Played September 26, 2020
Reviewed by Mr. Tee
During the Summer/Fall of 2020, we did our best to safely travel to courses in our home state that we hadn’t played yet. A few years ago, we posted a quick “Drive By” overview of this course from Pink Putter who only got to see the course from afar while drawing caricatures in the area. After seeing a video from the Minigolf.us guys playing, I thought it may be worth a specific visit to play. With The Pink Putter deep in a design and build project, I took a Saturday afternoon mini-road trip to explore courses I had not previously played. I first visited the underwhelming McPete’s in Big Lake before continuing northwest of the cities to St. Cloud. I had spent many years during college in the surrounding St. Cloud area but never came across this course.
Rating
Previous images I’d seen of this Summerland did not do it justice. Not to be confused with Disney’s exceptional Winter Summerland courses in Orlando, this amusement complex also contains two full 18 hole courses. While the traditional green turf and bricking on The Lakes course are relatively common, the way they were utilized in this space to make a challenging and fun experience helps make this place stand it out from the crowded middle of the road courses. The 18 hole journey takes you past animal sculptures, above waterfalls looking over the course, and across relatively long holes. The generous Par of 54 accounts for the considerable distance from tee-off to finish as well as the cups that tend not to be right near the walls. To top it off, the didactic information at the beginning of the holes gives you a little information about a few of the 10,000 lakes in Minnesota. Greatly appreciate the attention to detail and theme overlay. I look forward to getting back here as well as the accompanying Bear Kountry Course at Summerland.
1050 28th Ave NE, Sauk Rapids, MN 56379
Pros
Variety of hole design
Love the educational theme & didactics
Creative “water hazards” using colored turf
Solid putting challenge with a number of longer holes
Cons
Relatively flat with few obstacles
Nerdy Notes
- 18 holes, Par 54. The other full 18-hole course on site is “Bear Kountry” Mini Golf
- “The Lakes” Adventure Golf – $7.50, Bear Kountry Mini Golf – $6.50, Both courses combined $11
- Seasonal course open noon-8pm
- Formal address in google lists Sauk Rapids but their own website says St. Cloud
- Go-Karts, batting cages, waterslide, bumper boats and more on site
- Package deals available including a 10 Round punch card for Mini Golf for either course that never expires for $60
- Only half of this course may be ADA/wheelchair accessible due to stairs and bricking surrounding the full hole near the cup
