The Quarry at Giants Ridge is Minnesota's Best
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BIWABIK - The Giants Ridge Resort is a popular destination for golfers.
"It's one of the top courses in the country," said Biwabik native Scott Dewhurst.
The Quarry course opened at Giants Ridge in 2003, and has been turning heads since.
"Absolutely beautiful, great course," said Brad Walker of Minneapolis. "I would play it seven days out of seven if i could."
The quarry is the highest rated public course in all of Minnesota, it's also in the Top 20 nationally according to Golf Digest Magazine.
"Considering how many thousands of courses we have in the united states, it's quite an honor to be that highly ranked," said Giamts Ridge Director of Golf John Kendall.
Kendall describes the Quarry as a 'modern' golf course.
"In the last 20 years or so, architecture has gone away from the tightly manicured, wall–to–wall mowed approach to golf course design," said Kendall. "There's a lot of areas we don't touch, we just leave it to go natural. There's a lot of elevation change, a lot of rougher areas."
The Quarry is also appropriately named..
"It's actually built on reclaimed mine site," said Kendall. "This area was used as a sand quarry for road construction as well as an abandoned open pit taconite mine on the 18th hole."
Golfers that play the Quarry often rank it among the best courses they've played.
"The layout is absoluetly beautiful," said Walker. "Some of the holes are unlike any others that I've ever seen. It's better than most. I would say better than 90 to 95 percent."
"You have to watch your balls, one wrong move and you're in the woods," added Dewhurst. "It's a tight narrow course, but it's lush, it's green. I love it."
To many, the hole that stands out is No. 18.
"It's a tough hole," said Walker. "If you hit it too far, you go over; if you hit it to the left, you're in trouble; if you hit it to the right you're in trouble."
"It's one of our hardest par 4's," adds Kendall. "The tee shot is played toward the mine, it's really a dramatic look. It's really a beautiful finish to a beautiful course."
And when you're finished at the Quarry, there's also the Legend.
