The Refuge Golf Club

Fantastic golf course great greens pace of play is historically slow understaffed in the clubhouse and no ranger ere was on duty

I have played this course multiple times over the past month. Every time I was greeted and helped by an incredibly friendly and accommodating staff. The driving range is fairly priced for a warm up bucket before your round. The tee times are consistently on time and the pace of play is usually above average. The condition of the course is impressive considering how early in the season it was opened. The greens are well managed and provide a variety of difficulty for even low handicap players. The tree lined fairways make a good tee shot a necessity. My favorite hole is the signature #9 a Par 5, dogleg right. The manmade tee boxes carved into a marsh require a longer carry to reach the fairway and a cluster of green side bunkers make going for it in two a high risk, high reward shot! I play 3-4 times a week around the metro and have a +5 USGA handicap and The Refuge is one of my favorite courses to play.

I was a little afraid to play this course again as the last couple times were enough for a lifetime. The last two times I played here on a Saturday the rounds took over 5 and half hours and the staff was OK with it, and they barked at you for questioning it. I was please to say that the staff was friendlier and even though the place was packed, our round only took a little over 4 hours. This was the first time in years I have seen a ranger on the course checking things out and ASKING how things are going. I will definitely be back and maybe I can talk my friends into giving it another try.
Great job and hopefully things keep going in the right direction as the it is one of the better tracks in the north metro.

Cold and Challenging! Good to get out Golfing in March in MN.

My wife and I love the course usually but the last few times we have played since club championship day forward the greens are wayyyy too fast. Pace of play has been slow and you could easily improve this by making greens slower. The course has excellent greens with lots of natural slope so excessive speed is not needed in my opinion. I would guess most golfers that play your course are 15 to 25 handicap and speedy greens just reduce enjoyment and add lots of time for extra putts. Also there was no ranger that I could see trying to keep pace of play going and there were a couple of holes backed up with 3 groups waiting. I saw very average to poor golfers playing green tees when they belonged on white or yellow - not sure what can be done about that but the fast greens thing is really a problem in my opinion.

Like the course. Play a few times a year, Anymore rain and there will be problems with some of the fairways.. Water levels very high. Very soft condition on fairways and greens.

I joined a twosome on this course, playing it due to top ranking for public courses. The layout was great, conditions were very good, and greens were really fast and hard to score on. Getting organized to join a twosome was not handled well, but no problem. I'd play again.

Great fun, right amount of challenges on every hole.
Strategic shot selection is very key, especially off the tee.
Greens were a bit worn, but still played ok, figured they're close to fall maintenance

Enjoyed a wonderful round at The Refuge. The pace of play was fairly slow but the conditions of the course by far outweighed the poor pace of play. The greens were unusually soft yet had a firm roll to them. A great experience overall!

The course is excellent, make sure you look at the slope before you pick your tees. There are numerous tees and the score card will assist you in that decision, it shows the amount of carry needed on certain holes, (we played the green) an uninformed decision at the start of the round will punish you.The greens were a little beat up but we had a 2:30 tee time on a Saturday. We were stuck behind a threesome that got progressively slower as the day went on and 3 groups behind us quit with 4 holes to go(almost a 6 hr round). An active marshal could have solved this issue, we waited on every tee and fairway. But the course is wonderful...a must play.

The carts are old and dirty. The first one we took had a flat tire. The cart was very fast. They are electric and I do like the electric cart over the gas.

The tee boxes are not very good but the fairways are in great shape. The greens are fair.

If it is your first time playing the course you may have trouble figuring out where to aim.
We were paired up with a single who happened to be a member so it helped.
The thickest rough I've seen all year.
There are many forced carries over wetlands.

carts were dirty and worn down. I saw some with bald tires. Really affects the image of the course since you see this before you play.

I don't think they moved any tee boxes from the previous day. We played at 10am on a saturday and it was hard to find any grass near the teeing markers to play off of. Tons of divots, and bad areas. Nothing was fixed from the past several days either. Maintenance needs to fill in these areas with a sand/seed mixture and move tee boxes to try and get some areas to grow back. Rest of course including fairways were excellent with the exception of a couple greens.

We always have a great time at the refuge the staff is always great, the course was in fabulous shape, we had a great time

I've played this course since it first opened. First time playing it this year, the course looks beat up.
Green Tee boxes were all beat up accept for a couple of holes. Greens were dry, hard and bumpy. Seems like patrons are not fixing their ball marks. Carts were beat up as well.
This course used to be awesome to play....not this year. For the price of $29 with Golfnow, it's worth that much.

Course conditions were okay. There are a number of holes where there is no forgiveness just off the fairway. Either trees with THICK underbrush or the swamp. The swamps are used in a number of holes which causes a forced carry or automatic lost ball. Our pace of play was horribly slow. They let out a 5 some as the first group out and they slowed up the entire course.

I consider this a favorite in the metro area. I love to bring new players to this course. They are always imprssed.

Bring extra balls most holes need a lot of carry to get over the hazards

The course was is excellent condition considering the amounts of rain we got the night before. Had a great round as usual. Carts are always clean. Greens kept nice. Beautiful course. Saw a deer on the first tee box! I'm buying a membership here next season!

got a great deal on hot deals, played with my brothers and had a great time, course is in great condition.