Front/Back

Duluth occupies one of the more dramatic perches in American golf — a port city that climbs steeply from the western tip of Lake Superior into the hillside neighborhoods above, where the air carries a perpetual coolness even in midsummer. Municipal golf here isn't an afterthought; the city has a long tradition of making the game accessible to working people who live alongside one of the world's great inland seas.

The name Front/Back suggests a straightforward layout, likely built in an era when municipal courses were designed to move golfers efficiently rather than impress them architecturally. A par 72 at the municipal level typically means a complete test — full complement of par 3s, 4s, and 5s — without pretension. In a city with Duluth's terrain, even a no-frills design tends to pick up natural contour and elevation change simply by existing there.

For visitors, the larger draw is the setting itself. Superior's presence defines the local climate and mood in a way that few golf environments in the Midwest can match — cooler, rawer, and more atmospheric than anything a scorecard communicates.