Dellwood - Minnesota - USA

Dellwood Country Club will always feel a little pressure to live up to its nearest golfing neighbor, the White Bear Yacht Club, which is perennially ranked among the best clubs in Minnesota. So far the Don Herfort-designed Dellwood hasn’t let the pressure get to it.

Herfort dug both up and down in order to present a challenge to members. Digging down, he created a series of ponds across the property that come into play along the fairways of many holes, such as at the corner of the dogleg at No. 7, a medium-length par four. Even more often than the ponds he dug down, Herfort built mounding up, such as at the corner of the dogleg at No. 8, a reachable par five. One thing those two holes have in common is that they both feature an almost 90-degree angle to turn the dogleg (don’t bite off more than you can chew).

The club was opened during the ‘70s under the ambitious “Dellwood National Golf Club” moniker, but has since added a pool and social activities for members with no major gripes from the club’s strong golfing community.