Ray Golf Course

Ray sits in the far northwestern corner of North Dakota, out in the open prairie country where the Williston Basin stretches toward the Montana border. This is oil patch territory — the Bakken formation runs beneath much of the surrounding land — and the town of Ray reflects that working, self-sufficient character. Golf courses out here exist because communities built them, not because developers saw a market, and that origin tends to shape everything about how they play and feel.

An 18-hole, par-72 layout in a town this size speaks to genuine local commitment to the game. Prairie courses like this one typically work with the land rather than against it — wide fairways, natural grasses, winds that can turn a straightforward hole into a real test depending on which direction they're blowing. In this part of the state, the wind is rarely not a factor.

Northwestern North Dakota offers golf without pretense: friendly, affordable, and surrounded by big sky and open range. For anyone traveling the region or curious about small-town golf at its most authentic, Ray is the kind of stop worth making.