Giants Ridge (Legend)

A giant takes large huge steps, but it’s not possible for it to get anywhere with just one leg. The Quarry at Giants Ridge is now renowned as the best public golf course in Minnesota, but Jeffrey Brauer laid out The Legend course at the same resort several years before, making the first footprint in what is now a 36-hole facility.

A footprint is also the calling card at this 18, as the No. 3 hole features the most iconic photograph at this resort: an enormous set of five bunkers shaped like a foot and toes. Cute, yes, but also contributing to the strategy of the hole, as players can choose to hit to a safer right fairway, farther from the green, or thread the needle at a thinner fairway near these mammoth toes for an opportunity to go at the green in two. This bunker and many other others stand out for their size, yet many visitors at Legend will find themselves focused on the short holes, which feature heroic carries in three instances.

Size isn’t everything at Legend...at just over 6,900 yards, the course can provide challenge to those who seek it, but is ultimately a friendly Giant.