Inside the Champions Tour course: TPC Twin Cities

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Jul. 18, 2008
By Jamie Batey, Special to PGATOUR.COM

TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minn., is the venue for this week's 3M Championship. Here's all you need to know about the course.

Fast Facts

Original Architect	Arnold Palmer and Tom Lehman (1999)
Number of Champions Tour events as host venue	8 (including 2008)
Course Ranking	Ranked 26 (out of 30 courses) in difficulty on the Champions Tour in 2007
Yardage History	7,100 yards (2001-present)
Grass	Southshore creeping bentgrass (tees, fairways), L-93 creeping bentgrass (greens), Kentucky bluegrass (rough)
Tournament Stimpmeter	11.5 ft
Sand Bunkers	77
Water Hazards	14 holes
Course Tour	Click here

Course Record

Player
Don Pooley
Tom Purtzer

Year
2003
2005

Round
2nd
1st

Finish
T10
1

Holes-in-one

Player	Hole	Year	Player	Hole	Year
Tom Purtzer	8	2005	Tom Jenkins	13	2005
Bruce Lietzke	4	2001	Graham Marsh	4	2001

2007 Rankings

Toughest hole

	A cavernous bunker dominates the landscape of the par-3, 209-yard 13th and guards the front and right portions of the putting surface. Many players will select a three or four iron from the tee. 2007: 0 eagles, 22 birdies, 145 pars, 62 bogeys, 3 double bogeys and 0 others
Easiest hole
	The par-5, 582-yard 18th provides the widest fairway on the course, inviting many players to go for the green in two. The putting green is moderately sloped and has two tiers, but is one of the shallowest greens on the course. 2007: 13 eagles, 112 birdies, 75 pars, 24 bogeys, 4 double bogeys, 4 others

TPC Twin Cities			2007 rankings		All years (2001-present)
Hole	Par	Yards	Avg. Score	Rank	Avg. Score	Rank
1	4	426	3.914	10	4.018	9
2	4	388	3.974	9	4.083	6
3	5	546	4.681	17	4.665	18
4	3	177	3.017	5	3.041	8
5	4	418	3.991	7	3.973	11
6	5	571	4.819	14	4.867	15
7	4	318	3.767	16	3.871	14
8	3	204	3.043	4	3.110	4
9	4	456	4.172	2	4.276	1
10	4	379	3.901	12	4.002	10
11	4	402	3.841	13	3.920	13
12	5	593	4.810	15	4.761	17
13	3	209	3.198	1	3.200	2
14	4	423	4.082	3	4.157	3
15	4	437	3.905	11	3.964	12
16	4	387	3.996	6	4.081	7
17	3	184	2.987	8	3.094	5
18	5	582	4.599	18	4.782	16

NOTES: Of the 30 courses played in 2007 on the Champions Tour, TPC Twin Cities was the 5th easiest.
The 13th hole was ranked as not only the most difficult hole of TPC Twin Cities but also the 34th (out of 120) hardest par 3 on the Champions Tour in 2007.
The 18th hole was ranked the 24th easiest par 5 out of all of the courses played on the Champions Tour in 2007.

Course origins

What once was a peaceful sod farm is now a championship golf course. The TPC Twin Cities was transformed by course architects Arnold Palmer and Tom Lehman from a flat landscape into one of Minnesota's premier golf course designs.

Palmer and Lehman sculpted over five million cubic yards of earth, created 27 bodies of open water, planted over a million wildflowers and restored several natural wetlands. The end result is a golf course that will challenge the best players in the world. -- Source: Golf Course Superintendents Association of America

Tournament course history