Question for the contingent.
I have a 16 person golf trip in June and the guy who runs this thing, this will be the 26th year, fyi, had me do some investigating and I found Thumper Pond. They quoted us a great price for an all-inclusive golf package.
Any thoughts on the course?? None of us have played it and we haven’t 100% committed yet. Just wanted to get some feed back from the MN contingent.
Thx
WTH?!?! Expand please
Oh no. I thought things had been awfully quiet. So was the snap Bo Jackson style over the knee, or did you take a swipe at something?
Back in my 20’s I once had this three wood that I couldn’t hit and after fucking up yet another shot with it I decided it needed to be removed from my life permanently. So I took a swipe at my golf bag with it shattering the shaft. Only problem was as the clubhead detached itself from the broken shaft its momentum caused it to travel up the bag where hit my driver head breaking that off the shaft as well in the process, leaving me with two broken clubs. It was not a good scene.
Nice little early spring Refuge meet up of @libraryTryhard, @munihack7, @BaxterMSP, and myself. Winds got apocalyptic, course was oversold, and it turned into a death march that was easily 5:20 minutes. Easily the windiest conditions I’ve ever played in. It looked like Keegan Bradley at Riviera yesterday at times, with putts just about to stop only to get gusted and roll off the green. It was ugly, but the company was good so at least there was that.
We went to Thumper Pond last year for our guys trip. The course is fine, it is a former Christmas tree farm so there are lots of trees but they are trimmed up high enough so you can find your ball and play it. You won’t find it on any top ten lists, but most of the guys liked it.
Our group was 12-20ish handicaps, and were looking for something more playable than Cragun’s and it fit the bill. That being said, we agreed to go somewhere different this year and add it to the places we would return to for a future trip.
It’s a decent course, usually in good shape with some fun holes. Like @Mystic said, it’s definitely in an interesting setting, probably never played another course like it in the state which is kinda cool.
Thumper is fine for the convenience. For golf, you’d be much better off playing Perham, Balmoral, and DL or Wildflower. You could probably find a cabin to rent somewhere in the middle of that area and get much better golf with a little bit of driving.
Over the back of the neck. I wish we had video, because the gasp of genuine horror I let out was a sound I’m sure I’ve never made before.
Thanks for the insight on Thumper. I will pass it on to the Commish
Ha! Wish I would have seen it!
Matt, your game might not be there, but you can at least claim to be stronger than Koepka!
Like @zhanson38 mentioned, Thumper Pond is solid, but I would possibly look into Wildflower as well if you haven’t already committed. If you can get a couple non-windy days out there, that course is really tough to beat.
Just like @tj_denawli said. Early spring and early Covid mixed with high winds and warm weather. Course was just packed, teed off round 9am and we walking off around 2:30. Told my wife I was playing with internet friends, I think she was concerned I had been murdered it took so long.
Over packing a course is…idk how to voice how much that practice grinds my gears.
Late to the party but f-u-c-k FUCK Oak Marsh. It might be the worst course in North America. It’s always packed with like 7 minute tee time blocks, it costs about $25 more than it’s worth and the staff act like they’re at this premier club. It’s probably the only place I will legitimately veto/not play. I get angry just thinking about that course.
No Chomonix and No Oakmarsh.
I hate Chomonix too but not nearly as much and for different reasons, most notably that HS golf tryouts were always there around mid-March with snow and frost everywhere. So dumb. Conditioning still isn’t great but it’s gotten a lot better of the last couple years under new management.
Edit: and it’s usually cheap, unlike Oak Marsh. I wouldn’t pay $34 to walk that piece of trash let alone the $54 they ask for peak.
Agreed. I think it’s frustrating because it has a lot of potential if you think about it. Pretty good practice facilities, honestly not a terrible course and its in a richer suburb. Keep the price, spread out the tee times and it is immediately better imo
that said, I played it last year the day before they had State Am qualifiers and the course was in the best condition I have ever seen it. Prior to that day I felt the same as you but left frustrated at the potential it had
Spread out the tee times and improve the conditioning. Greens are all pitch marked to hell and they open so early and stay open so late that the grass isn’t growing right.
Edit: possibly worth noting that the last time I played it was probably 3 years ago
Thought I was going to have to enact the mercy rule here, but Rush Creek/The Jewel has gotten closer and closer throughout the day.
More playable than Cragun’s!!? Cragun’s is way more playable (massively wide fairways and big greens) and the layout and condition are 10x better than Thumper.
