Golden Valley Country Club
Golden Valley, MN, United States • Private
Peter Wong
Peter Wong
Peter Wong
Peter Wong
Overview
For most of its history, Golden Valley has been in a state of flux. The club’s first course was designed by Tom Bendelow. Golden Valley later hired A.W. Tillinghast in the 1920s to construct a new course. A number of his bunkers were removed in the 1930s to reduce maintenance costs (Tillinghast, by this time, was traveling the country on behalf of the PGA of America advising clubs on ways to cut costs during tight economic times), and others were tinkered with and modified in one way or another. A series of mid-century renovations took the design further from the one Tillinghast put in the ground, but recent work-first by Ron Forse, and, in 2023, by Kevin Norby-has gradually restored much of the architect’s ideology. Greens have been expanded to add new hole locations, trees have been thinned and Tillie’s lost bunkers have returned with their shapes redefined. This is a classic parkland expression of golf on a graceful property that demands drives be placed in the fairway and approach shots left below the hole.
About
Awards
100 Greatest: The course was part of Golf Digest's original 200 Toughest Courses list from 1967-'68.
Best in State: Ranked inside the top 10, 1987-'89. Ranked 14th, 2015-'18. Ranked 15th, 2019-'20, 2023-'24. Ranked inside the top 15, 1995, 2003. Ranked 18th, 2013-'14. Ranked 19th, 2021-'22. Ranked inside the top 20, 1999-2001.
2023-'24 ranking: 15th.
Panelists
Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists
100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES
Shot Options
Character
Challenge
Layout Variety
Fun
Aesthetics
Conditioning
Reviews
Review
“Solid older course with great bunkering."
Read More2019
Readers
Collection of reviews from our readers
There are no readers reviews yet. Be the first to write a review.