GREAT DRIVES Little Crow Country Club Spicer » Hole: Pines No. 3 Par 4 » 337-404 yards Opened 1969 (original 18); 2000 (third nine) Architect Don Herfort; Kevin Norby Head golf professional Isaac Nelson Superintendent Kevin Gruber Course Record 63, 2013 8 MINNESOTAGOLFER Spring 2023 N early every challenge imaginable awaits on Pines No. 3, including a blind uphill tee shot to a slight dogleg, a hidden fairway bunker right, mature trees and OB stakes left, and a heavily guarded approach of water and sand. It's not for the faint of heart. " This hole gets me every year, " says head pro Isaac Nelson. " It's a tricky one. It's either a birdie or a double-you never know. " Nelson plays a driver off the tee for a shorter " This hole has a lot of beauty with the woods and water. It describes Little Crow very well in what the course has to offer. " -Isaac Nelson approach but warns that big hitters carrying the bunker (with a south wind) could catch the down-sloping fairway and reach the greenside pond. He suggests a club you're confident will find the fairway. A receptive, fairway-facing green softens the difficult approach. " My goal is to land short of the pin, " Nelson says. " If I can leave an uphill chance at birdie or walk away with par, I'm a happy guy. " -Joseph Oberle mngolf.org PHOTO: PETER WONG PHOTOGRAPHY; ILLUSTRATION: COURTNEY NIELSENhttp://www.mngolf.org