A new nine-hole layout will join the golf facilities at Crosswoods Golf Course in Crosslake, Minnesota, in summer 2026. The Farm Golf Links has been designed by Scott Hoffmann and was created by a three-person team during a single season.
The new course has been laid out on 80 acres of former farmland adjacent to the 27 holes at Crosswoods. The first nine (Sunrise) opened in 1997, a second (Sunset) in 2002 and a third (High Noon) in 2016.
Mike Stone, owner at Crosswoods, said: “The spark for the recent expansion ignited in 2020 when we officially welcomed the next generation into the fold: our daughters, Savannah – a PGA teaching professional – and Alexandra – a collegiate golfer – along with their spouses, Gunnar and Sam. We realised this business was going to be truly generational. With that long-term continuity secured, greenlighting a unique expansion like The Farm became an easy decision. We weren’t just building nine holes for the current season; we were building a one-of-a-kind canvas for the next generation.”
Stone worked closely with Hoffman throughout the planning, designing and construction process. “Early on, Mike and I agreed we wanted something different from the tree-lined courses typical of northern Minnesota,” said Hoffman. “Tree-lined layouts, while beautiful, can be somewhat one-dimensional from a playing standpoint. We wanted to do two things with The Farm: create wide corridors offering multiple ways to play a hole, and use the natural sand to form massive, dune-like blowout bunkers.”
Scott Hoffmann’s routing of The Farm Golf Links (Image: Crosswoods Golf Course)
The site for the new nine is north of the existing 27 holes, with Stone only securing the former farmland parcel in the last decade. “Over time, that land had been reclaimed by nature, evolving into an overgrown landscape that looks and feels like the near-virgin prairie you’d expect to see in Nebraska, not necessarily here,” he said. “We actually had to modify a portion of our existing Sunset nine to seamlessly integrate two holes of The Farm, but the sacrifice was worth it because of the soil.
“That northern tract was a geological Goldilocks scenario for us. Our Sunrise and High Noon nines sit on heavier soils with plenty of rock, while the majority of the Sunset nine is built on very coarse sand. But this new pocket of land was perfect. It offered a native soil profile that allowed us to shape that blown-out, links-style aesthetic that simply wouldn’t have held up on the other parts of the property."
Owner Michael Stone describes the site for the new nine-hole layout as a “one-of-a-kind canvas” (Photo: Crosswoods Golf Course)
Reflecting on first visiting the site, Hoffmann said: “Whenever I approach a site, I look for divine guidance that helps me see what the land naturally offers – the features that will promote interesting, fun golf in an aesthetic setting. Beauty is that intangible quality that makes you feel good on the property whether you’re playing well or not. Combine that with sound architectural and agronomic principles, and you have a strong product.
“The Farm property was mostly natural sand and gently open terrain, with the mature white-pine forest between holes one and seven being the only notable exception. The openness gave us a lot of latitude, especially given the scale we had to work with.”
In order to preserve the site’s natural swales, prairie ridges and old-growth forests, earthmoving was kept to a minimum. “By the time I arrived on site to start shaping, there was a smooth progression to move from hole to hole as the lead off earthwork done by Mike Stone was always far enough ahead,” said shaper Dan Bieganek. “After shaping and architect approvals, the irrigation was installed and soon, I was able to do final seedbed prep on the greens with a Toro Sand Pro while the rest of the course was being prepped by the owner and his team. It was a tight timeframe but with a lot of long days and a somewhat mild fall season all nine holes were successfully planted.”
While the existing nine-hole offerings at Crosswoods provide a classic, tree-lined, parkland-style golf, The Farm has been designed in contrast to provide players with multidimensional play, which, in Stone’s opinion, can “only be found on a links-style course”. He said: “Our existing Crosswoods nines reward precision, but The Farm is almost the exact opposite. It’s built on a massive scale, defined by its expansive fairways, blown-out bunkers, and massive, undulating greens. It offers multidimensional play, where the ground game, utilising slopes and contours, is as crucial as the aerial game.”
Bunkers are reminiscent of what you might find at Bandon Dunes – they have been constructed with sand from the site and have no liners or drainage tile to ensure maintenance aligns with classic links principles. “Sometimes this style of bunker merely frames a hole; other times they force interesting strategic decisions,” said Hoffmann. “For example, the 400-yard first hole has a large blowout bunker short and left of the landing area. If you carry it, a kicker slope opens up a clear, shorter second shot to the green. The fairway is about 100 yards wide in the landing zone, so you can also play it safe to the right, which makes the second shot more challenging, or take the carry toward the left for a more direct approach and a chance at birdie.
“Our goal was to create big landing areas that give the golfer a relaxed feeling off the tee. It’s more fun to swing away, hoping for the best, yet still have a chance at redemption if you miss. On a course of this scale, it’s hard to lose a ball; second shots still offer a realistic chance for par. The putting surfaces average around 10,000 square feet, which allows for two pin locations and encourages second-round play on the nine-hole track, in the tradition of Sweetens Cove.
“A few holes nod to well-known templates. The second is a reachable par four with a Boomerang green open on the left for a run-on, with the possibility of running from left to right across a 150-foot-wide green. The third is a par three to a natural sand hill – ideal for a large Punchbowl green. The sixth is a 250-yard Biarritz leading to a massive, 200-foot-deep green, and the seventh is a reverse-Road hole with a friendlier green but similar character to the original.”
Owner Michael Stone, architect Scott Hoffmann and shaper Dan Bieganek have worked together in a single season to create the nine-hole layout (Photo: Crosswoods Golf Course)
“Coming from the golf course superintendent ranks sustainability and maintenance are always at the forefront of my thinking,” said Hoffmann. “It was my goal to give Mike a golf course that could be maintained with just two mowers. All tees, fairways and green surrounds will be mowed at half-an-inch with fairway mowers for firm bouncy play and green surfaces with a triplex mower. Little to no rough and blowout bunkers that will be played as native firm sand that will require raking only two to three times a month. Scottish links blend everywhere else where care was given so irrigation would not cover these areas to keep them thin and wispy. Open land with full sun and good air movement for healthier more sustainable and playable turfgrass.”
“Construction of the course was a fun and unique experience given the land was perfect from site opportunities like the gently rolling open terrain with beautiful native vegetation and small pine trees, to carving out holes from dense forest areas,” said Bieganek. “Scott’s intent was to have large receptive greens with strong internal contours and wide fairways, which made the shaping of these holes very interesting. Risk and reward golf shots were shaped into the fairways and the greens offered up a wide variety of pin placements.
“I was provided with a Cat D3 small dozer, which had the muscle to do the shaping of the broad features and creating interesting framework in the areas that were framed with the large blowout sand waste areas, and yet small enough to do the fine details on the putting surface of the greens. Mike and Scott provided me with great support, sketches and input for me to carry out their visions for this project as we worked together daily and made any necessary changes along the way.”
The course is growing in ahead of a summer 2026 opening (Photo: Crosswoods Golf Course)
Stone added: “With the introduction of The Farm’s dramatic contrast, we’ve transformed the entire property into a 36-hole destination that now showcases two distinct facets of golf course architecture.”
Watch: an in-depth walkthrough of The Farm Golf Links with Scott Hoffmann