Everyone driving to Canterbury Park to get to the Ryder Cup, read this:

DO NOT take U.S. 169 to Canterbury Road. It’s a nightmare.

DO exit 169 at Minnesota 101 and take that either to Canterbury Road or, if that’s a mess, all the way to a little-known road called SHENANDOAH DRIVE. It will be on your left. You’ll see a cone-protected left-turn lane, a cop and a sign. It’s money.

DO NOT just sit there hating life if you get stuck in a really bad backup. Instead, try moving along to the next Canterbury Park access. Example: If you get stuck on 169 approaching Canterbury, avoid the right lane and drive to the next exit, Marschall Road. Then take a right on Vierling Road to get to Canterbury.

DO approach the entire area from the south or west if possible. In general, approaches from the north and east — Minneapolis, St. Paul and the bulk of the metro — such as 169 constitute the most effective meat grinder.

I figured all this out Wednesday morning (and confirmed much of it again Thursday) as I scouted the area around Canterbury Park, which serves as the primary destination for the vast majority of the 250,000 people attending the biennial USA-vs.-Europe golf match.

And as a reminder, DO NOT attempt to drive directly to Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, where the Ryder Cup is actually being held (unless you have a parking pass, which you probably don’t). Do not even attempt to get dropped off, walk, bike or take a taxi or Uber to Hazeltine, as all that is banned around the course.

There’s little question that when you combine morning rush hour with a rush of golf fans trying to get to a major event — and golf starts early — you’ll have traffic snarls.

But what I observed this morning was a classic case of Minnesota drivers acting as lambs to the slaughter. By 8 a.m., it wasn’t hard to essentially probe the Canterbury perimeter, looking for openings. Have a map, mental or physical, of the area and if you encounter congestion, bounce out into an open lane off traffic and circumnavigate to the next official access.

To be clear, DO NOT be the impatient maverick speeding through residential neighborhoods. They can get congested quickly

There are too many potential pinch-points to list here, but understand that there are a number of official accesses to Canterbury Park itself, so it’s not like a crunch is inevitable for your drive.

In my travels, the drive along Minnesota 101 east from Savage to Shenandoah was as smooth as Martin Kaymer’s swing. I barely tapped the brakes until all of a sudden I was being waived toward a parking space. On Thursday morning, Minnesota 101 west (from 169) was so clear there was no need for Shenendoah: the traffic light-aided left onto Canterbury was clear.

Parking officials and cops around the park told me Wednesday that Shenandoah had been light all morning, that 169-to-Canterbury Street was the trap, and that they were hoping for something to help spread the traffic around the surrounding entrances.

So, there you go.

ALSO BE AWARE …

Fans coming to Hazeltine this week might want to think twice about wearing their best shoes. There’s some muck and puddles in the galleries. Despite heavy rains in August and earlier in the week, the golf course itself is dry, thanks largely to renovated drainage systems at Hazeltine. But spectators may encounter a number of low-lying places where the ground is soft, saturated and increasingly being trodden into muck.