
Medicine Hole Course
Medicine Hole Golf Course

About this course
Medicine Hole occupies a striking landscape in the Badlands region of western North Dakota, approximately twenty miles south of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Designed by Jim Engh and opened in the early 2000s, the course takes its name from the natural geological feature known as Medicine Hole, a deep, water-filled sinkhole that has long held significance in the area's cultural history. Engh, known for his dramatic use of natural terrain and bold design features, routed the course through rugged Badlands topography characterized by exposed rock formations, native grasses, and significant elevation changes. The layout showcases Engh's signature style of integrating golf holes into dramatic landforms rather than imposing conventional design upon them. Players navigate through coulees, around rock outcroppings, and across terrain that reflects the raw character of the northern Great Plains. The course offers expansive views of the surrounding Badlands and requires thoughtful club selection given the elevation changes and wind exposure typical of the region. Medicine Hole serves as a public facility in a sparsely populated area of North Dakota, providing a distinctive golf experience in a part of the country not traditionally associated with destination golf. The course represents an example of modern design philosophy that emphasizes working with extreme natural features rather than flattening or softening them, making it a notable outlier in the regional golf landscape.
Quick facts
- Location
- Killdeer, ND, USA
- Access
- Public
- Year built
- 2004
- Designer
- Jim Engh
- Holes
- 9
- Par
- 36
- Length
- 3,290 yards
- Difficulty
- 35.9/116
Getting there
The journey to Medicine Hole Golf Course unfolds across the high plains of northwestern North Dakota, most readily accessed via Bismarck's Theodore Roosevelt Regional Airport (BIS), roughly two hours southeast by car, or via Minot International (MOT), approximately ninety minutes to the south. From either hub, the drive carries you through the authentic grain-and-cattle country of the northern Great Plains, where the landscape opens into vast horizons punctuated by buttes and grassland - a gradual shift from the bustle of regional commerce into the quiet, windswept terrain that defines this corner of the state. As you approach Killdeer, the modern world recedes further still, replaced by gravel roads and the particular silence of the prairie, until you arrive at Medicine Hole, a course whose isolation and raw beauty are inseparable from the remote North Dakota setting that surrounds it. This is golf stripped of pretense, reached not through resort corridors but through genuine distance - a journey that rewards the committed traveler with an experience as unfiltered as the landscape itself.

FAQ
Common questions about Medicine Hole
Ratings, design, and course details pulled from Course Vaults.
Medicine Hole was designed by Jim Engh.
Yes. Medicine Hole is listed as welcoming public or guest play on Course Vaults.
Par at Medicine Hole is 36.
Medicine Hole plays 3,290 yards from the back tees on Course Vaults.
The slope rating at Medicine Hole is 116.
Medicine Hole is a 9-hole course.



