Touring the Land of Iron(s) and Woods

When golfing Minnesota’s Iron Range, expect challenging courses and varietal adventures beyond 18 holes.

Minnesota

National Geographic magazine dubbed Ely one of the best adventure towns in the United States, right in the heart of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. That statement applies to this entire Iron Range tour as well.

Ely’s track, Ely GC, started with six holes in the 1930s, upped to nine in the ’40s, and then a wave of volunteerism survived waves of rain to bring it to 18 in the ’90s. The track is a par 36/37 out and 36/37 in for some woodsy arithmetic. What stands out amid this natural beauty is the club’s events: the Polish Delight Par 3 Scramble, Big Hole Scramble and a Night Golf Tourney and Soup Cup Scramble.

Mesaba CC in Hibbing celebrates its centennial this year with almost 150 MGA members and a course with ratings that align with the two tracks at Giants Ridge. It plays tough from the blue, black and white tees. A man-made creek created as a drainage solution crisscrosses the course. Kevin McHale plays the course daily and is a former club champion. It’s doubtful as to whether Bobby Zimmerman ever swung a club there.

As hard to spell as it is to pronounce, Eshquaguma CC in Gilbert is a private par-36 nine that plays to 18 with some tweaks and adjustments playing back in. Lumber money ‘seeded’ the creation of this club between 1914-1920, opening with sand (not sawdust) greens. The course and clubhouse went through several iterations, including a fire. Today it’s an exclusive private golf community where its 74 MGA members enjoy multiple services, events and amenities.

The par-71 Virginia GC sports an enticing degree of difficulty, if not pedigree. From the gold tees, it plays to 71.1/134.The course was designed in the mid-1930s by Hugh Vincent Feehan, (see sidebar) who also designed Detroit CC in northwestern Minnesota. This municipal course has a new log clubhouse.

Hugh Vincent Feehan (1899-1952)
Feehan was a Minneapolis landscape architect and engineer who was responsible for the layout at Virginia GC, as well as Detroit CC in northwestern Minnesota. He was born in Ithaca, New York, at the turn of the century, and graduated from the College of Agriculture at Cornell University in 1921. 

When Feehan rolled out Virginia GC in the 1930s, there was reportedly a drought so severe that extremely dry fairways became fire hazards due to cigarette smoking! The climate was probably similar in St. Paul, where, during the same period, he designed buildings, landscapes and the football field at the University of St. Thomas. He also designed Mayo Memorial in Rochester, and cemeteries in Mendota Heights. Feehan and his wife lived at 5235 Irving Avenue South in Minneapolis, and they both rest at Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights.

Hoyt Lakes’ 3,200-yard, par-36 nine is no pushover, routing through and around a dense pine forest flanked by the Partridge River—which is in view but not in play. On the seventh hole, a periscope provides a view of the green, and a greenside ship’s bell sounds the all clear for the next group.

Fortune Bay Resort Casino is on the shores of vast 40,000-acre Lake Vermilion. Its golf complex, The Wilderness at Fortune Bay, is, by the numbers, the most difficult course on this tour. Rated by Golfweek as the #7 Best Casino Course in the U.S., it is also an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. First time players will look at the scorecard and be somewhat confounded by the 325-yard par-4 finishing hole, which appears to have birdie potential. While tending the course’s pro shop holiday sale, an assistant pro amended that thought. No. 18 is a bogey hole with par potential and a pond looming on the left side of the green. Pier 77 Mini Golf at the resort is much easier.

Giants Ridge, a golf and ski resort, is home to two splendid golf courses: The Legend and The Quarry. Both courses have received extensive recognition since their inception. Most recently, accolades have poured in from Golfweek, Golf Digest and GOLF Magazine.

PGA Professional John Kendall explained how the resort has upgraded its ski lifts, and on weekends in season golfers can ride the so-called Sarajevo Express to the top of the mountain in 75% less time than before. Gulp.

Under the circumstances, a trek to this area could be a necessary dose of self-medication during COVID-19. The courses there are ready to protect you. On behalf of all these courses, resorts and communities: don’t let our recent challenges completely eliminate your golf season. MG