Driving-wise, Lakewood is far closer to BRP than Oakwood, especially on a weekday. Acorn is closer still, but the quality of play is much higher at Lakewood.
Are you planning on playing leagues while out here. Please check BRP's league schedule. If you are up for a league, than you will have a great time. If not, the earlier in the day, the better.
Next question, where are you staying? HSSA is a monster of a course because of the up and down of the ski-hills. A recent re-design made it a little easier, but the toughest part of the course is the second-half. Thankfully there is a chalet where you can get a breather after 9 if you feel that you need to. Otherwise, the course is fairly out in the sun and might be a brutal mid-day play. The earlier the better if you want to beat the heat or sun, or really later in the day when the temp starts to cool and the western trees start to provide some shade. You also get a great view of Bloomington and surrounding cities that looks great late in the day. Bryant is not going to be overly challenging, but it is going to be one of the most relaxing and best rounds you will play all week. It has enough challenge, mainly because it has a little bit of everything (most Minnesota courses lack variety), but it is not overly punishing either. It has more than enough shade and relief from a hot day that there is no bad time of day to play. Traffic around HSSA (494) is going to be insane, especially later in the day. Arriving at HSSA around 10am or finishing your round later than 7:30pm is going to be your best bet.
Minnesota does not lack for options for getting out, but quality of play is not anymore impressive than anywhere else. I am sorry, and I have been given flak for this, but I have seen higher quality courses in IA, WI, MI, and IL. The difference, however, is that we have so many good choices so close together. I think we have some stellar 9 and 12 holers than most other areas would be jealous. I am anxious to see the redesigned Plymouth Creek, Bassett is decent, Lochness is decent if you like big shots, and just outside of the 494/694 loop you have some good choices in Independence and Montrose. Another course maybe worth a look is Wintercrest in Coon Rapids. It is 21 holes. A top player will card -9 to -13 or so, but it is technical enough where you could just as easily go in the opposite direction. It is a newer course, so it is still a little rough around the edges, pun and no pun intended. Unfairly to the NW suburbs, the better courses seem to be in the east to south-east side of the Cities. Lakewood, Kaposia, The Valley, CP Adams, and Oakwood. That is just so unfair to those on the west side of the Cities.
Have been doing some homework and checking out all the courses mentioned by the folks in this thread. Also a big shout out to Precision Disc Golf for some quick DGCR videos showing tee signs, hole design and shots thrown. Headed down the Minnesota YouTube rabbit hole over a rainy weekend here.
Looking like late June and trying to get them all there on a Wednesday night so we can play 2 courses Thursday, 2 courses Friday and finish with one final round on Saturday. Reading a lot of (trusted) reviews and seems many of these courses are popular and get crowded in nice weather so hoping to get in two days while most folks work.
Tentative schedule
* Thursday - Blue Ribbon Pines (27) and ???? (18)
* Friday - Hyland Hills (18) and Bryant Lake (18)
* Saturday - Vision Quest (18)
Was going to do BRP and Vision but sounds like VQ is only open to public on weekends? Something nice and fun for AM2/AM3 players around BRP on a Thursday? Still looking into Lakewood, Oakwood, The Valley and Kaposia as possible courses. Nice to have so many options to choose from but narrowing it down gets hard for this trip.
