Golfed at The Jewel

On Saturday I played the new course in Lake City, MN called The Jewel. This course was designed by pro golfer Hale Irwin, and is set in a beautiful surrounding of bluffs. The course has not even opened to the general public, but I'm on their mailing list and got an invitation to come down and check it out early and play for free. What golfer would pass on a chance to play a course like this for free? It was a bit disappointing in that they asked us not to drive on the fairways, as they want the grass to get stronger. And we got a soaking shot of rain on hole 3 to start our morning. Other than that, the course was nice, especially the tee boxes - wow! I'm not sure it's worth $60 a round, instead I'd play a course closer to the cities for less money and about the same caliber of golf.