Four summer rounds at the lake-country resorts around Nisswa and Gull Lake and a rental home on a lake are the plan. Peak-summer lake-house prices, golf bag fees, a rental car for the drive up from Minneapolis and a caddie at The Classic are what push the total up.
Plan my golf trip for me: budget, dates and courses →Starts with a sample trip. Change any number to match yours. Set up your travel profile to fill these in for you.
Compare hotels near Gull Lake and the resort courses →Pick each course you'll play (one round per golfer) and we'll price it for your group. Prices are per golfer for 18 holes, with the season and time of day you choose. Your picks set “Green fees per golfer (whole trip)” in your budget.
4⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡4/5 Golfing Volts
16 courses around Brainerd Lakes that take public tee times, by city, with peak green fees. Private member clubs are left out.
The area's top-ranked course, on Golf Digest's list of America's 100 Greatest Public Courses, with hilly pine-lined fairways, shots over water and caddies available.
minnesotagolf.com mngolf.orgCragun's signature course, rebuilt by Tom Lehman with wider corridors, sod-wall bunkers and a tee shot over Stephens Lake on the 16th.
golfpass.com minnesotagolf.comThree nines (Red, Blue, White) that can be played in any combination, with the Blue's big tee shots and the Red's birdie chances the favorite pairing.
golfpass.com minnesotagolf.comMadden's classic 1926 course on the Gull Lake peninsula, shorter and friendlier than The Classic and easy to walk.
mngolf.org golfdigest.comA short par-67 course with seven par 3s, good for beginners, juniors and a second round of the day.
golfdigest.com exploreminnesotagolf.comArnold Palmer's course named for his father, cut through 500 acres of woods and wetlands with no homes along the holes; carts are required.
breezypointresort.com breezypointresort.comBreezy Point Resort's main course, a fair, tree-lined layout that is a good-value partner round to Deacon's Lodge.
breezypointresort.com exploreminnesotagolf.comBreezy Point's short original course inside the resort gate, a relaxed round for mixed groups.
mngolf.org exploreminnesotagolf.comGrand View Lodge's most dramatic course, known for elevated tees over the pines and very quick greens.
mngolf.org exploreminnesotagolf.comA long-running public course between Pequot Lakes and Crosslake that locals like for its value and walkability.
minnesotagolf.com golflink.comThree rotating nines (Lakes, Woods, Marsh) right across from the main lodge, a tough, tree-lined player's course with a two-sided range.
grandviewlodge.com exploreminnesotagolf.comA rolling, owner-built course on a former private preserve with about 130 feet of elevation change, lakeside holes and marsh carries.
mngolf.org teetimespress.comA scenic, walkable championship course at Minnesota's oldest golf resort on Bay Lake.
ruttgers.com minnesotagolf.comA friendly, inexpensive public course near the Cuyuna mountain-bike trails, cart included in the fee.
mngolf.org golfdigest.comA walking-only nine-hole executive course at Ruttger's, an easy evening round.
mngolf.orgA 27-hole public course with a separate par-3 course, handy for groups staying around Crosslake.
mngolf.orgThe sample is 4 travelers for 4 nights. Your plan ($7,404) covers the main costs most people budget for, the ones you enter on the left. Costs people forget ($2,722, about 37% more for this trip) are the fees, taxes, tips and extras listed in the calculator. Prices were last checked on October 17, 2026.
Share of the $10,126 real cost. Nights and travelers multiply most of these costs, so changing either one moves the total the most.
14 of this trip's numbers link to a published price or rate. The rest are our estimates, and each one says what it is based on. You can also read how we calculate every trip.
| Cost | Default | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Green fees per golfer (whole trip) | $525 per traveler | Four peak-summer weekday rounds with cart: The Classic $160, Deacon's Lodge $140, The Preserve $139 and Whitebirch $85, about $525. Judgment call. Source |
| Rental home per night (whole group) | $500 a night | Brainerd-area rentals averaged $467 in June, $494 in July and $482 in August 2026; 4-bedroom homes average $547 a year (Nisswa entire homes about $291 a year on Awning). We use $500 for a summer lake home for four. Judgment call. Source |
| Airfare per person | $486 per traveler | The US DOT average domestic fare from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) was $486 in Q2 2026 ($519 in Q1). Brainerd (BRD) has only a few daily flights from MSP, so most golfers fly to MSP and drive. Source |
| Food per person, per day | $68 per traveler, per day | Crow Wing County is not a named federal per diem area (Minnesota's named areas are Duluth, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Rochester), so it uses the FY2027 standard meals and incidentals rate of $68 a day. Source |
| Cost | Default | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Checked bag fees | $90 per traveler | Major US airlines charge about $35 to $50 for a first checked bag each way, so about $90 round trip. Source |
| Golf bag fees | $110 per traveler | American, Delta, United and Southwest treat a golf bag as a standard checked bag; a second bag is $55 each way. Source |
| Shipping your clubs Off by default | $108 per traveler | Ground shipping for a golf bag starts around $54 each way. Source |
| Lodging taxes | 7.375% of the rental home (whole group) | Minnesota's 6.875% sales tax plus Crow Wing (and Cass) County's 0.5% transit sales tax, so 7.375% in Nisswa and at the Gull Lake resorts; Cragun's says no extra lodging or city tax is added. Hotels inside Brainerd add a 3% city lodging tax and 0.5% city sales tax (10.875%), and Baxter is similar. A regional 3% lodging tax was proposed in 2024 but not adopted. Source |
| Rental car | $90 a day | KAYAK shows MSP vans at about $89 a day and SUVs at about $76; we use $90 for a vehicle that fits four golf bags. Judgment call. Source |
| Resort fee (Cragun's) Off by default | 8% of the rental home (whole group) | Cragun's adds an 8% resort fee to the room portion of stays arriving on or after January 1, 2027. Grand View Lodge rates already include its resort fee. Source |
| Caddie and tip (The Classic) Off by default | $60 per traveler | The Classic requires a caddie (fee extra) June to August for tee times before 10 am; no fee is published, so $60 a golfer including the tip is our estimate. Judgment call. Source |
| Rental clubs Off by default | $120 per traveler | Ruttger's rents adult club sets for $30 for 18 holes; four rounds is $120. Source |
| Drinks on the course | $80 per traveler | Our estimate of about $20 a round for beverage-cart drinks and snacks. Judgment call. Our estimate |
| Golf balls | $55 per traveler | A dozen Titleist Pro V1 balls lists at $55. Source |
| Tips for bag drop and cart staff | $20 per traveler | A few dollars at bag drop and the turn; we use $5 a round. Judgment call. Source |
| Side bets and prizes | $50 per traveler | Our estimate for skins, team bets and a small trophy. Our estimate |
| Lessons and extras you picked Off by default | $0 for the trip | Set by the extras you pick in the tee-time planner. Our estimate |
| Travel insurance | 6% of your plan | Squaremouth says a comprehensive plan averages about 6% of the trip cost, usually 4% to 10%. Source |
| Pre-trip shopping | $60 for the trip | Our estimate for travel-size toiletries, sunscreen and small things bought before a trip. Our estimate |
| Pet boarding or sitter | $50 a day, if you check Pets | Dogster puts regular kennel boarding at about $35 to $85 a night. Overnight sitters at home cost more. Source |
For 4 golfers spending 4 nights in peak summer season, with four rounds each, a rental home, flights and food, plan on about $7,400. Once you add golf bag fees, lodging taxes, rental car, drinks on the course, balls, tips and side bets, it's closer to $10,130, or about $2,530 each. Use the tee-time planner above to price the courses you want.
Spring and fall. At Breezy Point, Deacon's Lodge drops from $140 to $90 on weekdays before May 22 and after September 27, and Whitebirch from $85 to $52. Most courses open in mid-April and close in October, and all are closed in winter. Source
Yes. The public can book 60 days ahead at $160 on weekdays and $175 on weekends with a cart, while Madden's guests pay $110 and can book once they have a room. From June to August a caddie is required for tee times before 10 am. Source
Brainerd Lakes Regional (BRD) is about 20 minutes from Nisswa but has only a few daily flights from Minneapolis. Most golfers fly into Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP), about 140 miles and two and a half hours south; its average fare was about $486 in mid-2026. Source
At the resorts around Nisswa and Gull Lake it's 7.375%: Minnesota's 6.875% sales tax plus a 0.5% county tax. Hotels inside the city of Brainerd add a 3% lodging tax and a 0.5% city sales tax, about 10.9% in all. Source