Houston White plays golf at Legends Club in Prior Lake
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Houston White Breaks Down Minneapolis-St. Paul's Best Golf Courses

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Andrew Parks
Golf // Article

Houston White Breaks Down Minneapolis-St. Paul's Best Golf Courses

Door Andrew Parks

As if he wasn’t busy enough running The Get Down Coffee Co. and launching clothing lines with the likes of Target and the menswear shop MartinPatrick3, Houston White is also behind the annual Be the Change Golf Tournament at Theodore Wirth Golf Club. The benefit is one of White’s many efforts to broaden the game’s reach and exemplify Black excellence through fashion, sports and culture.

Here are five of the North Minneapolis native's favorite courses in the metro area.

Houston White at Legends Club in Prior Lake

The sun sets at Legends Club  / Andrew Parks

LEGENDS CLUB

The folks that work here have always treated me really well. They're very hospitable, very cool people. It also has the country club feel of being secluded, which means a lot to me personally, because it’s the place I go to just get away.

That’s something I tell every single entrepreneur I know: ‘You have to have a release valve.’ Golf, for any aspiring young professional, is a superpower — both a respite and a way to connect with other people.

One thing about this one, though: It’s not a course where I would bring somebody who is just starting to play golf. This is for when you progress a little bit. I mean, you could play here, as long as you’re willing to pick up your ball and move it to the next hole if you’re holding things up.

STONERIDGE GOLF CLUB

I love, love, love this place. It’s a links-style course, like what you’d see in Scotland when golf started — no trees, and a big flat area that has a whole bunch of miles [in it].

The difficulty with that is you're playing all these angles with a full shot. Links golf is all about placing the ball, but you don't have the trouble that you have in a traditional golf course, which is you hit it in a tree. So it's more forgiving in terms of space, but more difficult in terms of navigating everything. 

There’s just something about the open air here that feels different to me. I really enjoy it. And it’s just a beautiful, challenging course.

Houston White playing golf

Photo by Andrew Parks

KELLER GOLF COURSE

This is more of a traditional course, where the fairway is wide and there’s trees lining the fairway. You’ve got to try and actually hit that grass.

Keller is a short course, but it has a ton of history. They used to play the St. Paul Open there, with Arnie Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. It just has this mystique, man. It's beautiful. It's well maintained. It's old school. It's nostalgic. It's regal. It has this essence of 'this is golf.'

As much as I'm a futurist, I'm also a purist. I'm a vintage modernist. I love tradition, but I want to push it forward.

Houston White at Legends Golf Club, Prior Lake

Photo by Andrew Parks

LOGGERS TRAIL GOLF CLUB

I remember when this course first opened. I used to play it every week, but I haven't been there in years. It’s links on the front, and then it turns into a more traditional course on the back. So it’s the best of both worlds. It can play really long, but it’s beautiful, man.

PRESTWICK GOLF CLUB

Here's the thing about Minnesota, man: I could go on and on and on about the great courses here, from the Chaska Town Course and Francis A. Gross to Hidden Greens in Hastings. Hastings should have its own golf loop, actually; there's so many little, amazing courses there. 

Prestwick, over in Woodbury, reminds me of your favorite dive Irish bar — if it was a golf course. It just has this vibe to it, where it's not pretentious. It's dope. It's chill. It's like, 'We do what we do, and we do it well. We're not trying to be anything else.' It's that type of thing.  

Andrew Parks

Andrew Parks is a senior digital strategist at Explore Minnesota. His previous work including copywriting and content design for such clients as the Michelin Guide, Apple, Food & Wine, Condé Nast Traveler, Bandcamp, AFAR, Bon Appétit, and Red Bull.