Somerset Country Club

Overview: Somerset Country Club in Mendota Heights is a private parkland course with an unusually direct link to the Macdonald-Raynor school of architecture. Seth Raynor's design works across old farm and orchard ground, using strategic angles, shaped greens, and carefully placed hazards rather than sheer length. The course measures 6,728 yards from the back tees and retains the compact scale and intellectual character associated with Raynor's work. It is a classic Twin Cities course whose interest lies in how the land and the green complexes organize each hole.

History: Somerset was established in 1919 by golfers looking for a quieter setting south of St Paul. Raynor was hired to design the course, which opened for play in the early 1920s. The layout has changed in places over the decades, including later work associated with Stanley Thompson, but most of the course still reads as a historic Raynor property. Somerset has also hosted important state and national amateur events, including the 1956 U.S. Senior Amateur and the 1995 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur.

Did You Know? Somerset is one of Minnesota's clearest examples of Seth Raynor's influence. Raynor rose to prominence through his work with C.B. Macdonald, and Somerset brought that strategic architectural tradition to a state better known for Donald Ross and other northern designers.