A few weeks back, I got in round #7 of the 2009 season at one of my favorite courses, Southview Country Club in West St. Paul. Home of the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am, Southview is always in great condition and has an absolutely superb staff.

There are still a limited number of amateur spots available for the 2009 Tapemark, but I anticipate it will be full by the end of the week. If you are interested in registering, visit their online registration page. I played in this event last year for the first time and it was an experience like no other in Minnesota.

I noticed a few changes this year: the trees surrounding the fifteenth green have been thinned out (see above) and a new back tee has been built on the par-five fourth hole. The shaping is complete and grass is currently being grown in.

Like most private courses in Minnesota this year, Southview is currently offering membership specials. If you are looking for a club to join and want to save some money, give general manager Mark McCahey a call at 651-451-6856.

I’ll be heading back there this week for round #10 – I’m hoping to be caught up on posts for rounds eight and nine by the end of the week…

7MM Southview Photo Gallery

Don’t know how I got so swamped all of a sudden, but it’s already been over a week since I visited my friend and former co-worker Mike at his new job in downtown Minneapolis.

Mr. Guille is now a Macintosh Desktop Analyst at the Art Institutes International Minnesota on 9th Street, which seems to have avoided the economic downturn nicely. AI has new toys all over the place, as witnessed on the tour Mike gave me.

Before the tour, we had lunch at the Fogo de Chão restaurant at 645 Hennepin Avenue. Talk about a total meat orgy! Here’s what their web site says:

The lunch and dinner menu features unlimited servings of 15 different delectable cuts of fire-roasted meats, a sumptuous buffet of gourmet salads and fresh-cut vegetables, and a variety of Brazilian side dishes.

Each guest uses a two-sided disk to control the pace of their meal. The green side signals the Gaucho chefs to bring out skewers of sizzling fire-roasted meats to carve at the table. The red side indicates a stopping point. Turning back to green lets the Gaucho chefs know to start offering the meats again.

The flat-rate pricing (around $32) was very reasonable for the quality and quantity of the meats being served. The servers were incredible and made sure we received everything we wanted in a very timely manner. My only knock against them was the expensive and tiny bottle of Coke.

I’m pretty sure now that if I worked in downtown Minneapolis I’d go broke eating out – and forget about losing weight…