7 Minute Miles

Round 22 – Bearpath Golf and Country Club


A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to cross another private Minnesota golf course off of my life “to-play” list: Bearpath Golf and Country Club in Eden Prairie.

A very generous Bearpath member donated a round of golf to a charity auction, which was purchased by my friend Bob Klas, Jr. Bob was kind enough to ask Tapemark Pro-Am president Phil Callen and I to join him and the race for the course record was on…

This 7,030-yard, Jack Nicklaus design is located in a gated community that is rumored to be the home of a certain new Viking. The housing was impressive, but got a little too close to the course for my game. A lucky Boxer on the second hole now owns at least two of my golf balls.

We played the member tees, which measured 6,274 yards (71.1 rating, 137 slope). The course record was safe after the front nine, but I did manage to play the last five holes at +3.

The only other time I had visited Bearpath was to cover the 2008 Minnesota Golf Champions tournament, which moved from Minneapolis Golf Club for one year while that course was being renovated. I followed the lead groups on the front nine that day, so it was nice to see the whole course.

The clubhouse area is amazingly nice, with beautiful views of the ninth and eighteenth greens and a wonderful practice area. The pool and tennis courts looked great and the landscaping was lush throughout.

Course conditions were perfect and I enjoyed many of the holes (even if I had trouble scoring that day). I don’t recall which ones they were now, but a few holes on the back nine didn’t have as much character to me as the others (15?). I really liked the closing holes on each nine, however.

Thanks again to Bob, Phil and Bill for the great afternoon.

Originally published by DK on September 16, 2009 at 12:15 am in Golf, Longform


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