Best Spring Golf Options Near The Twin Cities

It was a terrible winter on the weather front. Many of us have spring fever, and pretty much every local golf course has opened for the season. So where should you go to get the best spring golf experience money can buy? That all depends on what your price range is, what kind of golf you're looking for and how far you are willing to travel. Luckily, the Twin Cities area has pretty much every option a golfer could hope for. Are you out to have a good time on a Saturday with a group of friends? Do you want to see if you can navigate a tough course? Just looking to kill a few hours in the morning or afternoon for a reasonable price? Whatever your desire is, here are some of the best bets for spring golf in Minnesota in 2011.

The Wilds Golf Club – Pay The Temperature

3151 Wilds Ridge, Prior Lake
(952) 445-3500
Website | Directory

During the spring golf season, The Wilds gives players the chance to pay their green fee based on the temperature outside. Tee it up on one of the state's top public courses for no more than $65. Specific prices are determined up a half hour before your tee time, and a $10 cart fee applies. The Wilds Golf Club was designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish, and is set upon wetlands and wildlife habitats. The course features 150 feet of elevation changes, water in play on about half the course and 70 bunkers.

Legends Club – Special Spring Rates

8670 Credit River Boulevard, Prior Lake
(952) 226-4777
Website | Directory

Play the Legends Club, one of the best treks in the metro area, for as little as $59 with a cart this spring. On Fridays and weekends, enjoy a rate of $67 with a cart. Play on Sundays after noon for $59 with a cart, and seniors can play Monday-Thursday for just $49 with a cart. The same goes for active military or police and firefighters with a valid ID or badge. The Legends Golf Club is located on the border of Prior Lake and Lakeville, just a few minutes off Highway 35 and five miles south of the Burnsville Center.

Edinburgh USA – A Top Layout

8700 Edinbrook Crossing, Brooklyn Park
(763) 315-8550
Website | Directory

Edinburgh USA is "target golf" at its purest. The course features an island hole, a triple green and several water holes with winding lakes around the course. Play one of the toughest courses in the heart of the metro area for as little as $39. Weekend rates are a very affordable $62 with a cart, and juniors can play for just $26. Residents in the area can play the course for $46 throughout the season, and seniors can play for $42. Weekday rates range from $39 to $54 with a cart. Edinburgh USA is located in Brooklyn Park.

Chaska Town Course

3000 Town Course Drive, Chaska
(952) 443-3748
Website | Directory

Play a half traditional-style course and half links-style in the south metro for as little as $45 this spring. Chaska Town Course was designed by Arthur Hills and features more than 285 acres of oak groves, open prairie and marshland. The course was named the 2010 Course of the Year by the Minnesota Golf Association and has been voted one of the 10 best courses in Minnesota by Golf Digest. Rates Monday through Thursday are $55 with a cart, $50 to walk Friday through Sunday and $60 to ride. Golfers can also tee it up late in the day for a twilight rate of $35 to walk and $45 to ride.

Braemar Golf Course – Edina

6364 John Harris Drive, Edina
(952) 903-5750
Website | Directory

Braemar Golf Course is one of the more popular public venues in the Twin Cities. Play the 27-hole regulation course for as little as $37 for non-patrons. Patron card holders can play it for $29, and Edina residents can play for $24. Patron cards cost $70 for the season and are a good way to play a great course at a discounted price.

Bunker Hills Golf Course – Coon Rapids

12800 Bunker Prairie Drive
(763) 755-4141
Website | Directory

Bunker Hills is one of the top venues to play golf north of the Twin Cities metro. It serves as the host of the annual Minnesota State Boys and Girls High School Championships and also the Minnesota State Open. The course is a 27-hole layout that features several challenges between bunkers, tall pine trees and tight fairways. Play the course for as little as $43, or $33 if you want to play on weekends and holidays after 4 p.m. With an ID card, which costs $50, you can play it for $33, or $25 on weekends and holidays afer 4 p.m.

The Links at Northfork – Ramsey

9333 Alpine Drive NW
(763) 241-0506
Website | Directory

Play one of the top links style courses in the north metro for as little as $42. The Links at Northfork, built in 1992, features one of the few completely links style layouts in the Twin Cities. If you want to play later in the day, it's $32 for a Twilight green fee. Seniors 60-and-older can play weekdays after noon and all weekends and holidays for $22. Memberships, which allow golfers to play at premium times for reduced rates, start at $15 and cap at $299.

Mississippi Dunes – Cottage Grove

10351 Grey Cloud Trail
(651) 768-7611
Website | Directory

Mississippi Dunes, just 10 minutes southeast of St. Paul, is a semi-private course along the Mississippi River that features seven water holes, 41 bunkers. The facility hosts a country club-like atmosphere in a public setting. Play one of the top layouts in the eastern metro for a very reasonable price. The general public can play on weekdays for $42 to ride a cart and just $29 to walk. Seniors 55-and-older can play for just $25 with a cart. On the weekends, it's $33 to walk and $49 to ride a cart. Twilight rates, which are $23 to walk and $32 to ride, start at 3 p.m.

Stonebrooke Golf Club – Shakopee

2693 County Road 79
Phone: (952) 496-3171
Website | Directory

Stonebrooke Golf Club in Shakopee is one of the most unique courses in the state and one of the most popular venues in the south metro. The course is located in the southwest metro, minutes away from Canterbury Park. It offers a variety of challenges, and the highlight of your day will be the par-4 eighth hole. It's their signature hole where players must carry their shot off the tee as far as 260 yards over O'Dowd Lake. After your tee shot, a ferry will be waiting to take you across the lake to the fairway to continue the hole. It's one of 13 water holes on the layout. Play the course for $52 Monday through Thursday and $58 on Fridays, weekends and holidays. Book your tee time online and your carts are free, a savings of $16 per person. Play weekdays before 9 a.m. or any day after 2 p.m. for $42. Seniors can also play for $38, and if you want to play late, use the Super Twilight option (after 4 p.m.) for $39.

Troy Burne Golf Club – Hudson, Wis.

295 Lindsay Road, Hudson, Wis.
(715) 381-9800
Website | Directory

Play a Tom Lehman designed course just across the Wisconsin border for as little as $59 until May 26. The spring rate with a cart is $69, and seniors 55-and-over can play at certain times throughout the week the whole season for $59. Twilight rates (after 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1 p.m. on weekends) are $65 to walk and $75 with a cart. The course opened in 1999 and is on more than 225 acres. It features more than 120 bunkers, four lakes and a bubbling burne. It's annually one of the top public courses east of the Twin Cities.