TPC Sawgrass look simple and this is on the top of a bluff so always windy), and the green on 16 with the pin in the front(impossible to stop a putt from above the hole). So interestingly enough, the holes that people pay the money to play with all of the great views are some of the worst of the bunch. It's still a fun course to play but I most enjoyed the holes 1-13 &17-18 because they weren't tricked up or forced.

I played this course in 30+ mph winds and greens that had to be rolling at a 12-13 on the stimpmeter. It was absolutely brutal and I still had fun. There are few courses that I would say that about. This course, in my mind, is what North Dakotans should hold up as an example of what level of golf we provide in our state. The greens were like putting on linoleum and had it been a calmer day it wouldn't have been an issue. But the setup of this course is so unique because the whole thing seems to drop into a valley save a few holes along the upper edges. I recommend playing this course if you're anywhere near Bismarck.

Giants Ridge, Brainerd, and the Twin Cities courses get all the publicity but this course is head and shoulders above all of them. The only thing you could hold against this course is the location but to get the northern woods feel and terrain it is also required. Beautiful rock outcroppings splitting fairways that seem like they were meant to be there, awesome green complexes, and views of Northern MN that can't be beat. I could go on for hours praising this course but you just need to try it yourself. The only course I've played in MN that is in the same stratosphere is The Quarry but even that feels more contrived than this beautiful set of holes. Do yourself and schedule a weekend to play this course multiple times because once isn't enough!

Brainerd is known for many good golf courses but Deacon's Lodge is head and shoulders above them all. This is apparent from the 1st tee box where you must land on what is essentially an island fairway and still having a long iron that must carry wetlands to the green. I didn't play well on this day but it didn't both me as this course was so much fun to play. I'd rank this in my top 3 public courses in MN trailing only behind The Wilderness & The Quarry.