The Veterans Golf Course in St. Cloud, MN is yet another fun executive course (it seems that’s what I’m going to be playing this year). As a matter of fact, I’ve purchased an annual pass at this course because it’s only 5 minutes away from work and it can be played in 45 minutes which makes it perfect for a lunch game.
The course is a par 30 with 3 par 4 holes and 6 par 3′s (scorecard). The second is a slightly longer par 3 at 187 yards which makes it a nice challenge compared to the typical 115-160 yarders that you normally see at these less expensive courses. The course is very well tended and pin/tee changes are made frequently, which helps keep the course interesting each week. In general the greens are a bit flat (not unusual for Minnesota) but the 9th hole makes up for that by being one of the most dynamic greens I’ve seen in a very long time. It’s a two-tiered green hidden by a small rise on the approach and dense trees in the back. It’s a fantastic end to a generally good course.
The one big draw back that I find with this particular course is the complete lack of hazards. The course doesn’t have any water or sand on any of the holes. About half the holes (1, 2, 3, 4) have out-of-bounds along the left but other than that there really isn’t any penalty for missing the fairway; even missing by a significant margin. A righty with a terrible slice of the tee could come out with a pretty decent score on this course as long as he/she can close pretty well. I’ll be the first to admit that the sand is probably the worst part of my game so not having to worry about it is sort of nice, however not getting any practice isn’t going to help me at all.
All-in-all I still really like the course. Fairways and greens are beautifully tended. There are low hanging trees all over the place so there’s a lot of opportunity to learn how to shape your shots. The par 4 holes are short which makes for the occasional and satifisfying “par 4 green in one” situation. And finally the final hole is very challenging and makes for a great end to a quick afternoon round of golf.
The Fred Richards Executive Course is one of those well designed executive courses I mentioned in my previous post on The Par-3 Course. I’m actually pretty amazed that the thing even exists. It’s located in the middle of what I previously thought was just office park divisions just North of 494 in Edina. As a matter of fact, you have to drive through two office building parking lots just to get to the entrance to the course.
The course consists of 7 par 3 holes, and 2 par 4s, the longest hole being only 299 yards. Despite being located in the middle of a bunch of office buildings and apartment complexes they’ve created some really great hole layouts with water hazards everywhere (I won’t mention how many balls I lost on my first round of the season) and really interesting greens.
My favorite feature of the course is that the greens are huge and they put 2 pins on every green. One pin is placed in a relatively easy spot while the second pin is quite a bit more difficult to reach right off the tee. The second pin will often require going over a water hazard or sand trap and then will have a short run to the back of the green (often leading off to another water hazard) so you really have to be precise and control the spin of the ball when you’re aiming for second pins. Of course, I can’t do any of that, but having the opportunity to practice short-game skills like that is exactly what I’m looking for in a short course like Fred Richards. In addition if you’re not losing balls every other hole and there aren’t a lot of other players on the course you can finish a round in about an hour; perfect for that afternoon lunch break.
I love par-3 golf courses. Technically I guess I love executive or par-3 courses, but I like the term par-3 better (par-3 are supposed to only consist of par 3 holes where executive courses have a couple of par 4, and in very rare occasions a par 5 holes).
I got out to play for the first time since 2007 (I’m not counting the round of virtual golf at my mother’s condo) and it was on a little course in Edina, MN called the Fred Richards Executive Course. It was the first time I’d been on a short course in a few years and it was a lot of fun. It seems that golfers will often dismiss the par-3 course because they feel like the red-headed stepchild of the of golf world. You rarely have to pull out anything over a 7 iron, greens and fairways are often small and not very dynamic, and I think folks just don’t think the course is worthy of their time. On the other hand, my feeling is that if the course is put together well a round on a short par-3 or executive course can be one of the most fun things in golf. A par-3 course gives you the opportunity to work on some very specific skills without having to worry about shanking a tee shot into the woods with your driver or playing from the deep rough every other hole because you can’t smash a 280 yard shot, arrow straight for the nice approach. Instead you get your “approach” shot right off the tee. At the same time, you’re actually playing a course so you’re not just hitting out of context driving range shots that rarely translate onto the course. I’ve learned more about hitting a clean iron shot playing on par-3 and executive courses than I’ve ever learned on the driving range and it’s helped my game immensly.
Of course, you can take all of this with a grain of salt, because I’m not a great golfer by any stretch of the imagination. However, I’d like to think I get a little better every year and that those occasions when I get to play a short par-3 course and really focus on my short game have helped with that in some way.