Northfield Golf Club

I have played Northfield GC for many years and have yet to have a bad experience or witness the course in poor shape. Over the years they have tweaked a few holes and a couple of the new ones don't seem to match the original layout in design or feel. That being said, NGC has fast, great greens, tree lined fairways, and you feel as if you are playing in northern MN. The public is able to play in off hours I believe and if you can, its a must play. The only knock is that there is no driving range and the first tee shot is a bit daunting.

Established in 1926, Northfield Golf Club is one of the oldest golf courses in Minnesota and the generous fairways lined with mature trees give it a truly traditional look. You'll use every club in the bag on the variety of long and short holes, straight holes and doglegs, flat holes and holes with elevation changes. The course also offers several risk-reward challenges and opportunities. The first such opportunity is on the starting hole, a dogleg left par 5 where your tee shot must carry a creek that crosses the first part of the fairway and then runs along the left side for the remainder of the fairway. This means that you can aim left to cut across the dogleg and get additional distance, but any miscalculation will leave you in the water. On the other hand, if you're too long you'll go through the fairway and end up with a sidehill lie on the slope that forms the right side of the dogleg. Get used to playing across that creek, because you'll see it on six more holes. The course plays 6,728 yards from the back (black) tees, or 6,270 and 5,760 yards from the other “men's” (blue and white) tees. The forward tees are set at 5,204 yards. Difficulty of the course is indicated by a 73.5 rating and 143 slope for the back tees, and a little easier 68.9 rating and 138 slope for the white tees. Although the course is set on the edge of residential area, you won't see many houses on the older part of the course. The stands of trees, undulating topography, and the creek running through several holes give it a feeling of seclusion. The newer holes, which were added in the 70's and 90's, have a different look and feel. This is especially true of numbers 4 and 5, built in 1997 on what must have been a cornfield previously and look like many newer suburban courses. These holes are relatively flat, with only a few small evergreens along the fairways, and many McMansions all around. The par 5 number four hole provides another risk-reward opportunity on the tee shot. You can maximize your distance by going directly over the pond that faces the two back tees, or you can play safe by aiming left, avoiding the water, and leave yourself with a longer second shot. The Northfield greens are generally large and undulating, and you must land your approach on the correct level in order to have a birdie putt. I would like this course much more if it didn't have the jarring difference between the old course and the two newer holes. Nevertheless, it is an enjoyable course, challenging but not excessively so, and fun to play. The Northfield Golf Club, even though it is a private club, does allow non-members to play the course eight times during the season. If you try it once, you may want to go back seven more times.

Northfield CC is a great course with mostly interesting holes. There are a few early on that are benign but overall decent layout w mature trees but generous enough fairways to not be intimidated while on the tee. Greens are fast and true.

Good course n environment
Want play keep going there.

The course was in great shape. Shorter course with some narrow fairways but very fair. Fast greens and good condition.

We had never played the course before so we didn't know which way to go to the next hole each time. Many times it was not very obvious and the signage is not very good. Need more arrows to guide you. Will have a better idea next time.
Course is nice. We played in Fall and it was fine but I imagine it's beautiful in the summer.
Got a great rate from Golfnow so we tried it out and were not disappointed. Will be back.

worth the drive. course is in great shape. holes are all unique to each other.

Snagged a very affordable deal on GolfNow for $18 w/cart. Lots of walkers and pull carts given a lot of locals so pace of play can be an issue if groups do not allow you through. Pretty decent haul from downtown to be considered if traveling in from out of town. Not a bad course and staff is very good but others closer to the Twin Cities offer a higher quality of course conditions and better values.

Northfield Golf club is a classic layout with a mixture of old school holes and a new nine mixed in. I was lucky to play on an extremely low Golfnow bargain rate, but would make the 45 mile drive to play it at full price any time. I will be back

Not sure if I can say anything about this course that hasn't already been said. #1 and #16 don't make much sense to me being par 5's, but the rest of the course was gorgeous. Really enjoyed myself out here. Would like to play this course again.

Beautiful course. Fast greens, very difficult. Target golf.

The fairways were narrow on many holes but if you were in the fairway getting to the greens wasn't an issue. Once on the greens, the undulation and slope required attention to detail to make a good putt. The 1st and 16th holes were a bit odd especially playing the course for the first time. Score would improve dramatically once course knowledge grew.

The round took 3.5 hours to play but it felt longer because of the wait on some of the holes on the front side.
The course was in good shape but the greens were slower than I would have liked.
Some of the greens have strong slopes to them so maybe they get unplayable if they are cut shorter.
I enjoyed the day and would play the course again.

this course is very mature with lots of pine trees and flowers. some elevation changes and elevated tee boxes. overall a great course.

Can be challenging but course is in great shape. Fairways are excellent and greens are fast and smooth. Golf now is the way to go for a reasonable price also.

Plenty challenging from the back tees. Very enjoyable course.

Our threesome was quite impressed with the course layout and condition. There were quite a few scenic holes, the greens were fast and fun, and it was a terrific deal for golf/cart on a Sunday afternoon. Pace of play was slow (we contributed at times because we didn't know the course), but the course was still worth it ... classic, tree-lined, creeks and lakes, up/down, left and right ... nothing repeated. We will go back.

This course has a little of everything and is a first class operation.

Very nice course to play if you like length and fast greens like i do. This course tops most courses in the cities. Very well kept practice greens and chip area. i loved it and so did all my buddies

A well-maintained, fair, but challenging course. I had played this course 20 years ago and remembered it was in nice condition and my memories were exceeded this time.