Courses
Best golf courses near Brainerd, MN
Below, you’ll find a list of courses near Brainerd, MN. There are 13 courses within a 15-mile radius of Brainerd, 13 of which are public courses and are private courses. There are 6 18-hole courses and 5 nine-hole layouts.
The above has been curated through Golf Digest’s Places to Play course database, where we have collected star ratings and reviews from our 1,900 course-ranking panelists. Join our community by signing up for Golf Digest+ and rate the courses you’ve visited recently.
With six par 5s and par 3s, the Dutch Legacy course at Craguns is a unique layout that offers stunning elevation changes and dramatic vistas. The Dutch Legacy course was ranked in Golf Digest's most recent Best in State ranking in Minnesota. Wide fairways means that higher-handicappers have some room to miss off the tee, but shot options are still high with the course demanding players navigate penalty areas and some undulating greens.
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The Classic is a genuine amateur architect design, although course superintendent Scott Hoffmann consulted with veteran course architect Geoff Cornish as well as others in creating The Classic at Madden's. It's beautiful but not for the faint of heart, a hilly course with some narrow, pine-lined fairways and occasional challenging shots over water from sidehill or downhill lies. But, like other multiple course operations such as Bethpage and Cog Hill, Madden's has easier alternate layouts for high-handicappers.
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Talk about sneaky competitive golf states: Minnesota boasts a top-25 ranking with eight public facilities -- and yet Grand View Lodge's Pines course -- which is actually 27 holes, is also one of the state's best. The Lakes/Woods nines comprise what Grand View Lodge refers to as its 'players' course, but the Marsh nine also rotates into the mix. The resort has had a number of improvements over the past couple years, including to its second course, the Preserve, and a multi-million-dollar renovation to the resort's clubhouse.
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A trip to Madden’s on Gull Lake is sure to fine-tune your iron game—The Pine Beach East course has six par 3s and the West course offers seven one-shoters. The East course is a solid option for beginners and juniors, as the par-67 tips out at just over 5,000 yards. Like its sibling West course, the enjoyable East track kicks off with a par-3 opener, a sign of things to come.
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Designed by Scotsman James Dalgleish and opened in 1926, the Pine Beach East course at Madden’s features Minnesota’s only par 6, at the sixth hole, which can play over 600 yards. Another unique feature is the straightforward par 3 opener which allows golfers to ease into their round. In fact, there are six par 3s in total at this short par-72 layout.
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