The New Ulm Country Club sign at the entrance at 1 Golf Drive.

NEW ULM – New Ulm Country Club is the 2025 Reader’s Choice winner for best golf course in the area.

With a scenic 18-hole course, a state-of-the-art pro shop and a newly revamped restaurant all adjacent to Flandrau State Park on the bluffs of the Cottonwood River, the country club provides visitors with a memorable golfing experience.

“We’re extremely busy,” said club professional Tim Huffman. “Last year we did 30,000 rounds and this year we are on pace to do that again.” Compared to years before that, “It’s like having two more Junes or Julys,” he said.

“And everything, you know, everything else goes with that. The restaurant gets busy. Banquet areas have been very busy too. We have three separate little entities. We have a bar restaurant that’s open to the public. We have a banquet area that’s open to the public that you can just book. So we have three separate little areas in our organization and that allows us to remain profitable,” Huffman said.

“Ten years ago it was tough for golf courses in small towns,” Huffman said. “Now it kind of flipped. You kind of got a captive market and as long as you do stuff good, you know, they’ll end up with customers.”

Huffman said the condition of the course early in the season was pretty bad.

“No snow and a lot of cold. And wind doesn’t help. You want snow cover right away. You get winter kill. Just like your yard,” he said. “But nobody complained because they saw their yard.”

Early in the season, he said, “We had a lot of rain, and we had some warm days but we didn’t have consistent warm days where the temperature got up there. So it was the first week in June before stuff really started to grow. Now it’s, you know, back to pretty decent, not great. Not yet. Another month and, you know, as long as we don’t get a sustained 90 degrees for 15 days in a row. Then all bets are off.”

Huffman said an additional attraction of the country club is the Cottonwood Grill restaurant that was established in 2013. With a full-menu makeover, everything made fresh and specialty burgers named after people, it’s worth a visit.