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Peter Wong

Deacon's Lodge Golf Course

Pequot Lakes, MN • Public

#18 Best In State

Panelists

4.2 / 5

6 Reviews

4.2

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Deacon's Lodge Golf Course

9348 Arnold Palmer Dr

Pequot Lakes, MN 56472-3784

United States

Telephone

Primary: (218) 562-6262

Fax: (218) 562-6268

Toll Free: (800) 432-3788

View Website

PURCHASE YARDAGE BOOK

Overview

A former member of our 100 Greatest Public list, Deacon’s Lodge is a scenic Arnold Palmer signature course that plays through woodlands and around lakes. The fairways have a lot of movement to them and are often banked on the sides, filtering balls toward the middle. There are some forced carries over native grasses, which add to the aesthetics of this central Minnesota layout.

About

Holes 18

Price $160

Facility Type Public

Designer Arnold Palmer/Ed Seay, ASGCA

Awards

RANKING HISTORY:

100 Greatest Public: Ranked 52nd, 2007-'08. Ranked 72nd, 2005-'06.

Best in State: Ranked inside the top 10, 2003-'07. Ranked 14th, 2021-'22. Ranked 15th, 2017-'18. Ranked inside the top 15, 2001. Ranked 16th, 2023-'24. Ranked 17th, 2013-'14, 2019-'20. Ranked 18th, 2025-'26. Ranked 19th, 2011-'12. Ranked inside the top 20, 2009-'10.
Previous ranking: 16th.
2025-'26 ranking: 18th.

Panelists

Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists

4.2

100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES

Shot Options

6.6082

Character

6.672

Challenge

6.7052

Layout Variety

6.7371

Fun

6.5151

Aesthetics

7.0207

Conditioning

6.5952

Reviews

1 / 5

Review

“Fun course, and beautiful!! Don't miss it..."

2025

2 / 5

Review

“Shot options: Probably more shot options than most courses I have played, and the range of these options are striking. The first hole is a good example (even though its not the greatest hole): could hit 5 wood to the right side, or hit driver up the left side, and will have entirely differnt angle and club in. The 10th is also a great example, where could hit 5 iron to lay up, but makes a difficult wedge over water to shallow green, but can also hit driver and hit the speed slot that gives you a chip shot in not over water; could have 2 players hitting from 120 yards different yardage with completely different angle. I struggled with this rating because its higher than many other courses I know well in MN (including the eval for Mpls Golf Club that I am also doing today) that I consider to be very good courses, but the criteria is "Shot Options", not "Challenge". I am going to document these options and required shots that induce anxiety in my Hole-by-Hole comments, pls let me know if you disagree with my approach. I suspect that if I have any rating that is going to be substantially outside the statistical average for this course, it will be this one. I recognized this while doing this rating, and spent a lot more time on this one than I have in a long time, but I am sticking with this. ; Hole by Hole comments:Hole #1: Two different tee shots, could take driver up left side that gives short approach not over water, but risks hitting left that is dead. Or can hit 5 wood up right side that can run out for wedge, but it is over water and uphill. ; Hole #2: Drive allows you to cut as much of dogleg as you want, I only wish the risk/reward were better for going for green in 2; if they widened the neck around the green, this would be a fantastic risk/reward hole. ; Hole #3: A more ordinary hole, with big contours. ; Hole #4: This could be a great hole if there was a slightly wider fairway where drivers land, which would incentivize some to try it. I will only try it when playing a scramble. With layup off the tee, requires a good iron to this elevated green. ; Hole #5: The difference between a good-enough drive and a bad one is very big, so high demand on tee shot. ; Hole #6: Requires a precise tee shot on left side of green, so not easy despite wedge from tee. Also great shot options between days, as left pin has deep bunker in front and false back, while right pin is wider, but has false front that could run down 30 feet below pin. So a tough shot despite it being a gap wedge.; Hole #7: This hole, if it was configured better for the distance, could be an epically great hole, with a fabulous shot option off the tee. However, it’s a bit too long for anyone shorter than ~260 yards, so doesn't get the variety of options off the tee it could with a little change. ; Hole #8: Split fairway requires a choice, but doesn't induce that much anxiety. ; Hole #9: Requires good drive, and could be great risk/reward hole with some small changes, but still a solid hole. ; Hole #10: This is a great hole, but with a slight change, it could be an epically great hole. As it is, can hit 5 iron off tee and have wedge in, but is over water with a very shallow green and tilted away from you. Or could take driver and try to take the speed slot. If you can hit that, you can have a 30 yard pitch not over water into the upslope. Unfortunately, the risk is quite high with the driver, so not as many people will try it as they would if there were slight changes. I recall from the Golf Digest training that Ron Whitten highlights another MN golf hole - #14 at The Quarry at Giant's Ridge - I think this hole has the potential to be that good. ; Hole #11: Solid par 3 requires a good mid-iron. If they put the pin front left, makes for a great risk/reward. ; Hole #12: Lots of shot options here off the tee on this short par 4, incliding going for it (which I was finally successful this year!!). If the tee shot across the water were a bit shorter, it would entice more to do it, but have to carry ~270 yards. ; Hole #13: Short par 4 requires a solid iron, and placement in front right vs. back left can change the hole's challenge greatly. ; Hole #14: Widest fairway outside of Mammoth Dunes, but the rest of the hole could be better. I think the fairway bunkers at 120 yards out is not well placed, should be at 40 yards on the right side. This would make the layups at 100 yards out on the left harder because it is down low, while making the attempts to go for it a bit more challenging. But this hole is close to being very good. ; Hole #15: Love the green complex, requires a very precise iron, or could be short right in a low area that is hard to get up and down. ; Hole #16: Solid par 4 that requires good iron, or could roll back 50 yards and 40 feet below green. ; Hole #17: The most open hole on the course, so when its windy, this longish par 3 can be tough. ; Hole #18: Area short of green on this par 5 is a bit too narrow to entice players to get close, so a bit of redesign could make it better. ; : Challenge: Not an overly hard course in general, but when you hit one off line, its in water or a ravine that is a 1-2 shot penalty. While I am a 0-3 handicap and have shot under par at Hazeltine from the back tees before, I have only shot under par here 2x out of ~30 tries because I usually have 1-2 doubles. ; Layout variety: High degree of variety, enabled by great landscape with water, trees and hills. Nary a straight hole out there. Amongst best spread of distances for par 3's of any course I can think of (160/105/185/200). I don't think there is a course I have rated that does better in this category. I don't have the time to inspect all of my other ratings for this (if you had a tool that helped with this, that would be great.); Aesthetics: This course has excellent aesthetics, with great backdrops and landscale to work with. Makes it very pleasing to eye for nearly everyone that I have talked to about this course. ; Conditioning: Greens are fairly fast, especially for a course built in a marshy area with lots of trees that can shade the greens. ; Character: This course has a uniqueness to it that is hard to describe, but as I think about it more from a Golf Digest perspective, rather than when I play it with friends, my rating in this category goes up, and substantially. I haven't played a lot of courses with this particular landscape (somewhat hilly, in the trees, with plenty of water/marshes), but the two courses in MN somewhat similar to this are The Classic at Madden's and Spring Hill. Both of those courses other courses are set up to be much more of a challenge, while Deacon's is intended to be more approachable (its at a resort). In this way, this course excels. ; Fun: Nearly everyone who plays this course says its fun."

2025

3 / 5

Review

“A beautiful and challenging course that sits naturally on the landscape. A number of forced carries will deter lesser players, but one not to be missed if one has some game."

2023

4 / 5