The Jewel Golf Club

The Jewel is a wonderful course set in the bluffs with scenic views. It has a wonderful layout with challenging tees for all levels. I was slightly disappointed to know the greens were punched. There was so much sand on the greens the speeds were inconsistent. The tee boxes and fairways were beautiful. The staff was friendly and very accommodating. I would highly recommend for a scenic golf course with friendly staff.

Played once before in the summer and would give that 5 stars. Nice to see the fall colors this time we went; however, the course was recently aerated and sanded/seeded so we were constantly cleaning balls and equipment. In light of maintenance, greens played slow this timel -- 2 put min.

First timer at The Jewel today, and it did NOT disappoint!! Great course in tremendous shape! O will be back!

Course was in good shape, greens were soft, lots of ball marks not being fixed by golfers. Try to get here once or twice a year. 1hr and a half to travel to course.

Tee time was 8:30. Used copper tees. Course was in magnificent condition. No issues with pace of play. Very enjoyable golf course for all levels.

Course in great shape. Staff was on top of cleaning and safety for virus.

Holes 1-9 at The Jewel are excellent, with a variety of open holes, longer and shorter Par 4s. An awesome long Par 5 to start and fun short Par 5 with a challenging green on #9. I thought I was in for a similarly fun back 9, but the opposite was in store.

The tee for hole 10 sits high a top a ridge, exposing you to any ounce of wind coming out of the south or east. The trees near the tee box come out too far to the left, preventing you from hitting a right to left shot that the hole calls for. Visually the hole looks cool, but the design mistakes detract from playability and make it unnecessarily frustrating. That’s a theme on the Back 9.

While #11 is a really cool, well designed long Par 3 over water, it’s difficult, and with #12 (long Par 4 with the tight tee shot through the chute and absurd small green that slopes off back and front) makes a stretch of 3 holes you just don’t string together one after another - unless you’re trying too hard. Then #13. Where do you even drive it on this hole? It’s a short Par 4, there’s a tiny flat spot in the fairway about 215 from the tee, but you’d need pinpoint distance control to land it there. Otherwise you’re on a side hill approaching a green that slopes off to the back and is nearly impossible to hold. The next hole has a misdesigned landing area and misleading visual signals as to where the tee shot should be aimed. #16 is a legitimately awesome Par 5, and #17 a fun short Par 4 into the woods.

There was a great opportunity here to end this course with a fun, challenging Par 5. There’s room for it (either with the tees or green further back) and ample opportunity to add challenges (bunkering, trees). Instead, they went the 475 yard uphill Par 4 route, guarding the green with trees on the right and bunkers short and left. If this hole is into the wind, forget it. It’s critical design mistakes like #18 that ruin the golf experience, which is a shame because it’s a fantastic piece of land with a lot of potential.

The Jewel courses is one of my favorite Minnesota golf courses. Course is always in good shape that is reasonably priced and excellent pace of play. Staff is always friendly!

The Jewell is my favorite course within an hour drive of the twin cities. Waking up on a Sunday morning and scooting down there for a round is always worth it. The staff is very nice to be around and the course is beautiful as well as very fun. The greens were perfect when we played and my three playing partners who had never played the course before said they were the best they had played on this year. Will be back hopefully very soon

The Jewel Golf Club is aptly named. From the time you drive up to the clubhouse and leave your clubs at the bag drop, through 18 holes of superb golf, to the drinks on the patio overlooking the course following the round, this course is truly a gem. The fairways are generously wide, and some of the smoothest you’ll find. You’ll get lots of roll on your drives. If you stray off the fairway, you’ll likely pay the price as the first cut of rough is higher than the ball and if you go farther astray you’ll find native grass that is a foot high or more leading to thick stands of trees. Luckily, the course has a local rule that the native grass or woods may be played as a lateral hazard, so you don’t have to take the lost ball stroke and distance penalty. The greens are undulating, smooth, fast, and true. Accustomed to playing courses with much slower greens, I had great difficulty making the adjustment when chipping from off the green and kept blowing the ball past the hole. About half the holes are set on relatively flat terrain and have a links-style look and feel. The rest wind through scenic bluffs lined with thick woods. There’s lots of variety, as every hole has a different look: long, short, right or left dogleg, uphill, and downhill. Two of the shortest par 4’s on the course really stand out. The 6th measures 286 yards from the middle men’s tees, tempting many golfers to try driving the green. But the woods and high grass on both left and right make many of them rue their decision. Similarly, the 13th is 334 yards from the middle tees, but the there is a steep drop-off to the right of the narrow fairway that doglegs slightly to the right. If you miss right you’ll have a severely uphill approach shot that must carry a bunker and then hold the smallish green. Going left is no bargain either, because if you go through the fairway you’ll find the woods again. The 8th hole is a short (467 yards from the middle tees) par 5. With native grass on both sides of the fairway, you might consider yourself lucky if a stray tee shot finds one of the fairway bunkers instead of running all the way into the junk. The green is elevated and very difficult to hold with a fairway wood or hybrid approach, so it might be better to lay up and have a short iron or wedge approach. The deep bunker on the front right of the green could be difficult to escape, especially if you find the native grass “island” in the middle of it. No one in our foursome scored as well as he would have liked, but all agreed that The Jewel is a golf course we will visit again. It’s about 90 minutes from the Twin Cities, but well worth the drive.

We love this course. It is always in great condition, Good for all levels of gold. Friendly crew.l

We love this course for it is always in good condition, fun holes and friendly to the eye.

Great staff and excellent deals in the pro shop and restaurant. We had good food after our round. Course was excellent, a few t boxes were being aerated but it wasn't an issue and the greens had come back nicely after being punched a week to ten days earlier.

The Jewel is truly a terrific course. It is challenging with great angles on tee shots with plenty of tees to choose from. The greens are excellent. The fairways are awesome to hit off of. Nice tight lies so you can spin shots and can bump and run into greens. Some very nice views as well. A good yardage book might be nice to help with distances/targets, especially for first time playing the course.

Awesome experience.....will return!!

We try to play here every summer and make it a two round day. Pace of play is typically a little over 4 hours. Good course layout without any gimmick holes. We chose to play the combination tees for our group and we generally shoot in the mid 80's.

It's a hard course to play the first time. There are so many holes that you don't know what's in front of you. And if you think that way on the front nine, wait until you get to the back nine. The day we played, the greens were perfect. They had an MGA event at The Jewel for three days, and we caught the course on the third day when there wasn't much play and the greens were perfect, fast, slick, and true. The course is excellent, but when you don't know what's ahead of you, it's a tough one.

i gave this course 5 star. we drop off our bag and lady came to greet us with big smile. than in pro shop a guy check us in. than again @1305 putting Green lady came back told us we can go a head tee off after one group even our tee time is at 1327. pace of play was great. Cart lady was super nice.. lot of drinking station thru out the course .. layout of the course was beautiful. it was a worth a drive to lake city to play at THE JEWEL GOLF COURSE.

we will be back ....

A beautifully designed and maintained course. 5 sets of tees measuring over 7,000 from blacks. Ample bunkering, smooth and quick greens, fescue, water hazards etc. A true and fair test of a golfers abilities.