The Club at Golden Valley

Overview: The Club at Golden Valley is an A.W. Tillinghast course in the western Twin Cities. Its parkland setting is defined by rolling ground, deep grass-faced bunkers, pitched greens, and the kind of strategic changes in elevation that make an apparently modest yardage demanding. The current par-73 course can be played to about 7,004 yards, but its most important questions concern approach angles and recovery from the bold hazards. The layout remains a recognizable Golden Age course while serving as an active private club.

History: The club's origins reach back to 1914, with a nine-hole course opening in 1916 and an 18-hole Bendelow layout following in 1919. A.W. Tillinghast was retained in 1926 for a three-year renovation that produced the course's defining design. Later alterations softened some of the original features, but a long restoration program returned many bunkers and green details to their historical forms. The club has hosted state championships and professional events across its history.

Did You Know? The 1998 bunker restoration was part archaeology and part construction. Workers uncovered layers from earlier bunker changes and used the lowest historic contours, old photographs, and surviving evidence to reconstruct the original Tillinghast shapes instead of simply making modern hazards in the same locations.