Today’s round started at 7:30am on the 18-hole course at Theodore Wirth Park outside of Minneapolis. The first four greens were horrible and should not have been open for play. The rest of the greens were better, but all played very slow. A storm front moved through when we were on the sixth hole, so we waited until it passed over. The back nine did not drain well, though, so it was a soggy round.
When I was at the Open, I spent a lot of time watching Ernie Els hit irons on the practice range and noticed a few things that I decided to try today. First, he really arches his left wrist outward and keeps his hands only slightly ahead of the ball at address (I have always had my club angle much farther forward). Second, his tempo was excellent–slow takeaway, slow start to the downswing, acceleration through the ball, then slow follow-through to the same slot every time. I had a lot of success with this today and I hope to learn more during my first lesson at the U of M this week.
Score today: out in 43, back in 47. Lots of shots left on the course due to poor short game chips, but that was to be expected after no rounds for more than two weeks. Nothing firm planned, either…DK
As one of only three cities to get the double bill of Pearl Jam and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, we thought we were getting a great deal with two concerts for the price of one. We’ve seen Pearl Jam a number of times, but this was our first time seeing Petty. The Tuesday evening show was the second in a two-night stand and the newspaper reviews of the Monday concert were positive, so we had high hopes. Unfortunately, we left feeling a little cheated. 
We really had a great time on the trip last week. Special thanks to Jim Reinhart, USGA Vice President, who donated the tickets to the Tapemark that I won in last year’s 1-in-5 raffle. Thanks to another nice USGA official named Jeff, we got to meet Jim on Friday (and again on Saturday) and he was very gracious. 
The day before I left town for the Open, my wife and I saw Bruce Springsteen with the Seeger Sessions Band at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. His new CD doesn’t hold a candle to the live show, which was truly amazing. The 16 member band had an energy level I haven’t seen since Lyle Lovett’s Large Band was in town. The brass section was a special standout–more bands could use a good brass section, methinks.
Highlight of the trip so far–standing directly behind 
Michael Bartosh, noted Macintosh author and consultant, died in a tragic accident last week in Tokyo. He was 28 and is survived by his wife Amber. Macworld Conference and Expo is establishing a scholarship in his name. Details are still being worked out, but you can sign up 
