Northern Hills Golf Course in Rochester, Minnesota
At just 6,335 yards from the tips, Northern Hills Golf Course in Rochester, Minnesota has all the earmarks of a working-class golf haven: reachable par 5s, simple and relatively unbunkered green complexes, and plenty of strategically placed trees and high grass to keep everyone honest.
One of the golf course's most striking features, which dawns on the first-time visitor after about nine holes, is that the par 4s are all relatively short. And actually, even the longer ones are designed in such a way as to make longer hitters question whether the driver is the best choice off the tee.
In fact, the first long par 4, and the first real chance to use driver on any hole other than a par 5, comes at the 418-yard 11th hole. Two holes later, at the second-longest par 4 (393 yards), the tee shot is to a fairway bisected by a stream and wetlands. As there is no signage to let the uninitiated know how far it is to the hazard, longer hitters may waver and take a shorter club. Shorter hitters, though, can bomb away. Here, as on many holes at Northern Hills, both longer hitters and shorter hitters may well end up very near one another after their tee shots, with similar approaches into the often small and front-to-back canted greens.
Rochester, Minnesota 55901
Olmsted County
( no ratings )
- Course review: Northern Hills Golf Course
- Rochester, Minnesota: Live well and golf often
- Course review: Eastwood Golf Club
- Course review: The Jewel Golf Club in Lake City
Northern Hills Golf Course in Rochester, Minnesota narrows the gaps between golfers
In the best of all possible golf worlds, it is at the "muny" where low handicappers and weekend hacks can come together, and, with the help of the handicap syst [...]
Photo Gallery: Northern Hills Golf Course in Rochester, Minnesota
Eastwood Golf Club: The newly expanded centerpiece of Rochester's muni golf courses
