WCCO Viewers' Choice For Best Golf Hole: Edinburgh's 17th

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (WCCO) -- Minnesota is a state known for golf, with championship-caliber courses everywhere from the Twin Cities to the Iron Range.

So picking the single best golf hole to play was a tall order.

But WCCO viewers' picked their favorite, and it's the 17th hole at Edinburgh USA in Brooklyn Park.

"It's the one hole that people really remember here, and we have a lot of good holes," Edinburgh USA Head Golf Pro Don Berry said.

From the tee box, the 17th at Edinburgh USA doesn't look particularly difficult.

That is until you figure out what you're hitting into.

"The fairway is an island, so you've got water on all sides," Berry said. "Then you cross over to the green, which is kind of a peninsula because there's water on three of the four sides."

That means if you're not accurate off the tee, or don't hit it on the right line with your second shot, there's a good bet you'll end up in the drink.

That's something Edinburgh figured out a lot of golfers are prone to do after the first year.

"We had about 30,000 rounds that year, and we had a company come out and pull the balls out at the end of the season and we had 60,000," he said.

Yes -- 60,000 golf balls in the water.

That's especially tough to swallow when you consider the course architect didn't even plan for the hole to turn out this way.

"They were going to do water on one side and sand on another," Berry said. "But they just kept digging, digging and digging, and before you knew it, it was water all around it."

One of the most intimidating things about this hole is that it's the 17th.

So even after sixteen solid holes, your round can still fall to pieces.

Edinburgh USA in Brooklyn Park is open to the public, and its rates are actually pretty reasonable.

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