The Jewel Golf Club

The Jewel Golf Club is aptly named. From the time you drive up to the clubhouse and leave your clubs at the bag drop, through 18 holes of superb golf, to the drinks on the patio overlooking the course following the round, this course is truly a gem. The fairways are generously wide, and some of the smoothest you’ll find. You’ll get lots of roll on your drives. If you stray off the fairway, you’ll likely pay the price as the first cut of rough is higher than the ball and if you go farther astray you’ll find native grass that is a foot high or more leading to thick stands of trees. Luckily, the course has a local rule that the native grass or woods may be played as a lateral hazard, so you don’t have to take the lost ball stroke and distance penalty. The greens are undulating, smooth, fast, and true. Accustomed to playing courses with much slower greens, I had great difficulty making the adjustment when chipping from off the green and kept blowing the ball past the hole. About half the holes are set on relatively flat terrain and have a links-style look and feel. The rest wind through scenic bluffs lined with thick woods. There’s lots of variety, as every hole has a different look: long, short, right or left dogleg, uphill, and downhill. Two of the shortest par 4’s on the course really stand out. The 6th measures 286 yards from the middle men’s tees, tempting many golfers to try driving the green. But the woods and high grass on both left and right make many of them rue their decision. Similarly, the 13th is 334 yards from the middle tees, but the there is a steep drop-off to the right of the narrow fairway that doglegs slightly to the right. If you miss right you’ll have a severely uphill approach shot that must carry a bunker and then hold the smallish green. Going left is no bargain either, because if you go through the fairway you’ll find the woods again. The 8th hole is a short (467 yards from the middle tees) par 5. With native grass on both sides of the fairway, you might consider yourself lucky if a stray tee shot finds one of the fairway bunkers instead of running all the way into the junk. The green is elevated and very difficult to hold with a fairway wood or hybrid approach, so it might be better to lay up and have a short iron or wedge approach. The deep bunker on the front right of the green could be difficult to escape, especially if you find the native grass “island” in the middle of it. No one in our foursome scored as well as he would have liked, but all agreed that The Jewel is a golf course we will visit again. It’s about 90 minutes from the Twin Cities, but well worth the drive.

We love this course. It is always in great condition, Good for all levels of gold. Friendly crew.l

We love this course for it is always in good condition, fun holes and friendly to the eye.

Great staff and excellent deals in the pro shop and restaurant. We had good food after our round. Course was excellent, a few t boxes were being aerated but it wasn't an issue and the greens had come back nicely after being punched a week to ten days earlier.

The Jewel is truly a terrific course. It is challenging with great angles on tee shots with plenty of tees to choose from. The greens are excellent. The fairways are awesome to hit off of. Nice tight lies so you can spin shots and can bump and run into greens. Some very nice views as well. A good yardage book might be nice to help with distances/targets, especially for first time playing the course.
Awesome experience.....will return!!

i gave this course 5 star. we drop off our bag and lady came to greet us with big smile. than in pro shop a guy check us in. than again @1305 putting Green lady came back told us we can go a head tee off after one group even our tee time is at 1327. pace of play was great. Cart lady was super nice.. lot of drinking station thru out the course .. layout of the course was beautiful. it was a worth a drive to lake city to play at THE JEWEL GOLF COURSE.
we will be back ....

We try to play here every summer and make it a two round day. Pace of play is typically a little over 4 hours. Good course layout without any gimmick holes. We chose to play the combination tees for our group and we generally shoot in the mid 80's.

It's a hard course to play the first time. There are so many holes that you don't know what's in front of you. And if you think that way on the front nine, wait until you get to the back nine. The day we played, the greens were perfect. They had an MGA event at The Jewel for three days, and we caught the course on the third day when there wasn't much play and the greens were perfect, fast, slick, and true. The course is excellent, but when you don't know what's ahead of you, it's a tough one.

A beautifully designed and maintained course. 5 sets of tees measuring over 7,000 from blacks. Ample bunkering, smooth and quick greens, fescue, water hazards etc. A true and fair test of a golfers abilities.

Love the course, surrounded by bluffs with manicure fairways and greens. Pace of play was great.
One of the best courses in southern Minnesota.

This is a country club quality course. The back 9 is a must see for all golfers. Pick the tees based on your handicap. There's enough challenge for every level. The greens in early May were perfect. The fairways are spotless. Clubhouse matches the quality. The back patio is a great place to have a meal after a round. It's 2 hours from my house and I played there 5 times last season. And hope I can play as many rounds this. Any price and it's worth it for the pristine quality. But there are deals to be had.

The whole course is in great shape but the greens were excellent, fast and true. The staff was friendly and helpful. Didn't linger in the lounge but it looked nice.

Amazing bent grass fairways, beautiful views from each tee box, great risk / reward shots, and the greens were fantastic.

Highly recommend The Jewel to anyone!!

Course was in perfect condition. Would highly recommend. Great scenery and unique holes.

Everything about The Jewel was first class.

Quality putting green, driving range and even a chipping green with a bunker to practice sand shots.

The conditions of everything on the course was excellent, which was impressive since it had just rained a lot the previous two days and the entire night before. We weren't even sure if the course would be playable that day. I was especially impressed by the great shape of the bunkers despite all the rain.

The greens were immaculate, rolled well and were slightly on the quick side, but each hole had at least a little break, which made us all miss a lot of putts.

The rough was surprisingly thick; thicker than I was used to.

I loved the course layout and variety of different holes and tee shots. Almost every shot felt uniquely different and interesting.

On the front 9, holes 1-3 and 8-9 were more of a treeless "links" style with plenty of bunkers, including fairway bunkers, whereas holes 4-7 were suddenly "back in the woods" with fewer bunkers.

The back 9 was more of a traditional layout with more water and scenic views of the surrounding terrain.

Six different tees to play from (Red, Copper, White, Blue and Black, as well as a Blue/White option) to offer an appropriate challenge for a wide range of skill levels.

Quality on-course amenities, like plenty of drinking water and actual bathroom buildings instead of, say, outhouses or nothing at all.

Nice clubhouse with bar & restaurant and outdoor patio on top floor overlooking the course. The chicken breast on my caesar salad after we played was surprisingly well-cooked; juicy & delicious. Although, someone in our group complained about the long wait at the turn for a hot dog.

They also had electric golf carts, which I always prefer over gas.

A round at The Jewel is always worth the drive. The only thing better is to play to course when the valley is in full fall color!

Great fairways, receptive greens and lots of wildlife