The Royal Club in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, has become a premier course and a popular tee time choice for golfers all throughout the Twin Cities region ever since it opened in 2017. This championship layout, a joint effort between Arnold Palmer Design and Annika Sorenstam, rambles over rolling hills in a new residential community just fifteen minutes from Saint Paul. The daily-fee course is actually a complete remodel of Tartan Park Golf Course, formerly owned by 3M. The Royal Club merits extra attention because it is Sorenstam s first design in the U.S. and also the last course Arnold Palmer designed before he passed away. It draws raves for its strategic layout, scenic surroundings, and fine course conditioning. The front nine of The Royal Club, known as the "Queen s Nine," occupies low ground and rambles amidst giant ridges that bisect the property, while the back nine, conceived by Palmer and called the "King's Nine," spreads out on a plateau and boasts stunning views of Horseshoe Lake. The hilly playing field features wide fairways, mature trees, natural lakes, and lots of elevation changes. Bunkering is quite sparse. Most players at The Royal Club note that the boldly contoured green complexes are a strong suit of the course, unless they find the putting surfaces too extreme. Five sets of tees allow players of diverse skill levels to find a manageable distance option between 3,907 yards and 6,901 yards on this par-72 layout. This course presents a fair challenge for top-flight players it has hosted the Annika Intercollegiate Invitational, a prestigious women's collegiate tournament that attracts a field of premier women s golf teams but also embodies Annika s aim of making the game fun for everyone. Practice facilities at The Royal Club are superb. They include a six-hole short course with holes as long as 100 yards (it is the ideal spot to introduce new players to the game) that supplements the driving range and chipping and putting areas. The remodeled clubhouse is home to a well-stocked golf shop, a full service restaurant & bar, and a deck overlooking the 1st and 10th holes. It s easy to see why tee times at The Royal Club in Lake Elmo fill up with golfers from all over the Twin Cities.