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Giants Ridge's Quarry Course: The Site that Keeps on Giving

Contact Mark Leslie
207-933-6708
gripfast@megalink.net
or Jeffrey Brauer
817-640-7275
jeff@jeffreydbrauer.com
or Shannon Kendall
218-865-4143, ext. 211
Shannon.Kendall@giantsridge.com

BIWABIK, Minn. (August 13, 2001) -- This is the Iron Range -- tens of thousands of acres of rugged, spoiled taconite and sand-and-gravel quarries, sitting on the western edge of the Superior National Forest and at the eastern end of the Mesabi Mountain Range. And when the new 18-hole Jeffrey Brauer-designed The Quarry at Giants Ridge Golf & Ski Resort is complete, it will leave an indelible imprint in the minds of golfers who trek here. Wild elevation swings, formidable sand hazards of Pine Valley-ish deviltry, and Brauer's trademark bold and brash green surrounds will present the challenges of the day.

"One of our main goals was to make The Quarry distinct," said Brauer of Arlington, Texas, whose first course at Giants Ridge, the Resort Course, became an instant hit when it opened in 1997, earning a place among the nation's best new courses, and ranking as number-one public course in Minnesota. His new entry, which is nearly completely shaped and will be grassed late this fall or early next spring, is expected to open in late spring or early summer 2003.

Measuring Brauer's courses in business terms, player acceptance is not unusual. His Avocet Course is the most popular of four courses at Wild Wing Plantation in Myrtle Beach, S.C. And his Canterberry in Parker, Colo., Ridgeview Ranch Golf Course in Plano, Texas, and others are among the most popular in their respective markets.

But at Giants Ridge, Brauer is competing against himself. Which course will win -- The Quarry, or the original track here?

"I truly think it will depend upon what kind of golfer you are," Brauer said. "The Quarry will call for more precision, but will be much more dramatic. We are building bigger putting surfaces with more contour, sandy waste areas rather than formal bunkers as hazards, and square/rectangular tees to connote an old-fashioned look."

"The sites," he said, "are different enough to be on different planets. The first is the most natural site I have ever had. The other is the most 'unnatural,' and because of its ruggedness, it has been easy to distinguish it with rugged features, as opposed to the first course. We have still been able to pick out some great golf holes."

Quoting his project architect, Bill Fitzpatrick, as calling The Quarry "the site that keeps on giving," Brauer pointed to design enhancements on recent visits to the project:

  • In addition to the sand and rock quarry areas, on a site visit in early August week, Brauer and Fitzpatrick found areas of peat. They re-engineered the 5th and 12th holes completely to both remove the unstable peat, and create two unique holes.

  • After clearing the 13th hole, they discovered some wild topography not depicted on their maps, and they are incorporating the land forms into a short, par-4.

  • And, while shaping the 11th -- a short par-3 that was the last addition to the routing when the site was "compressed" from its original dimensions ‹ they discovered a vein of iron ore just below the surface between tee and green. "It has now been exposed as the centerpiece of a large, dramatic bunker," Brauer said.

    Saying that the two courses will present golfers with distinctly different golfing experiences, IRRB Development Director Mike Gentile added: "We think that will be an added attraction for visitors coming to Giants Ridge, extending their stay beyond the one-day golf round into two and three rounds. That will expand our market, bring more visitors to Giants Ridge, and complete the golfing experience that Giants Ridge will have for the coming years.

    Two years ago, Gentile started Wild North Golf, a cooperative marketing group of more than a dozen golf courses in northeast Minnesota to undertake joint cooperative marketing efforts "to bring golfers to the region and give them the complete gamut of golfing opportunities."

    "We think the two courses here at Giants Ridge, another new one Jeff Brauer is designing at Fortune Bay Resort & Casino in Tower, and other courses in the area will make this part of the state truly a golf destination, giving golfers a lot of unique opportunities to play some very popular courses and some high-end golf courses," Gentile said.

    Brauer and his company, GolfScapes, have designed 40 golf courses and remodeled 80. Canterberry Golf Course in Parker, Colo., and Giants Ridge are rated among the best affordable public courses in the United States, while his Avocet Course at Wild Wing Plantation in Myrtle Beach, S.C., was a Golf Digest best new course winner, Champions Country Club is rated 5th in Nebraska and TangleRidge Golf Club is 12th in Texas. President of the American Society of Golf Course Architects during its 50th anniversary year in 1995-96, Brauer also designed Colbert Hills Golf Club at Kansas State, which opened in June 2000 as the cornerstone golf course for The First Tee program as well as the first collaboration between the PGA of America and Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.

     

     

    keywords: Giants Ridge, Jeff Brauer, GolfScapes, Bill Fitzpatrick, Iron Range