The Wilderness at Fortune Bay Resort Casino

Getting To Know: The Wilderness at Fortune Bay Resort Casino

An Insightful Interview With Ryan Peterson, General Manager

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Ryan Peterson who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
The Wilderness at Fortune Bay Resort Casino is on Golf Digest's top 100 list and is for good reason. The golf course is woven through the North woods of Northern Minnesota and is nestled alongside the fifth largest lake in the state, Lake Vermilion. Award winning golf course architect, Jeffery Brauer, amplified an already picturesque property by integrating split fairways and granite rock ledges into his design to accentuate the panorama the course offers. The Wilderness is as visually stimulating as it is enjoyable to play.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Golf Course Superintendent Ryan VerNess, and his staff pride themselves on the condition the course is in whether it is spring, summer, or fall. If superb course conditions and national rankings are not reason enough to visit, then being located right across the parking lot of a 173 suite hotel/Casino might entice you. The hotel has a fitness center, pool, sauna. The casino offers over 800 slot machines, blackjack and poker tables. After your round the award winning Wilderness Grill offers a unique menu that borders on fine dining with vistas of the course while you dine. Make it a weekend and utilize the various amenities the resort has to offer such as the RV park, 80 plus slip marina, or esteemed heritage center.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
The golf course plays very fair, albeit visually intimidating. I recommend you pay attention to where the pin placements are as it can dictate the best route to be taken for low scores. All of the golf cars are equipped with GPS units that have flyover feature to see and hear the best way to play each hole.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
Best Resort Courses in America (#67) - Golfweek 2020, Best Courses America (#7, #1 in MN) - Golfweek 2020, Best: State by State Courses You Can Play in MN (#2) - Golfweek 2019, America's Top 100 Public Courses (#72) - Golf Digest 2019, Best in State (#10 overall, #3 Public) - Golf Digest 2019, Best Golf Course in Minnesota (#1) - Golftime Magazine 2018

I am very proud of our environmental stewardship. We have been certified under the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary program since 2005.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
Our most talked about hole is #5 because of the green. Jeffery Brauer demonstrated his interest in old designers on hole #5 by fashioning a Biarritz style green on the 364 yard par four, where the swale slashes across and is five feet deep. It is tough to narrow down which hole is our most photographed as we see so many different photos out on the course. I'd have to say hole #1 for the sake that it is a massive par 5 to start on, hole #7 is a short par 3 with tee boxes overlooking the green and hole #13 because the entire hole is along Lake Vermilion.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
I love hole #8, it is a risk/reward par 5, that wraps around water and is guarded by a timber wolf paw bunker.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
Chef prides himself on including as many local ingredients as possible. We have a lot of fun new items this year so my must have dish could possibly change but our guests' favorite and one of mine is our Walleye dinner.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
The course record is held by Minnesota PGA Professional Bill Israelson. He shot 66 from the tips back in 2005 when we hosted the Minnesota Section Club Professional Championship.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 7207
Slope: 142
Rating: 75.3

More Information
The Wilderness at Fortune Bay Resort Casino
1450 Tower, Minnesota, 55790
218-753-8917
www.golfthewilderness.com

Revised: 09/26/2016 - Article Viewed 37,271 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.