Vermilion Fairways Golf Club in Cook, MN, is located on County Highway 24, near the intersection with County Highway 78 in northern Minnesota. The nine-hole semi-private golf course is ideal for golfers of all skill levels. Course architects developed a flat layout with relatively wide fairways and large greens to induce beginners to play the course. Intermediate players will still have to navigate the two creeks and two ponds that come into play on six of the holes, and the grass bunkers protecting three of the greens. Long-hitting players have to weigh the risk/reward of attempting to cut the doglegs on several holes and driving the creek on the finishing hole. Golfers of all skill levels enjoy the pristine wilderness that defines this remote part of the state. Kabetogama State Forest, home to black bears, moose, and timber wolves, sits just to the northeast of the course.
Wide, relatively flat bent grass fairways provide plenty of room for golfers to land tee shots. A few individual trees stand to the side of most of the fairways. Course landscapers have pruned the dangling limbs, thus eliminating most impediments to a golfer’s backswing. The worst-case scenario if a ball lands near a tree is a punch out a recovery shot back into a fairway. Golfers do not deal with uneven lies or blind shots caused by rolling terrain. Most holes are relatively straight from tee to green. Small ponds sit far enough away from the fairways and greens to pose no major problems for the average golfer. Large bent grass greens hold most pitch and run approach shots. They do not have major contour changes but have enough undulations to make players experience contoured putting surfaces. 100, 150 and 200-yard (on the par fives) markers provide golfers with approach shot distances.
