The mid-west’s best ski and golf resort is getting even better. Both Golf Digest and Golfweek have published their recent top 100 lists and awards, and, once again, Minnesota’s Giant’s Ridge has risen in the rankings.
A member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects and its president in the organizations 50th year, 1995-96, Arlington, Texas-based Jeff Brauer designed the resorts two courses. the Quarry and the Legend. Year after year, national golf publications have ranked the Legend and Quarry near or at the top of destinations in the mid-west region as well as the state. When the Legend opened in 1997, Golf Digest writers named it to the 10 Best New Upscale Public Courses in the nation, noting in particular its affordability. Set in the rugged beauty of the Mesabi Iron Range and amidst the hardwoods of the Superior National Forest, this was also a landmark year for The Legend, with the course celebrating its 25th anniversary and hosting a commemorative event attended by Brauer and a galaxy of golf dignitaries and experts.
The Legend paved the way for The Quarry, set on the site of a former sand quarry and iron ore mine, and the Quarry has been the equal of its older sibling. The resort’s name recalls the tale of Esquagama, the legendary giant who fell asleep roaming the hills. The local topography is said to resemble the shape of his slumbering body. As a puckish homage, Brauer designed a bunker at the Legends course in the shape of giant’s footprint.
Giants Ridge is widely regarded as the Midwest’s top-rated skiing and snowboard hotspot. Family-owned (and therefore dripping with cache for skiers and boarders), the resort features 35 runs and a 770 foot vertical. There are also over 60 km of fine-groomed Nordic ski trails (which once served as Olympic biathlon training grounds.
