Peter Wong
Peter Wong
Peter Wong
The Minikahda Club
The Minikahda Club
3205 Excelsior Blvd
Minneapolis, MN 55416-4680
United States
Overview
Something was in the air in Minneapolis and St. Paul in the 1920s. Call it an esprit de refaire (French for “repair”). Many of the prominent clubs in the market looked at their existing golf courses and thought, “we can do better.” The Twin Cities were an incubator for the first major movement of golf course reformation as courses laid out just years before by designers like Tom Bendelow, William Watson and Willie Park, Jr., were redesigned, most of them by Donald Ross. Interlachen (No. 1), White Bear Yacht Club (No. 4), The Club at Golden Valley (No. 15), Minneapolis G.C. and others. The Minikahda Club also falls into this category. Robert Foulis designed the original nine, and Watson was involved in some capacity, too. Then the club hired Donald Ross to completely revamp the course after Chick Evans dismantled the old design in the 1916 U.S. Open, shooting a then-record 286 using just seven clubs. Many more renovations ensued, but the club has perhaps settled on a lasting version after the work of Kyle Franz, who continued a program of thinning overgrowth, widening fairways and recreating bunker shapes and arrangements reminiscent of the club’s 1920s heyday.
About
Awards
Ranking history
100 Greatest: The course was part of Golf Digest's original 200 Toughest Courses list in 1966.
Best in State: Ranked fifth, 2023-'26. Top 10 in state 1987-2001, Top 20 in state 2003, Top 15 in state since 2007, ranked 11th in state 2013.
2025-'26 ranking (and previous): 5th.
Panelists
Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists
100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES
Shot Options
Character
Challenge
Layout Variety
Fun
Aesthetics
Conditioning
Reviews
Review
“The Course is a very well-manicured and kept in very good condition."
Read More2025
Review
“I love the location by the lake. The first, 5th, 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th are all shortish fun par 4s. Wind presents challenges. The middle of the course is the hardest part. Ross at his best."
Read More2025
Review
“Great membership that was friendly and welcoming. Excited to share their course. Wonderful rolling hills and rumpled fairways though your ball would tend to end up in common areas judging by the amounts of divots. The course drains well so you did get roll and firmness but you can tell they use a ton of water to keep it 'Augusta Green' complete with white sand bunkers. MN is currently finishing up an extremely dry summer. The greens were the highlight. Every green contained multiple contours which allowed you to be creative but also needed to have a delicate touch. Unfortunately, because of the amount of water used, the greens were soft and the course is on the short side so someone dialed in with their wedges is going to have lots of looks at birdie. You did not have to worry about hard bounces kicking you over the green. Lots of straight holes with very few feeling like repeats which is impressive. A couple of the par threes are basically the same hole."
Read More2023
Review
“A small piece of property with good conditioning that is outdated by todays standards but a nice club for it's members."
Read More2023
Review
“Wonderful Kyle Franz renovations of this Ross gem, in particular the green surround of 13. Surprisingly long and difficult from holes 2-16 for this age of course. Firm and fast conditioning yet fair throughout the round other than 9 green. The 9th green site was a little unfair based on this panelist's observations....very difficult to one or two putt and not have a 40-50yd pitch up the hill coming back as well as the wedge shot or pitch coming into the green if one is in the fairway not spinning back off the green. Unique to have three par 3's and three par 5's on the front nine with only one par 3 on the back 9. Seemed to test all the clubs in your bag at the end of the day, another rarity for this age of course."
Read More2023
Review
“Had the great pleasure of playing it shortly before they hosted the US Sr. AM. Great condition and a wonderfully fun design. Fantastic clubhouse and great setting right on the water. Condition was near perfect."
Read More2018
