Blaine, MN Health and Fitness

At Sandpiper Dental, friendly isn’t just a vague way to describe the staff. Drs. Thomas W. Waite and David J. Trebisovsky, both University of Minnesota alums with more than 25 years of experience each, and their staff show patients how much they care by greeting everyone by their first name as they walk through the door. They also handwrite friendly notes to check in with patients after they’ve undergone a root canal or complicated surgery to extract stubborn popcorn kernels. They even have been known to send out hand-crafted birthday cards and flowers on special occasions, and they keep their office equipped with a children’s play area to make the space welcoming to whole family.

The trainers behind Look Good Naked aim to get people comfortable in their skin. They have a slew of shared resources, such as nutritional guides, progressive measurements, and a weekly newsletter filled with exercising facts, meal ideas, ongoing coaching and support, and testimonials from clients. All these augment the core of the operation—the 12-week boot camps where both trainers and fellow students repurpose the benches, jungle gyms, and stairways of parks and public spaces during four, hour-long sessions each week. The sessions teach guests a slew of functional training maneuvers that require little or no equipment, helping them not only to slim down, but build up a skill set they can carry with them as they leave the camps.

Designed by prolific course architect Joel Goldstrand, Rum River Hills Golf Club's 18-hole course weaves through 6,308 yards of water-lined fairways and undulating greens. Water hazards present challenges from the very first tee, where aggressive players may choose to lay up or drive balls over a pond to cut the corner off of a fairway that dog-legs right, setting up a favorable approach onto a green 413 yards away. Rum River Hills tests players’ short game with undulating greens that take golf balls through more sharp turns than a golf cart driving through a grocery store.

A full-length driving range allows players to warm up before they take to the course, and the club's PGA instructors offer lessons for those looking to improve their swing mechanics. After a day at the links, course patrons can drop in at McDuff's Restaurant, which serves an expansive menu of salads, burgers, steaks, and pizzas. Inside the sunlit dining room, 11 TVs let guests catch up with live sports, while outdoor patio seating caters to those hoping to reverse engineer the technology of the lawn mowers maintaining the course below.

Course at a Glance:

• Designed by Joel Goldstrand
• 18-hole, par 71 course
• Length of 6,308 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 71.0 from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 117 from the farthest tees
• Four tee options