Introduction
Grand View Lodge celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2026. The sprawling resort is located on the shores of beautiful Gull Lake in Nisswa, Minnesota. It features a huge variety of lodging, dining, and activities, including two golf courses. The Pines is a top-notch facility with three nines that are approachable and enjoyable for all golfers.
Practice Facilities
The Pines has no shortage of practice options. There is a large driving range with ample balls set out for players to use. There are multiple practice greens and chipping areas so you don’t feel like you’re disrupting others’ practice routines, or vice versa. The putting greens run quick and true with gentle slopes, indicative of most of the greens you’ll find on the course. There’s also a small putting course, which adds a bit of a fun and unique flavor, whether before or after your round.
Customer Service & Amenities
Checking into our rooms at Grand View Lodge, it became quickly apparent that customer service is taken seriously. We were treated with a genuine down-to-earth kindness that tends to be more rare than you’d like it to be in service environments these days. We found this kind of attitude across the board, from the check-in counter to the concierge to the breakfast buffet to the golf course itself.
Grand View Lodge is a golf resort in that it features two 18-hole golf courses, one on the same site as the rest of the property, another just a short drive away, but it’s really more of a family resort. There are an incredible amount of amenities and activities available for people of all ages, whether they play golf or not. From bingo to bonfires to pools, waterparks, live music, and all manner of boating, paddling, etc, it’s hard to overstate how much is going on at any one time.
There are several restaurants on site, and the food was exceptional. We also had lunch at Freddy’s, the casual clubhouse restaurant at the Pines, after our round. My fried walleye dog on a wild rice bun was clearly made from scratch, provided some much-appreciated local flavor, and was absolutely delicious. I could not have been more impressed with the customer service and amenities I encountered at the resort and know that what I experienced was only the tip of the iceberg. [Learn More / Plan Trip]
Beauty & Scenery
The Pines is a classic Minnesota-style parkland golf course. While the Grand View Lodge resort is situated along the shores of Gull Lake, the Pines is situated just north of the main lodge and does not feature views of the lake. We played the Lakes and Woods nines. The Lakes nine featured fewer water hazards than you might expect and seemed to be named more in homage to the area’s many lakes more than lakes on the actual course. There are some marshy areas that add to that Minnesota flavor, as well as a healthy dose of evergreen trees lining the fairways.
The Woods nine feels more open like a classic parkland course. Where most of the holes on the Lakes nine feel isolated, there are several occasions on the Woods where other holes are visible. There is a nice mix of trees, but the feel is less dense and more deciduous than the Lakes nine. Both nines have holes which are adjacent to homes or rental properties but most are very nice and don’t feel like they are right on top of you. The overall experience is a very pleasant nature walk (or ride, the golf course is walkable but most opt to ride).
Tee Shots
The tee shots at the Pines at Grand View Lodge present a nice balance of openness with tree-lined fairways and strategy-defining doglegs. While no tee shot is overly demanding, many will reward play toward one side of the fairway or the other, dissuading players away from the optimal line with trees or, occasionally, a bunker. Several tee shots play downhill, with a couple playing to landing areas that are mostly blind, but the majority of the tee shots on the Lakes and Woods nines are right there in front of you.
While I would consider the tee shots overall to be forgiving, I wouldn’t call them wide open by today’s standards. This is northwoods golf after all, and some mix of trees will come into play on most holes if you are wayward. That said, the trees lining most of the fairways present “findable” ball situations, where you might be punching out to give yourself a look at the green on your third shot. I don’t think my playing partner and I lost more than a ball or two between us, and we’re not exactly breaking course records out there.
Between the two nines that we played, the Lakes nine offered considerably more interest off the tee, with most holes offering visual cues about the ideal tee shot, including bunker and tree placement and doglegs. The holes on the Woods nine are more right there in front of you, with more straight-ahead tee shots and fewer bunkers or doglegs to consider.
There are six sets of tees, making the course play anywhere from just under 7,000 yards to just under 4,000 yards. This, coupled with the relatively forgiving nature of the tee shots makes it a good fit for golfers of all skill levels.
Approach Shots
The approach shots at the Pines at Grand View Lodge are similar to the tee shots in that they are mostly “what you see is what you get.” Whether from the fairway or the rough, which is cut low and very playable, you will usually be able to see the putting surface. There is a noticeable difference in the approaches on the Lakes nine vs. the Woods nine. The Lakes, while not overly populated with water hazards, especially by Minnesota standards, asks a few more questions of golfers on approach.
One of those questions is related to the lie in the fairway. While the fairways on the Woods nine are mostly flat, the Lakes features a few holes that could leave you with a downhill or sidehill lie.
Thankfully, one of those questions is not “Can you fly your ball all the way to the hole?” The majority of run up areas on both nines are amenable to run up shots. Even with heavy rains soaking the course the day prior, my playing partner and I both had success landing the ball short and seeing it trundle up onto the green.
The quality of the turf is uniformly excellent. Finding your ball in an old divot or having to take relief from ground under repair is unlikely to happen. The crew is doing a great job of maintaining a playing surface that is neither too firm nor too soft and has a lush green appearance.
Greens & Surrounds
The greens are arguably the standout quality of the Pines at Grant View Lodge. If you aren’t sure how well you are rolling the ball, you’ll find out pretty quick as the greens run quick and run true. They are very well cared for, with virtually no unfixed pitch marks in evidence. Kudos to all involved for that.
The greens are mostly mid-sized, by today’s standards. Most of the greens feature gentle undulations and slope from back to front. I found there to be enough interest in the greens to keep me engaged without really ever having to labor over a putt too long or feel perplexed about what was going on. Players who can’t stand “tricked up” greens should feel right at home here.
The green surrounds are made up of a fringe cut followed by mostly short rough. These greenside areas are usually at the level of the green, so chips take place in full view of the putting surface. The rough here is very manageable, so players can take a nice easy swing and won’t have to worry about hacking their ball out of deep rough to a short-sided pin. Again, these are friendly design features that prioritize playability for a wide range of abilities. The limited greenside bunkers are typically not very deep and feature soft, well-maintained sand. [Learn More / Plan Trip]
Overall Design
There are three nines at the Pines at Grand View Lodge. We played the Woods and the Lakes, which seems to be the preferred combination for an 18-hole routing. The overall design is one that prioritizes accessibility and playability. It generates enough challenge and interest for good players without being forbidding for beginners or casual golfers. The Lakes nine has more unique features, memorable holes, and challenging shots, while the Woods nine feels like more of a straightforward parkland affair. The course’s beautiful central Minnesota woodland setting paired with its excellent conditioning make it an attractive option for golfers staying at Grand View Lodge or vacationing elsewhere nearby.
Favorite Holes
#5 – Par 4 – 444 yards
My favorite stretch of holes came in the middle of the Lakes nine, beginning with the par 5 4th. It ups the excitement right away, calling for a blind tee shot of about 200 yards. The fairway falls right, over a hill and down a slope, and opens up to the right with a wide landing area.
I thought I had fanned my hybrid way out right, and it ended up in the perfect position, setting up a gap wedge across a marshy area to a wide but shallow green. Since the tee landing area is almost completely blind, and you can’t see the green from the tee, there is a green/red light that golfers change as they cross the bridge to the green.
#7 – Par 3 – 153 yards
The seventh is a classic Minnesota-style par 3 calling for a forced carry over a marshy area. It requires a precise mid-iron struck to a long, narrow green with two subtle tiers. I struck my iron a little too well and ended up with a very challenging two putt from the back of the green back down the slope to a front pin. Balls that aren’t hit on line will either find the marshy area to the left or potentially carom off the large angled wall of railroad ties that guards the right side. [Learn More / Plan Trip]
Conclusion
Grand View Lodge is a premium resort destination in a beautiful part of the country. Its investment in quality is evident in the product on display at the Pines. While the golf course doesn’t do a lot that will get golf architecture nerds excited, I think it provides everything that most golfers are looking for. From friendly staff to a clean and well-maintained course to delicious and affordable food and drink after the round, the Pines at Grand View Lodge is an excellent experience. [Learn More / Plan Trip]
Relax in the beauty of Minnesota's rich forest landscape as you explore all 27 holes at The Pines. A true "player's course," The Pines offers the Lakes, Woods, and Marsh nines, providing a challenging variety of holes.
Book Your Visit to Grand View Lodge HERE
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