MN, SD, ND +4: The Final Frontier – 50 in 75 Golf Adventure – Mission accomplished on September 22, 2025! This day back in 1950 was a long, long time ago – 75 years to be exact. The mission was to visit all 50 states and it only took 75 years. I finished the journey and completed it on my 75th birthday! I am now part of the 1% club.
Since North Dakota was my final state, Osgood Golf Course in Fargo was the first golfing experience in the Peace Garden State. So far on this journey, we’ve played 9-hole courses in OH, IL, MN, SD, and now let’s see if I can find my A-Game in ND.
If you like rolling fairways, Hole #1 will answer the call. There is not a flat spot on the fairway or green at this opening par 4 hole. If your tee shot makes a beeline to the green, you will miss the “junk” short right of the tee box and the fairway bunker out to the left. However you will not find a flat lie on the landing area. The green is long and narrow, so it’s easy to miss the putting surface.
Hole #2 is a par 5 and the number one handicap hole. Standing on the tee box and taking scope of the area, you can see the green in the distance to the left. Two long and well-struck shots may clear the water that protects the green. The safer path is down the fairway which could provide you with a better way to secure a good score. It’s a nice risk/reward hole.
Hole #3 is a par 3 of 158 yards and has the number nine handicap rating. It has to be the easiest hole since I recorded the only birdie of the day! The sign at the fourth hole read, “Attention, each golfer is responsible for damage to property or injury by their golf ball”. There are houses, trees, and fairway bunkers to the left and high native grasses to the right at this straight par 4. My advice is to “hit it straight” and stay protected! Your ball needs to soar over both water and sand at the par 3 fifth hole. Most of ours did!
Hole #6 bends slightly to the left, and standing on the tee box it looks like a relatively easy hole. However, there is enough water and sand around this hole to keep you on your toes. And as with most of the greens, this one is large and undulating. Hole #7 is another risk/reward, well-designed hole. There is water left at the start and water right as you approach the green at the 340 yard par 4 dogleg right beauty. There is a “barber pole” with a flag in the fairway that is an excellent aiming point for your tee shot. You have to stay left for any chance at a good score.
We finish the round with back-to-back par 3’s. Hole #8 is 155 yards (and to be totally redundant), your ball needs to soar over water and sand. Most of ours did! Hole #9 is 175 yards with a large green which will deflect any wayward shots.
Rating – Ace (54 out of 60): Wow, just wow! Have you ever set your sights low about a golf course and just been totally blown away by how good it is? Like the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover because Osgood Public Golf Course was such a fun, challenging, but fair golf experience. The course design is fantastic, it was in great condition, there are all types of different shot shapes (definitely not boring), and the greens were very undulating which made for some fun rolls. My final thought – excellent, excellent course!
But wait there’s more…How about a post-round beer and dog at Brewtus’ 13th Hole clubhouse? 13th hole you ask? Well, there is also a small 3-hole loop to introduce a new golfer to the game. Fargo Golf (part of the Fargo Park District) also offers two additional 9-hole tracks and two 18-hole courses.
The question I have for myself, “why did I wait 75 years to visit North Dakota?”
4400 Clubhouse Dr. S., Fargo, ND 58104; 701-356-3070; FargoGolf.Net
