Columbia Golf Club — Attraction in Minneapolis

I golf quite frequently sometimes 4-5 days a week... my brother and father took me to this course For the first time.. great course fairly well kept up and for the course I’d say 4/5 stars. Love the history and the old city course vibe... however the reason for 1 star is this: We had a tee time and showed up 25-30 mins early There were no golf carts available. My senior citizen father asked the pro shop if we could wait for a cart he received the response: “I’m not gonna sell you a cart if I can’t guarantee you’ll get one”. Fair enough... my father is old and loves golf but has a hard time walking 18 holes.... So we walked over to the cart return and asked the guy there if we could wait for the next available cart . His response was “Before you get on a golf cart I need to see a receipt that says you paid for one”. I said “well the guy wouldn’t sell us one but we’re willing to wait and pay for the next Available cart” he responded with “first go pay for one and then I can help you” 5 minutes prior the guy in the pro shop refused to sell us a cart... we contemplated leaving right then and there but we bucked up and with some encouragement my father begrudgingly said ok let’s walk it... so i thought no problem we’ll just walk.... My senior citizen father was not happy about walking 18 holes and frankly unsure if he would be able to golf the whole round but we tried it. When we got on the course we immediately were stuck behind a group of 5 people who were taking 15-20 mins on every hole, in front of them was a single person golfing alone, and in front of him was a group of 8 people with 4 Golf carts. Many times off of the tee We had people running into our fairway fetching balls as we were teeing off without regard. (Even people running into our fairway after we teed off walking to our balls people Multiple times would run up to our balls we just hit and pick them up thinking it was their balls) tee time was at 1:30 and we were forced to end our round early around 6pm on the 14th hole. It took 4.5 hrs to get through 14 holes because play was so sloW and backed up From mismanagement of group sizes and lack of golf carts. some groups were driving around in 4-5 golf carts with 5-8 people per group while other people like us (3 people) With my elderly father get the shaft and were forced to walk. This course is great for the beginner/ fun time with a group of friends Kind of golf. Not recommended for serious golfers. In the future this course will not be my first choice. If you require a golf cart or are golfing with people who do, I do not recommend this course. they may not have any available carts. If golf Etiquette is important to you I would not recommend this course, many beginner players running every which way. I wanted to love this course for the historic vibe but honestly the course was so crowded i felt like I was waiting in line all day. Great course for beginners who just want to give golf a try or a great place to bring friends who are beginners but I would not recommend this course for more experienced players... also give yourself plenty of time If you plan on playing this course it took us 5 hrs and we only got through hole 14 before walking...

Great muni course right in Northeast. It’s a hilly course. It’s not Wirth hilly, but it’s good exercise.

Lots of doglegs, so a lot of times you won’t be able to see your ball land.

As of 2022, Columbia is now a par 70 with 6 par 3’s.

The driving range is down the parkway, not near the clubhouse. You can either drive to the range and warm up, THEN drive to the clubhouse to play, or if you’re getting a cart, get the cart at the clubhouse and drive that to the range and back. But it’s a long drive. If you only need to putt before a round, there is an excellent putting green next to the clubhouse.

WARNING: For the seasons 2022 & 2023, Columbia has had the best putting greens in the city. This means firm and fast and good condition. Country club greens really. In two years, I haven’t played any courses with faster greens than Columbia. Private or public. If you really want a putting challenge, come try your putting skills at Columbia. You will three putt. No whining as you’ve been warned in advance.

If you are planning to walk Columbia, be warned you will get exercise. If you’re on the fence “should I ride or walk?” Choose ride. You’ll enjoy your round much more.

Lastly, Columbia boasts the hardest par 4 in the metro. Number 16 from the back tees was supposed to be a par 5 during the renovation. Instead it’s a 480 yard par 4. Good luck.

Come out and play! Course is in great condition. Greens are the best....

We called and said we have 6 of us and mostly new golfers. They said come on in the course is pretty much empty. By hole 2 we had the ranger yelling to pick up the pace... We switched to best ball to pick up our pace By hole 4 he told us to split up in 3's after we rented 3 carts.. Other golfers were very respectful and we let anyone pass us that wanted to. Hole 8 we got told to skip this hole we are to slow. The ranger pretty much followed us the rest of the course telling us to get going. I understand about keeping the pace but.... that is why we called and explained!!!! I went to the office and explained again and was told we should be done by now!!! Again we stopped and let a lot of people go by us which took a lot of time!!!! We spent almost $500 between golf, carts balls and tees just to get harassed and pushed around and forced to skip holes!!!!!...