Red Wing Golf Course

Haven't played here for 5-6 years and wow has everything improved. Some of the best greens anywhere and proshop to restaurant to course conditions are top notch. Fun elevation changes and great views. Love bringing golf groups to Red Wing and Lake City area, such a fun town and better weather than "up north". New manager Paul was especially welcoming and friendly. Will be back again soon!

We play all over the extended Twin Cities area and come back to Red Wing often because of the friendly staff and challenging but fair course.

Established in 1915, Red Wing Golf Club is one of the oldest courses in Minnesota. Happily, it retains the old-style parkland look, having relatively narrow fairways lined with large old oaks and cottonwoods. As is common with older courses, many of the fairways run adjacent to each other, but because of the heavy tree coverage, mishit balls will catch wood and drop, instead of running into another fairway. Set in the bluffs overlooking the city, the terrain is sloped in most places and several holes have significant elevation changes from tee to green. The greens are very well conditioned, with gentle contours that make reading putts quite difficult. They are mostly moderately fast, but the speed of some downhill putts may be surprising. Rough is high enough to make finding a ball difficult. The total yardage indicated on the scorecard doesn’t seem excessive, at 6,206 yards from the tips and 5,848 yards from the middle men’s (White) tees. But holes that run uphill play quite a bit longer than the indicated yardage. One good example of this is the 309 yard (from the White tees) par 4 ninth hole. This sounds like driver and wedge, but our foursome found that our drives didn’t go nearly as far uphill as we thought they would, and then only two of us took enough club on our second shot to reach the green. Holes that run downhill are the other side of the coin. The par 3 tenth hole is 163 yards from the White tees, but the green is about 40 feet below the tee. My 9-iron, which I generally hit 120 to 125 yards, settled in the middle of the green. The 160 yard par 3 thirteenth is just the opposite, playing more like 190 or even 200 yards uphill. The course has a lot of memorable holes, starting with the first, a 415 yard par 4. Standing on the tee box, you’ll see a downhill slope in front of you to a fairway lined with oaks and the green in the distance. Your tee ball will seem to take forever to land and you’ll be happy with your distance due to the drop from tee to fairway. The tee box on the par 4 dogleg left sixteenth hole is similarly elevated quite a lot above the fairway. Take time to look at the view above and beyond the turn of the dogleg as well as behind you to the bluff overlooking the tee box. Really nice! The finishing hole is a bear, a 372 yard dogleg right par 4. Your tee shot needs to end up on the left side of the fairway, because a large tree protects the green on the right side. By now you’ll know to take enough club to reach the elevated green. A par on this hole is well-earned. Whatever score you make on your round, you’ll be able to enjoy a cold beverage and a good lunch in the clubhouse grill as you make plans to return and take this course on again.

Red Wing is not the hilliest course I have ever played but it just seemed like I kept ending up with side hill lies...not great for my knees and ankles. It is a fun course to play...very old style with fairways carved through the old trees. The greens are mounded and fast and golf balls kept rolling off the sides. The weather was perfect, which made the round pleasant. We also played just before the rush and moved along with a good pace.

Overall, I liked the course. But a few holes make it a course I would not want to play all the time. There are a couple of par 5s where you're best play is to hit 3 irons shots, as they are tight and severe doglegs through trees. The staff was very nice, as was the clubhouse and the course was in great condition. But if you are an inaccurate 20+ handicap, you could lose a dozen balls on holes 13-17.

It had been a while since we played the Redwing Golf Club and I had forgotten just how hilly the course is. There are a few hills that we should have just skipped...especially number 8, a double dogleg that requires about three five irons. But, it is a fun course to play, pretty scenic with some nice rock formations, and the price was reasonable with GolfNow. Beautiful day for a drive through scenic southern Minnesota.

I have enjoyed many rounds at Red Wing golf club and this time was just as wonderful! The views are amazing, the elevation changes are fun, and the staff is very helpful and courteous. If the golf course were any closer to home, I would play it all the time! Love going to Red Wing to play, and RWGC makes the trip enjoyable and worth every minute! The course was in excellent condition with the only exception being not enough sand in some of the bunkers. The views were worth the effort, and the round was completed in 3:40, on a Sunday morning!!

While I have played this course many times before, I am always pleasantly surprised by the conditions and never disappointed in the staff friendliness. The layout is indeed challenging and fun, and surprises are found around every corner. It is not so much "target golf" as it is managing the elevation changes and reading the greens properly. The staff at the course is beyond compare; nowhere else do I feel as welcomed and as important than I do at Red Wing Golf Club. History shows us a century (and more) has passed since this course was established, and it isn't difficult to see why it is still such a popular, beautiful place to play.

One of the best courses I have played. Very challenging with some blind shots. I loved the different challenges it provided. Way better than the courses which just go straight up then straight back

BEAUTIFUL course, quite challenging, some very narrow fairways with trees on each side; would definitely play again

Great value! Course is pretty straightforward. Tree lined fairway with small greens. Lots of evolution changes.