Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining noted golf course architect Garrett Gill at his newest creation–The Meadows at Mystic Lake. Director of Golf Greg McKush and Course Superintendent Pete Nolan were scheduled to join us, but had to drop out before the round started (pictured above in center shot – McKush, Nolan and Gill).
I took along my camera and a selection of shots can be viewed in the photo gallery. I noticed afterwards that my Nikon D70 is suffering from dust bunnies, so some of the shots have noticable artifacts in them that I need to correct in Photoshop.
Garrett has designed a number of my south metro favorites, including Willinger’s and Legends Club. He has another hit with The Meadows and I told him he needs to start a south metro “Garrett Gill Golf Trail” to promote these great courses.
Garrett and I played almost even on the front nine, shooting 45 and 44, respectively. The wheels came off my game on the back nine, however, and we finished 90, 97. The nines are evenly matched in difficulty in my opinion–I just played really poorly on the back, taking several penalty shots for lost balls and balls in the water.
The Meadows is located on the site of the former Lone Pine course, formerly owned and operated by Greg McKush’s family. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Tribe purchased the course and started work on creating an entirely new layout. With the addition of the beautiful clubhouse, the Meadows begins it’s first full season this year with a regular daily rate of $85 (including required GPS-equipped cart). It is very apparent that a lot of thought, planning and money went into developing a first-rate facility to complement the casino and hotel. Also new is the Meadows Grill, located inside the clubhouse. Although the menu was somewhat limited, the food we had after the round was excellent (club sandwich with shoestring fries).
It was really enjoyable hearing Garrett talk about some of the design elements as we worked our way around the course. All of the fairways are bentgrass and there are concrete cart paths around the entire course. Streams, wetlands and other water features come into play on a number of holes and the addition of the animal sculptures and abundant wildflowers create a unique golfing experience. My vote for most scenic hole was the par-3 fourteenth, a beautiful downhill tee shot to a green fronted by water and surrounded by trees and long grasses. The finishing holes are all strong and I’d really like to have another shot at that back nine. Special thanks to Garrett, Greg and Pete for a wonderful morning…DK
