Last week, my co-worker and I thought about sneaking out of the office to play a quick nine holes. Apparently the downturn in the golf industry wasn’t in effect that day, as we had trouble finding an open spot.
Yesterday I finished off this year’s Mother’s Day project–a new Black Hills Spruce for the front yard. This was the last major plant purchase I had left from our five-year landscaping plan. I still have some additional lilacs to plant in the back yard, but they are relatively cheap compared to trees.
Last Saturday, my daughters and I went to a free golf clinic hosted by Goldy Gopher at the U of M golf course. Free pizza, drinks, posters and one-on-one lessons made for a fun time by all.
Gopher Clayton Rask won his second Minnesota Golf Champions tournament today at Minneapolis Golf Club, shooting 71-70-70-211 (-5) over the three day tournament. Rask, a junior on Gopher men’s team, won the 2005 event with a 71-73-65-209 total.
Yesterday was Golf with Goldy day, held at the University of Minnesota Les Bolstad Driving Range by the men’s and women’s Gopher golf teams. Our friends Brad James, Andrew Tank and Dee Forsberg-Voss helped organized a great, free event for kids.
The 2007 invitational Minnesota Golf Champions tournament is being held today through Sunday at Minneapolis Golf Club in St. Louis Park. Jeff Sorenson of Columbia Learning Center is back to defend his title. The public is welcome to come and watch some of Minnesota’s best pros and ams compete.
FORE! Minnesota, on Saturday, May 12, 2007 (9 am on KSTC-45):
- Course Tour: Ridges at Sand Creek (Jordan, MN)
- Great Moments in MN Golf: Patty Berg – Summer of 1935
- Stories of Golf: Jim Thorpe Champions Golf Pro
- Tad Reeve’s Dream 18: Windsong Farm #3
- Pro Strategies: Dave Troyer (The Jewel)
Today I paid a visit to Bent Creek Golf Club in Eden Prairie, home of head pro and Minnesota Section PGA secretary Paul Kelly. Bent Creek is a par-71 private course that opened in 1958 and was designed by Don Herfort. PK was kind enough to let me have a cart to drive around and take photos (watch the Photo Gallery for uploads soon).
It has been a very stressful few weeks at work for me–way too many projects going on all at the same time. I like being busy and juggling things, but the 14 hour days are starting to wear on me a little. If the big dollars were rolling in, that would make me feel a little better, but as it is now, it just means I’m working for less money per hour now than I did in college. I still enjoy it overall, though, so I’ll keep plugging away and hopefully the big payday will come eventually.
Last night I attended the University of Minnesota Alumni Association’s annual gala, held on campus at Mariucci Arena. The speakers were Stan Freese ’67 and Tony Dungy ’78.
Greg Peterson of the Rochester Post Bulletin wrote a great story today on Rochester area course news. Facilities mentioned include:
- Eastwood
- Hawthorn Hills Golf Learning Center
- Oak Summit
- The Jewel
- Rochester Golf & Country Club
- Somerby
Good to see Greg writing golf stories again. Here is his other gig: F.A.C.T’s Report.
For those of you near Lutsen, Superior National has announced their 2007 membership prices:
- Single – $825
- Family – $1250
- Patron Cards (1/2 price greens fee and cart) – $200
Purchase before May 19 and get one free round of golf. For more information, call 218-663-7195 or toll-free at 888-564-6543.
About a week ago, my oldest child received a mailing from the Minnesota Wild Kids Club. One sheet was an ad for an upcoming ice show, while the other had a trivia contest promising prizes for the first 50 kids to respond with the correct answers. We went through the ten questions right away (with the help of wild.com) and mailed it in the next day.
Today a package arrived with an autographed copy of the 2006-07 Wild Yearbook! We hadn’t purchased one of those this year, so it was a double treat. Brent Burns and Manny Fernandez hand-signed the cover…too cool!
GopherSports.com reports that the Gopher men’s golf team has been seeded 11th (out of 27 teams) in the central region of the NCAA golf championship. They will play May 17-19 at Rich Harvest Farms golf course in Sugar Grove, Illinois, site of the 2009 Solheim Cup.
While visiting Faribault Golf Club last weekend, I picked up a complimentary copy of the April 2007 edition of Executive Golfer magazine.
Published by Pazdur Publishing, Inc., this edition contained several stories and a large national directory of private courses, including Minnesota clubs.
The 2007 edition of the Pioneer Press Golf Guide was included in the Sunday paper on April 29th (I’m still waiting for confirmation on the publication date of the Star Tribune guide).
This year’s 20-page edition has a Peter Wong photo from Willinger’s on the cover (the par four twelfth) and the usual course guide information and ads. No other stories this year, however. The Pioneer Press golf writer, Tad Reeve, is still with paper and we hope to see more of his excellent writing soon.
Once we hear back from the Star Tribune, we will report on their guide as well.
Chris Hamilton at the Duluth News Tribune wrote a story about the Duluth city courses possibly going private as a response to issues with the AFSCME union.
Also in the Duluth News Tribune, a story written by Andy Greder about the current state of northland courses and how the shrinking number of golfers is impacting the business and the region.
Free registration may be required to read both stories.
Hey, look at me! I actually finished reading a book today. I think I got this one for Christmas two years ago, so that might make me the slowest reader on Earth.
I have two stacks in my home office right now: a stack of magazines about a foot and a half tall and a pile of about ten books. I need to prioritize reducing that pile over the summer.
That tall tree on the left could survive thunderstorms and lightning, but couldn’t take the windstorm we had here last night. It snapped right off and thankfully fell away from the yard and into the wetland area.
Very disappointed to see it gone…
Today we braved the clouds, wind and constant threat of rain to play 18 holes at Faribault Golf Club. They have a very nice web special–click here to sign up for their mailing list and receive a coupon good for a buy one, get one free coupon they send to you via email. There appear to be no restrictions on this offer, so our Saturday morning round cost $16 per person (walking).
The Willie Kidd/Bob Carlson layout has a lot of repetition, but for $16, who can complain?
Just like last year, I went to see Hanz Erik and the Hims last night at the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis. Unfortunately, this is likely the last time I get to see them there, as lead singer Hans Erickson is moving to New York City in August (no word on future plans for Stein Malvey and Erik Naslund or either drummer).
Smallest bunny visitor I’ve ever seen in our backyard. This guy must have been about six inches long and maybe a few weeks old.
We also have a chipmunk issue, I’m afraid. I love chipmunks, but they are starting to create mounds of dirt near the bushes and now also in the yard. I saw some snakes in the back last year, but I guess they aren’t the kind that eat chipmunks…
The spring 2007 edition of RangeView, the Iron Range Resources Board magazine, has a story on the clubhouse at The Quarry at Giants Ridge. Originally opened in 2003, both the clubhouse and the Wacootah Grille will be expanded this spring. The new facility will be twice the size of the old one and will feature a new full service bar. A large patio deck will hold 150 people for special events and tournaments.
Watch for photos of the new building next month on Golfing in Minnesota.