State: MN City: Ramsey Price Range: $40 - $49 Weekend Rate (w/cart): $41.00 Address: 16659 St. Francis Boulevard Zip Code: 55303 Phone Number: 763-753-3339 Website:View Website Tee Times:Get a Tee Time
9.96CONDITIONSout of 10
Upkeep Green & Clean Above & Beyond
8.28HOSPITALITYout of 10
Guest Services Amenities Experience
6.91PLAYABILITYout of 10
Design Difficulty Carts & Cards
7.64FACILITIESout of 10
Tee Times Teach & Learn Accessibility
7.01VALUEout of 10
Actual Costs Fun Factor Value
FORWARD SCORE72.95out of 100
805
TOTAL SCORE out of 1000
2012 REVIEW Rum River Hills Golf Club in Ramsey turned out to be a very friendly place. From the clubhouse staff to the course ranger to the beverage cart gal, everyone was very helpful and friendly.
The pace of play was excellent. No one held us up, we played both nines at right at 2 hours each. The clubhouse has a nice stack bar with a full menu where you can even get a mountain of tater tots on the turn. Having McDuff’s Bar & Grill on site, and large banquet facilities, you can get most anything you want to eat or drink right there at the course.
The pro shop had a good selection of equipment and apparel. They even had some sale prices that you usually have to wait until September or October to find.
The carts are equipped with GPS that was mostly reliable though sometimes there were some inconsistencies where the cart that was further away from the hole showed less yardage than the one closer to the green.
There wasn’t a lot of sand on the course, but there was plenty of water. There are lots of ponds and creeks where you can lose your ball. The trees aren’t that heavy really in any significant area. There are plenty of places where the out of bounds stakes are relatively close to the fairway. Other than a couple of holes (11 & 12), most of the holes are fairly closely bunched. There is one place where there are three fairways come together and it was a little hairy taking turns hitting as not everyone of us was staying on the short grass.
The tee boxes were in adequate condition, though some of the markers where situated on unleveled spots and some of the boxes could have had thicker grass. The fairways were okay, with little winterkill. The greens were average sized, fairly hacker-friendly and definitely the slowest greens we had played this year.
All in all it was a fun day at Rum River Hills. It seemed like a great place to hang around after playing 18 to tip a few and have something to eat. The course wasn’t very long (whites were 5738 and blues were 6091). We decided to play the blues because of the short yardage and it played longer than the yardage indicated. For a fair amount of the holes you could have left the driver in the bag, but there were also holes where you had 400 plus on par 4’s and 500 plus on a few of the par 5’s.
With the slower greens that were mostly level, the shorter yardage, the affordable pricing and the GPS on the carts we would say Rum River Hills is a hacker-friendly place.
2010 REVIEW For those of us located in the Twin Cities, Rum River Hills Golf Club in Ramsey, Minnesota, seems way out there in the country. It is a bit of a drive tucked away on Highway 47, but what really makes it different is that it is a contrast in two parts: the clubhouse and the course.
The clubhouse has the feel of an Elk's Lodge complete with a tiny stage, wood paneling and pull tabs. The course, on the other hand, is picturesque and challenging with more than half the holes having water hazards to contend with. The clubhouse was built when the course opened in 1983 and appears to not have changed since Day One. Designed by noted golf course architect Joel Goldstrand, Rum River Hills is not a flat blue-collar track, but a tree-lined course with lots of water, bunkers and other ways to lose your golf balls. It is much tougher than meets the eye.
The course itself a tale of two nines with the front nine being much tighter than the back. Course management and shot accuracy should be required for the front, and "grip it and rip it" should be called for on the back. The course is nicely manicured and the greens are pristine. The course length at the white tees is only 5738 yards, so if you are a long hitter, you might want to take a step back to the blues. The ladies are taken into consideration here with their own ball washers, granite signage and garbage cans. Touches not often seen at most courses.
In contrast, the off-course amenities seemed a bit lacking. The parking lot needed a paving, the putting green seemed a bit sparse and the driving range was very basic. The golf carts were older and appeared to not have been cleaned since spring. Although we were part of a small group of golfers that played the course late in the year, the service was weak and we got a cold shoulder in the bar from the locals like we were invading their private club.
Rum River Hills Golf Club's course is really a hidden gem that is worth a visit, but the rest of the golfing experience did little to make us want to return again.
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Overall rating:
6.3
Condition of Course:
5.0 (4)
Course Design:
6.8 (4)
Course Difficulty:
7.3 (4)
Fun/Interesting Holes:
6.8 (4)
Customer Service:
7.0 (4)
Value for what you paid:
6.3 (4)
Are you likely to return?:
5.3 (4)
Personal opinion of course:
5.0 (4)
Amenities and Practice Facilities:
6.5 (4)
Pace of Play/Atmosphere:
6.8 (4)
Overall rating:
6.1
Reviewed by Guest | May 17, 2012
Good value, course was a little rough though, early in the season. Needs some more attention on a few greens.
User Review
Would you golf here again?
Yes
Gender
Male
Overall rating:
7.4
Reviewed by KenTibesar | May 08, 2012
Fairways were very rough. In many cases it was difficult to tell the 1st and 2nd cut. We played after some very heavy rains and the course was in a recovery from the damage.
User Review
Would you golf here again?
Yes
Gender
Male
Overall rating:
3.8
Reviewed by BrokenDriver | January 27, 2012
Played summer of 2011
OMG ... this place has turned into a Cow Pasture. Even with a deep discount coupon it's over priced. Mud, rocks, & ruts pretty much define the fairways. Apparently they brought in dirt in an attempt to repair fairways but the dirt is loaded with rocks. Get ready for some pick-clean-and place golf. At this point, anything over $20 with cart is too much.
The club house has been remodeled (a seemingly endless project) but it's not much improvement ... same clientele mentioned in main review and same weak service. I've heard some say that it would be a good place to start a bar and restaurant and that pretty much sums it up. Have also witnessed some rather unsanitary practices which was a major turn off. I guess "good" help is hard to find.
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