Great Golf -- in North Dakota? You Betcha

Medora's historic Rough Riders Hotel provides the best combination of lodging and dining in the city -- though be prepared for a much more rustic experience than what you're likely used to. Most tourists also invariably wind up at the open-air steak buffet at Pitchfork Fondue, where the steaks really are cooked on a pitchfork. It's the spectacle and the setting, rather than the food, that make the meal memorable there.

A three-hour ride north from Medora, you'll find the most remote course of the trio, The Links of North Dakota, a wonderfully natural and windswept Stephen Kay design commanding nearly treeless, sand-based terrain high above Lake Sakakawea and the Missouri River.

The lake is in view on every hole, but there's nary a water hazard in play. Rather, the principal hazards are 82 strategically-placed sand traps, as well as tall prairie grasses and the stern North Dakota wind. In true links fashion, the turf plays hard and fast.

The Links calls for an aerial game at the outset of the round because bunkers guard the front of the greens. But then it switches gears, allowing one to be creative and bounce or roll shots onto the slick putting surfaces. Holes five and 15, both long, tough par-fours that play toward the lake, present some of the most stunning visuals on the course.

The course hosts only about 9,000 rounds annually, so you usually don't need a tee time, even on summer weekends. Just show up and play. On weekdays, you may literally have the course to yourself.

Near the Links, the Missouri River Breaks Lodge and its rustically elegant and spacious cabins overlooking Lake Sakakawea, will likely be the accommodation highlight of your trip. Similarly, Lund's Landing is the best and most convenient place to dine. Be sure to save room for the homemade juneberry pie.