By Patrick Rehkamp  – Data Reporter, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal

The PGA Tour has announced when its annual event will be played at the TPC Twin Cities in Blaine in 2019 — and golf fans accustomed to making holiday trips to the cabin may have a big decision to make.

The 3M Open will be held in early July, with the first day of the tournament on Thursday, July 4 of next year. The final day will be Sunday, July 7.

The PGA recently committed to a tour stop at TPC for seven years, and Maplewood-based 3M Co. is the lead sponsor. Minnesota hasn't hosted a regular tour event for nearly 50 years. Work to lengthen to the course so it provides some challenge for the pros will start shortly after the senior event's final tournament there in the coming weeks. 3M’s long-time PGA senior event partner, Pro Links Sports, will manage the new event.

Hollis Cavner, the CEO of Pro Links Sports, realizes the event will lose some Minnesotans to cabin country, but the fourth of July is still a date many people have off and not everybody owns a second home.

"We’re gonna lose some to that but not everybody has one," he said. "There’s no way 3M is going to spend this kind of money without doing due diligence."

Cavner added there will be concerts, fireworks and other events to attract fans. Plus, Vikings training camp isn't expected to be underway and he said the field of professional golfers will be strong enough over the holiday weekend.

"They know they’re going to play in front of a lot of people and they love that," he said. Television ratings for previous PGA events over the Fourth of July have been solid, Cavner said.

Professional golf apparently really likes Minnesota. Hazeltine National will become the first U.S. golf course to hold the Ryder Cup twice, as PGA of America announced in March it's bringing the event back to the Chaska course in 2028 — after Hazeltine hosted the 2016 Ryder Cup.