Taking Golf to the Extreme in Lakeville, MN

In Lakeville, MN, golf isn’t just a sport for the warmer months. Here, the love of golf runs so deep that people will find any way to extend the season, even if it means playing in the ice and snow.

For the past four years, Ruppert’s Chart House Restaurant & Event Center in Lakeville has created a 9-hole golf course on frozen Lake Kingsley for an event to raise money for the Lakeville Public Safety Foundation. People come from
miles around to play this unique and crazy course, which has been designed and created by Chart House owner Josh Ruppert. It’s no small feat to create the course, which involves shoveling snow and using an auger to make the holes.
Instead of golf balls, players hit tennis balls and tee off just like they would on the grass.

If ice golf isn’t your thing, fortunately there’s no shortage of beautiful and challenging public golf courses that are open spring, summer and fall in the Lakeville area.

Here are a few gems located within a 15-mile radius of Lakeville:

Legendary Amenities Await You
Nestled in a wooded, yet marshy area on the border of Lakeville in Prior Lake, MN, Legends Golf Club is a public course that offers upscale, private country club feel and amenities. Carved from an expansive natural setting featuring a 30-acre lake, cascading creeks, scenic wetlands, deep ponds and dramatic topography, Legends is a haven for native plants and wildlife. You’ll revel in the breathtaking beauty of this championship course that offers diverse challenges to golfers of all skill levels. A National Golf Course of the Year, golfers travel from all over the country to visit Legends.

Designed to Shine
The Wilds Golf Club in Prior Lake, MN, is tucked into a breathtaking natural setting of Ponderosa pines, hardwoods, wetlands and wildlife habitats. Unlike most golf courses, The Wilds was designed before residential development,
allowing Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish to create the best possible course for the land. The course has 150 feet of elevation changes, water in play on nearly half the holes, swift bentgrass fairways and over 70 strategically placed bunkers. Multiple sets of tees and generously wide fairways enable golfers of all skill levels to enjoy the course.

Escape from the Everyday
Straddling a 40-acre forest and 60 acres of naturally open water and marsh/wetlands, Willingers Golf Club in Northfield, MN, is hidden away far from day-to-day distractions. Golfers of all skill levels will enjoy testing their abilities in this beautiful, scenic environment. Tranquil, yet exciting, this course is annually rated very high in media and golfer surveys, including a recent rating as Golf Digest’s “4 ½ Stars Best Places to Play Golf” and Golf Magazine’s “Top 5 Best Value Courses.” Twin Cities Golf Guide rates Willingers Golf Club in the top echelon in all categories.

A Golfer’s Sanctuary
Located in the heart of Lakeville, MN, Crystal Lake Golf Club is a first-class course with stately pines, pristine wetlands and seven ponds, which create challenging water hazards and spectacular settings at every hole. The links-style front nine takes a dramatic turn at hole 10, with more trees, water and wildlife. Crystal Lake Golf Club is one of only 23 courses in Minnesota that has qualified for “Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary” certificate, which requires an outstanding commitment to protecting the environment.

A Challenging Links-Style Course
Beginners to experienced golfers will find themselves at home at Heritage Links Golf Club in Lakeville, MN. This challenging, yet accessible, course has four sets of tees ranging from 5,145 yards to 6,672 yards that should allow you to find your comfort zone quite easily. Designed by Joel Goldstrand, the front nine has a links feel to it with water and rolling terrain, and the back nine is more wooded with water, bunkers and great elevation changes.

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For more information, contact:
Legend’s Golf Club – 952-226-4777
The Wilds Golf Club – 952-445-3500
Willingers Golf Club – 952-652-2500
Crystal Lake Golf Club – 952-432-6566
Heritage Links Golf Club – 952-440-4656
Lakeville Convention & Visitors Bureau – 952-469-2020