Golf Season Kicks Off at Cragun's Resort By Brian Weis

Golf Season Kicks Off at Cragun's Resort

36 Holes of All-New Championship Golf Available for 2023

By Brian Weis

Brainerd, MN (April 20, 2023) -- Golf season kicks off at Cragun's Resort next week when 36 holes open for resort guest and public play.

Opening on April 28 will be The Lehman 18, following a multi-million-dollar renovation by Minnesota native and PGA Professional golfer Tom Lehman. This course layout moves perfectly through a 1000-acre wooded sanctuary working its way around Stephens Lake and through many of the other natural wetlands, a true Minnesota backdrop.

The Dutch 27 features three nine-hole layouts (Red, White, and Blue) offering a variety of 18-hole combinations. This season, the Dutch 18 Championship Course (Red and White nines) will open on April 27. The Red nine is set to go under renovation by Lehman Design Group on July 1, 2023 and slated to re-open for the 2024 season. On June 30th, the much anticipated Blue nine will open with newly renovated holes. Over the past year, 18 holes at the Dutch were enhanced by the addition of white sand to all bunkers and newly paved cart path

The Dutch Course also hosts the PGA TOUR Canada's CRMC Championship presented by Gertens, contested over Labor Day weekend. The Championship layout (Blue and White) stretches to 7001yards and plays to par 70.

Perfect for spring training, the nine-hole Par 3 Course is a great place to regain short iron touch after a winter layoff or to introduce a beginner to the game of golf. Instruction at the Chris Foley Golf School and other seasonal programming will be available this month, as well.

"We are thrilled to have 36 holes of world-caliber golf open for play," said Director of Golf Jack Wawro. "Tom Lehman's vision for our golf courses is exactly what we had hoped for when we started the renovation process. The caliber of these courses and our other golf facilities will be unparalleled in this region."

All green fees include golf cart, GPS and driving range privileges. Walking is allowed on the Par 3 Course and pull carts are available. Rates vary seasonally and resort overnight guests are afforded special green fees.

Cragun's Resort is located on beautiful Gull Lake in Brainerd, Minnesota and offers a wide array of outdoor activities for individuals, families, and groups, including a mile-long sandy beach, biking, hiking trails and watersports.

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Revised: 04/20/2023 - Article Viewed 1,133 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.