Edinburgh USA Golf Course

I've played this course several times. Overall, this is an excellent golf course but there are a handful of small details I dislike about it.
First, I don't recommend playing here without a range finder and/or a course guide and greens book. The sight lines are very deceptive. A lot of tee shots make it difficult to pick your target and yardage. You can't just pull out driver and stripe it down the center of the fairway. You need to figure out how far it is to clear certain bunkers and ponds. The greens are large and oddly shaped. This makes yardage markers deceptive as well. Several times I have hit just the distance I intended, only to find I am still 35 feet short because the green is 40 yards deep This is what I mean by deceptive sight lines. Pin positions get precarious quite easily. Small misses from the pin roll off the elevated, undulating greens and safe shots to the center make for challenging two putts. The deep gullies that surround the greens are trimmed to short fairway grass instead of rough. A standard chip shot isn't an option, and a flop shot off this tight lie is impractical. You're stuck pitching the ball into the side of the hill and rolling it up to the pin. Maybe fun, maybe annoying, definitely challenging. All of these things probably make this course exciting to a scratch golfer, but as a 9/10 handicap, it's quite frustrating.

The cart paths are far separated from the fairways and greens on most holes and often hidden behind rollings hills, (think of the Shire in the Lord of the Rings). While riding down the cart path, you can't see the fairway, nor are there convenient places to turn the cart into it. Combine that with extremely undulating fairways and it's easy to lose track of which hill complex your ball is hiding behind. Expect to spend extra time looking for it, even after decent shots. Additionally, these are the slowest golf carts I've ever driven, making this situation just a little more frustrating.

The course condition is overall very good. It is watered well. Greens are firm and roll true. Some beat up tee boxes but not too bad. I did have a problem with a few bunkers that seemed to be a thin layer of soft sand laid over top of a very firm, solid base.

This course is perfect for anyone looking for affordable golf with top quality conditions. It isn't the longest course, but there is danger everywhere with bunkers and water in play on a majority of holes. My main gripe would be with the pace of play. I've gotten stuck behind slow foursomes multiple times playing here, which spells for playing 18 in the dark for the twilight tee times.

“There are no straight putts on this course”

“I don’t think I’ve had a flat iron shot all day”

“Water on the right AGAIN?!”

“Dang this course is pretty”

“I think next time I’m going to have to come an hour early just to putt on these ice rinks”

“That bev cart girl was cute”

“Dude, quit flirting with the drink girl”

“If you would hit the green, you wouldn’t keep forgetting your wedge...”

“There’s a lot of sand on this course!”

“I hear the average 4-some loses 4 balls on this hole”

“Not the bunker again!”

“Let’s do this again soon!”

This course has the best greens in town. But be warned, they are FAST.

This course is great for any moderate to experienced players.

It can be a really hard one on new/beginners because of all the water on the course. If you’re fine making a 10-20 ball deposit in on of the many ponds of Edinburgh, come one, come all.

Some long par fours will bring out the long hitters and some really accurate long irons to get to the green. The back 9 gets considerably less forgiving back in the woods so best to be a little conservative.

Enjoy 17. It will mess with your mind but the island is really big and if you just use a 7 iron or longer, you can lay up to the front edge before punching across to the green again. No need to be a hero. 5 par 5s and 5 par 3s make up a great variety

I took my son-in-law, nephew and wife here for a round on a breezy Fall afternoon. We scarfed down a nice lunch at the clubhouse bar before trying to putt in the 25-mph southerly breeze.

Despite the wind, we had bright sunshine but a surprisingly sluggish pace for a weekday afternoon in October. The singleton behind us was clearly frustrated, so we suggested he join us on the 8th hole but he decided to walk in instead. We were keeping pace, despite a few hackers in our group, but we kept having to wait throughout the round.

That said, the course was in pretty good shape. Having not played here before, we made a few regrettable errors (including lost balls off of blind shots), but I was carding a pretty good score until their iconic 17th hole...a long Par 4 with an elongated island landing area followed by a very long carry to a green surrounded by water on three sides. Unless you're a pro, you need to lay up before attempting to hit to the green (or you can dunk it and drop behind the green, forcing a steep downhill chip). Needless to say, I had to put down a snowman for this hole.

In summary: the course layout is pretty good, winding through residential areas which almost force you to use a cart; the greens were very receptive and in pretty good shape for the most part but a bit slow for my tastes; the clubhouse is functional and attractive; the driving range was into the stiff southerly wind, pretty pricey, and surprisingly narrow; there's a decent chipping green, but it requires purchase of a bucket; the carts are gas-powered (boo!); pace of play was slower than it should be and rangers were not evident.

This is a tough course with very fast greens. The picture is of the green of the 17th hole. The tournament I played in had us begin on this hole. Three balls later, I walked off with a 10.

That said, it is a gorgeous course with lots of opportunities to prove your abilities. Lots of water. Lots of bunkers. Some unforgiving greens.

The amenities are great and the course is worth the investment and the challenge. You “earn your stripes” on this course. See you out there!

P.s. bring an extra sleeve of balls...

I have played this course several times and enjoy playing the course. I find the layout challenging but playable if you hit your ball to the proper area. It really penalizes bad shots. I find it a fair value. My only complaint is the sand traps, they were all rock hard and very hard to play a shot. Go play the course but just stay out of the many traps.

Course was in great shape. I enjoyed the layout of the course with some easy and challenging holes.

The pace of the play was a little slow, but it was a nice day of a mid Friday afternoon.

Will be playing again this season.

I am a big fan of "Edin-Borough". The amenities are top class, clubhouse is incredible and the practice areas are very nice. New carts help and the course is in great shape. I played a week after it opened for the year and decided that was not a fair time to judge the course, so I went again late season and the course is what I thought it would be, fantastic. A lot of water, so get ready to swim. Accuracy really comes into play at this course and you will learn that quickly. Pace of play was not an issue either time I played this course. Staff has always been kind and welcoming. There are houses on almost every hole, so if you are one who gets psyched out by houses you may want to go somewhere else. Greens are true and roll well, the bunkers are well taken care of and the value is definitely here. In my top tier of Minnesota courses.

We played this course on the best day of the year so far here in Minnesota. The course was packed but we were still able to get around in 4:15, which is not awful.

The course was in great shape coming out of winter. The greens were a bit beat up but that is to be expected. Each nine offers its fair share of scoring holes, and holes that might eat you up! The 17th tee is a very intimidating shot, but play it right and you have a good shot at scoring.

I look forward to getting back when the season is in full swing, would recommend!

This is one of the top courses to play in the twin city metro in my opinion. The recent course investments have paid off in great conditions. The course requires the right target lines from the tees for the right angles on second shots, so it's taken several rounds to score my best. The par 4 17th is my nemesis hole in the twin cities and the 18th tee site lines are deceiving. The greens are very good typically faster than the practice green, and more consistent green-to-green than Rush Creek, Bunker, and other NW courses. Edinburgh has a very different complexion from the black tees and plays longer than 6,888 yards - this is especially the case when the wind is up as the course winds around in a big C shape so you'll face with many against, with, and cross wind shots. The south-facing driving range is typically against the wind allowing for good knock-down shot practice. The over all practice facilities including range, short-game/bunker area, and putting green are the best I've been to. My only nock on the course is the volume of rounds played on the course and the impact in getting tee times and pace of play.

In my opinion Edinburgh usa is the best value in the state, 60-70$ for a round with cart during the day. And the course is perfect, the practice facility is great, I could of spent all day at the short game green. Putting green is a little slow compared to the course but other then that the course is perfect. The staff is friendly and seem like they really enjoy working there and know the course well. 9/10 would definitely recommend to anyone.