Forget the sims- Real golf practice in Minneapolis

Living in Minnesota can be cruel for golfers.  Take this morning.  You wake up to find you have slipped back in time to December:

What is a guy to do?  Well luckily for us golf-a-holics a new place has opened up in Eden Prairie called the MN Golf Academy.  Located just across highway 169 from the Braemar golf course in Edina, is a typical suburban warehouse-style office complex that houses a real gem for golfers who want to stay golf ready when the weather is not.  They have only recently opened in March.

The entrance to the MN Golf Academy is very unimposing. 

I wasn't sure if it was the back door for deliveries, but it isn't.  Head on in.

Walking in from the winter wonderland it was nice to see green. 

Straight ahead is the reception desk where you pony up your fees up front.  They book times in half hour increments.  At peak times (after work on the weekdays and all of the weekends) the rates posted are $18 for 30 minutes and $30 for an hour.  On off peak times it is $12 and $20.

Just past the desk and in the middle of the area is a nice putting green that stimps around 11 I was told .  It has some nice subtle breaks.

Past the green are the full shot bays.  They have 10 bays.  Bay 1 is on the far left and 10 on the far right.  Bay 4 and 5 have a support beam between them.  There is also one support beam in the range area.  When you book times via their website you can reserve a particular bay if you so choose.

When I arrived at 7:45 there were a few young men there but they soon left.  I chose bay 5 which was just to the right of the support beam.  I had no issues (being left handed) with the pole out in the range.  You might want to take that into account if you go though.

The range is about 40-50 yards long- long enough to tell the overall trajectory of your shot.  The back wall is painted black so the ball flight is very easy to see.  The other nice thing is they have vertical colored lines on the back wall that can server as aiming marks.

The height of the facility is maybe 25-30 feet, with a ceiling net hanging lower so anything less that a 5 or 6 iron is going to hit the ceiling before the back wall.  But at least you can tell if the strike is solid.

The hitting ground is nice.  The mats accept your own tees, no plastic un-adjustable garbage.  There are tow styles to hit off of, a tight fairway like mat and a smaller strip of more first-cut style.  A note about the tees- I tee my driver up rather low and using a long tee is not an option for me here as you can't push the long tees in far enough to get it low.  If you don't tee your ball high, bring some short tees or break some down.

I have blogged recently about a couple trips to simulators I went to recently.  I never will go back to one of those again.  I am fairly tall (about 6'4") and swinging in the simulator "boxes" always makes me feel like I am going to hit either the walls or ceiling.  I think that leads me to abbreviated chops at the ball and a destroyed confidence.  It was great to be in an open environment and feel like I could actually make a full swing without any worries of walls coming into play.

Turning around from the hitting bays and on the other side of the practice green they have 2 stalls with trackman analyzers set up.

But the real great part of this facility is yet to come.

Running down the entire length of the right side of the facility, from the door, is a short game practice area! 

I have never understood why more indoor facilities don't have short game areas.  That is the main thing I find disappears during the winter- my touch game.  It was so great to be able to hit all different kinds of shots into a very realistic green.  The shots checked up very realistically on well hit shots.  I could even cut shots in and get them to spin sideways like a real green. 

From the back it is maybe 60 yards to the green.  You can't hit lob shots from that distance with the ceiling but you can practice low runners. All around the green is thicker rough style turf that even has distinct grain that can affect your shots like a real course.

At the back of the green they have a large bunker for practicing your sand game.  The sand is very typical of most area courses- not the real sugary soft sand of some courses but not the real course junk at munis.

They are even in progress of building a pot bunker in the corner.  That will be nice to get some tough sand practice in.

Overall I could not have been more happy to have made the trip to MN Golf Academy.  For $20 I felt like I got some real practice in.  Something a simulator doesn't give you.

The full swing area is great.  While not quite a golf dome sized area, the hitting surfaces are terrific and there is enough space to see how your shot is flying.

The practice green is a nice area to have available and is a lot more challenging that your typical flat carpet style affairs I have seen in other locations.

But the true trump card and why I will be coming back here repeatedly is the short game area.  That is just the cat's pyjamas!

I haven't even mentioned the staff.  They seem like really great guys.  Very friendly and welcoming.

It was also a plus I felt like I was thumbing the snow gods too by getting the sticks out despite the white blanket covering this frozen tundra spring.

I honestly can not give a higher endorsement to a practice facility in the area. 

If you are itching to swing your clubs, forget the simulators! Come to the MN Golf Academy.  Just don't fill the place up because I will be coming back again very soon.