Great Golf -- in North Dakota? You Betcha

Beginning with the first hole, you'll have tee shots from elevated perches and approach shots that must dodge ponds, wetlands and creeks. Rounds are filled with memorable and exhilarating holes.

Indeed, very few play straightaway, and Engh created multiple options -- some with huge risks and payoffs -- for reaching the greens. Such are the contemplative joys of the game at Hawktree.

If you're staying in downtown Bismarck, the Radisson hotel is a good lodging option. It's within walking distance of the most enticing eateries, including the metro-style Pirogue Grille and the open kitchen of Bistro.

About two hours due west in Medora, Bully Pulpit is a minimalist Michael Hurdzan design hailed by Golf Digest as the best new affordable course of 2005. It begins at the low-lying banks of the Little Missouri River, moves to open meadows and prairie, then climbs for a climactic run through the dramatic and forbidding Badlands.

Despite its name, Bully Pulpit doesn't really torment you until the back nine, and even then, it's fairly flat and walkable -- until you reach the badlands holes. After finishing the 13th, courtesy carts are supplied for the hair-raising climb to the 14th, 15th and 16th holes (which, by the way, form a loop, so you can ditch the cart afterward and finish the round on foot).

Like Augusta National's famous, nerve-jangling trio of holes called "Amen Corner," the stretch from 14 to 17 here is known in wholesome Medora parlance as the "Oh-my-goodness corner." These vertigo-inducing holes channel through gaps in the towering buttes and rugged badlands terrain.