Giants Ridge Courses Lauded by Golfweek in Best Courses You Can Play, State-by-State and Best Modern Rankings By Brian Weis

Giants Ridge Courses Lauded by Golfweek in Best Courses You Can Play, State-by-State and Best Modern Rankings

The Quarry Maintains Status as Top Public Course in Minnesota; The Legend Climbs to Sixth

By Brian Weis

Giants Ridge - Minnesota's premier golf destination set in the rugged beauty of the Mesabi Iron Range - announces both of its championship golf courses, The Quarry and The Legend, were recognized by Golfweek in their latest rankings of the "Best Courses You Can Play, State-by-State" and "Best Modern Courses" in the country.

Presenting the top public access courses in each state, the former of these two lists saw The Quarry ranked first in Minnesota for the eighth consecutive year. Meanwhile, The Legend improved two spots to sixth in the 2022 list.

The Quarry received additional acclaim in the publication's "Top 200 Modern Courses" rankings, as it was tabbed T-135th in the nation. Recognizing the best courses built in or after 1960, this ranking placed The Quarry in an elite class alongside courses such as Desert Highlands and Whisper Rock in Arizona, and Carlton Woods in Texas. The highly touted Jeffrey Brauer design was also the second-highest ranked layout in the state of Minnesota.

Golfweek's elite team of course raters determine the publication's annual course ranking lists. Each year, the raters evaluate courses, grading each nominated layout on a 10-point basis based on Golfweek's criteria.

"It is an honor to see The Quarry and The Legend held in such high regard by Golfweek's course rankings," says John Kendall, director of golf. "We continue to set the bar high when it comes to our golf and resort experience, and achievements like this truly cement Giants Ridge as an elite destination in the Midwest."

Although Brauer designed both of Giants Ridge's courses, each features a unique layout and character. The appropriately named Quarry is built on the site of a former sand quarry and iron ore mine. Dramatically raised tees and hazards forged from reclaimed and repurposed mine land set The Quarry apart from other courses and provide dramatic Iron Range vistas.

Another aptly named layout - The Legend - offers truly legendary golf and celebrates a significant milestone in 2022. Carved out of the Superior National Forest, the player-friendly resort course plays through towering pines and alongside glittering Sabin Lake. Commemorating its 25th anniversary this year, the design paved the way for The Quarry and spearheaded the Iron Range into becoming a world-renowned golf destination.

Offering unbeatable value and 36 thrilling holes, Giants Ridge continues to shine as one of Minnesota's best golf destinations. In addition to the Golfweek honors, Golf Digest bestowed Giants Ridge its Editors' Choice Award for Best Golf Resorts in the Midwest for the fourth year running. The splendid resort and its courses have also received accolades from GOLF Magazine, MyGolfSpy and GolfPass.

Golf groups can take advantage of multiple specials and savor early season prices as low as $82 to play one of the resort's highly ranked designs.

For more information: www.giantsridge.com, 1.800.688.7669

More Information »

Revised: 06/08/2022 - Article Viewed 5,314 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.