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A golf trip up Highway 10

Highway 10 west from Anoka, Minnesota to Little Falls, Minnesota provides a memorable, and often overlooked, stretch of golf.

First, Anoka is home to Greenhaven golf course. Visible from Highway 10, Greenhaven is a historic course that boasts tricky, yet enjoyable greens at an affordable price. As you can see from the images below, Golfers will have to navigate beautiful mature trees and lush green grass.

Just about 25 minutes north of Minneapolis in the northern metro, Greenhaven is a must play.

Next, Just 12 minutes west on Highway 10 is The Links at Northfork. This course might be the nicest and well-respected on this stretch. The Links at Northfork is the closest a Minnesotan can come to experiencing the links style in the Home of golf, Scotland. Where Greenhaven presented a Parkland style of play — lush green grass and mature trees — Northfolk will play dry and with lots of taller wispy fescue grasses. The absence of trees here allows the wind to wreak havoc which poses a unique challenge to golfers.

Next, another 16 minutes west and just 3 miles North of Highway 10 in the heart of Elk River, MN lies Elk River Golf Club. At ERGC (You’ll find these letter is a flower bed on the way to the clubhouse). Elk River Golf club is an old course with Small greens and trees that crowd the Fairways. Hit it straight or you’ll have to hit a trick shot to get clear of the trees. Take a Look!

Just a short jaunt west from Elk River lands you in Becker, Minnesota. A small town with a golf course as the centerpiece. Just 1.2 miles to the north of Highway 10 is Pebble Creek Golf Course. Between The Links at Northfork and the Next course on this list (on next week’s post), Territory Golf Club in St. Cloud, I’m hard pressed to say this, but Pebble Creek might be my favorite on this stretch. A Parkland style course with absolutely immaculate greens. The course winds through well-spaced mature trees not far from the Sherburne County Refuge Nature area. What a view!

On your highway 10 golf trip, you’ve traveled 30 miles. Just north of the metro area we saw Parkland courses, Rolling hills, and Scottish-style links golf. Minnesota has so much to offer that this trip cannot be contained in one post. There are still 50 more miles and 4 fantastic courses to go. Check back soon as I highlight the rest of the journey on Highway 10 from St. Cloud to Little Falls where we see an even more drastic landscape change that poses yet another challenge to golfers.

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Normandale's Japanese Garden

You don’t need to go to Japan to visit a Japanese Garden

 

Want to visit a Japanese garden? No need to worry about a plane ticket or passport! Just visit Normandale Community College in Bloomington Minnesota! Minnesota has plenty of hidden gems when it comes to the great outdoors, but one of my favorites that I was lucky enough to visit has to be the Normandale Community College

 

The first thing you will see when you walk in is this structure. In there, you will find the history of the garden. The creation of the Japanese Garden started in 1967. This was before the campus was even completely built yet. The architect responsible was Takao Watanabe. With the help of him, the Japanese Garden was made into a reality.

Enjoy the tranquility of the waterfall

Nothing is more calming than the tranquil sound of moving water. The soothing sound travels throughout the entire grounds making this a perfect place for meditation and relaxation.

Cross the bridge to the Bendten-ō

Benten-dō is a Buddhist temple dedicated to the goddess Benzaiten, goddess of wealth, happiness, wisdom, and music.

Take the opportunity to feed the Koi fish!

The Koi fishes are a great attraction during the warmer times of Minnesota weather. When Koi food is thrown into the water, all of the fishes come that way. You can feed them yourself for only fifty cents!

The Japanese garden is filled with lush plant life and greenery. Unfortunately, plant life is not what you would see in a traditional Japanese garden in Japan. The plants that go in a traditional Japanese garden would not survive the cold Minnesota Winter. Even with this being the case, the garden is beautiful and a one-of-a-kind experience. If you would like to see what the garden is missing, here is a link to “10 flowers you can only find in Japan.” by Bipasha Bhatia https://www.thetravel.com/flowers-only-find-japan/

 

The Japanese garden is a beautiful place to visit. It creates the perfect environment to meditate, relax, and reflect. They have a path to walk at your own pace or plenty of places to sit and just take it all in. They also have reservation hours available for events and gatherings. If you get the chance to visit whether you are in the area or are going through, I would highly recommend stopping by!

If you would like any more information on the garden, please follow the link below!

https://www.normandale.edu/community/japanese-garden

Getting to know the author of this blog
Get to know the Author!

Seth Rought is a student at St. Cloud State University. He grew up in Maplewood Minnesota. At 22 years old, a passion of his was found during the Covid-19 pandemic. He realized this is the perfect time to be outside. There are so many places to explore in Minnesota, some easy to find, some hidden gems. Being outside is not only a fun activity, but it also has great health benefits both physical and mental!  With this blog, he hopes to motivate readers to explore Minnesota. If you would like to see more content, Twitter and Instagram links are listed below!

https://twitter.com/gr8_mn

https://www.instagram.com/greatmnoutdoors/