Friday, September 25, 2009

Giants Ridge Golf & Ski Resort Earns Golf Digest Award Ranking

(ARLINGTON, Texas) - The two Jeffrey D. Brauer-designed courses at the Giants Ridge Golf & Ski Resort in Biwabik, Minnesota highlight the resort's placement as one of North America's top golf resorts by Golf Digest magazine, as released in its October 2009 issue.

Only 75 resorts made the rankings and Giants Ridge was listed at No. 46, making it the highest ranked Minnesota resort on the honor roll. This marks the initial time the northeastern Minnesota golf resort has claimed such a prestigious tribute.

But this is not the first time Giants Ridge has been listed as a top resort. In 2005, Giants Ridge earned mention as a Top 5 Mountain Resort by Golf For Women magazine and in 2003 was named as one of the top six golf destinations in the world by Golf World magazine.

The backbone of the golfing experience at Giants Ridge is the two Brauer-fashioned courses at resort. The Legend, which opened in 1997, and the Quarry, which first welcomed play in 2003, have been staples of various "Best of" lists throughout their existence.

The Legend at Giants Ridge received a prestigious 4½-star golf rating five years in a row from Golf Digest, which has also named it as the top public golf course in Minnesota in 1999. The Legend was recently ranked in the latest Golf Digest list of Best Public Courses as No. 3 Public Golf Course in Minnesota and as the 72nd Best Public Course in the Nation.

The Quarry has earned even higher acclaim, and this year was named Minnesota's No. 1 public golf course as well as the nation's 20th best public track by Golf Digest and as the No. 2 public golf course in the state by Golfweek magazine. The Quarry was listed as the top golf course you can play in Minnesota by Golfweek in 2008, and has earned Golf Digest's 4½-star ranking every year since 2004.

"My work in Minnesota is among my best, with both courses at Giants Ridge in Golf Digest's Top 100," said Brauer, who is the principal of Arlington, Texas-based GolfScapes, Inc. "One critic told me that he had no idea that both courses were designed by the same golf course architect, which, I think, is the highest tribute I have received. It says I designed with what I had, as I was able to utilize the nature of The Legend course and the man-made quarry at The Quarry course to create two distinct golf experiences at one great resort."

The Golf Digest ranking of top golf resorts was created with the help of Golf Digest's 900-plus course-rating panelists, who also produce our biennial ranking of America's 100 Greatest Courses. They rated hundreds of U.S., Canadian, Mexican and Caribbean golf resorts on a scale of 1 ("awful") to 10 ("perfect"). Golf Digest averaged their ratings and multiplied the result by 10 to come up with a score for each.

"This impressive rating highlights the quality golf of The Legend and The Quarry and puts Giants Ridge on the map along with some of the nation's most outstanding golf resorts such as Pebble Beach, Pinehurst, Sandestin, and Bandon Dunes," said John Kendall, director of golf at Giants Ridge.

Contact: AmericanGolferBlog@gmail.com

No comments: