• My wife and daughters, who are so kind and whip-smart
• Everyone who has supported my recovery
• Driving on my own
• The Saint Dinette cheeseburger
• Our Lowertown loft
• The choo-choo
• Progressive jackpots
• Kingdom Hearts 3
• Code (that works)
• Live music
• A well-struck golf shot
• Sunshine (on my shoulders)

The flip side of that other mini-post…

I’ve never been big on year-end lists or goal summaries here, but I’ve always done a fair amount of goal-setting privately. This past year has put a different spin on my perspective, so I thought it might be useful to share a few things as 2019 gets started. In hindsight, a lot of my previous health goals seem rather vain compared to plain old recovery. And how fortunate was I in the past to just want to run faster, bike farther or finish another marathon? Now, regaining my normal vision (without prism lenses) is goal #1, followed closely by getting cleared to resume driving and riding a bike. I’m very thankful that the outlook for all of these things is good – much of this might happen by the middle of March.

Since Dr. Tummala gave me the OK to resume treadmill running, I’ve felt good the past week, with three slowish runs totaling 7.1 miles. I also did one nine mile ride on a stationary bike and resumed doing light dumbbell repeats. Not really sure what workout goals to set for 2019 – the only race I’m registered for is the Get in Gear 10K in April and I’d really like to participate in the Bike to Work challenge again in May. Beyond that, I just want to stay consistent all year and not have any big gaps in my charts (which happened twice in 2018). It would be nice to return to regular weekly runs with WeRunMpls once the ice melts and I’d love to reschedule a ski trip for next season (Banff, Colorado or Schweitzer). Lots of golf outings to schedule with people too.

The doctors cleared a return to air travel already, but money and time will be limited. The original plan was to give each person in our family a trip for their respective milestone birthday in 2019, but all of those plans are on hold for the time being. Most likely options? A quick Las Vegas trip after the Final Four and maybe a work trip to the annual Cisco conference, which is in San Diego this year (June 9-13). And of course Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens in both Florida and California this year, but that will likely fall in the Tokyo/Lanai/Switzerland dream trip category for the time being.

With the Vikings season over, my job shifts focus to the Final Four on April 6th and 8th. We have four large events before then (two trade shows and two dirt shows), but there is a lot to do before “the road ends” in Minneapolis. Then we get to break down that setup for Garth Brooks and his sold-out stadium tour before prepping for Summer X Games (version 3.0). Since X Games moves to early August, there won’t be a lot of time between that and football pre-season. With all that work to do, maybe I should start daydreaming again about building a tiny cabin on the North Shore to escape to with the family…

Wow, how lucky am I to be writing this post? Happy New Year to all of you – may 2019 be full of love, health and prosperity!

Number 14 at Sand Creek

Quick, fun trip to Vermilion to celebrate Mr. Schuster’s 50th

Wide range of weather at The Wilderness

It’s a tough job, but someone had to do it

The former Hastings CC still in great shape – shot an 88 from the whites at Dakota Pines

Team building with Leo at Keller – shot an 86 from the blues

Just like Chan Poling saw

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/pine-valley-golf-club-like-youve-never-seen-it-exclusive-drone-footage-of-all-18-holes

Shot a shaky 87 from the whites at Columbia – too many poor shots

Shot an 84 from the whites at Sand Creek – the new gear is really starting to pay off

Thanks, Tapemark

Congrats to the Klas and Cody families on a great Tapemark run

Number four @ Keller with Ed and Leo

The iconic 15th hole @ Highland National

Looking forward to breaking this one in over at Brookview – thanks Phil!

http://www.brainerddispatch.com/sports/golf/4433286-area-golf-boos-remembered-creator-golf-mecca

https://www.golfadvisor.com/articles/streamsong-course-debate-17673.htm#.WqFntxpOhkU.twitter

Faribault $25 special

Signs, signs, everywhere signs…

Highlands course @ Mississippi National, Red Wing

Golf with ops @ Highland National

Nine holes @ Inver Wood before we were pulled off by Thor

Number 15 @ Southview has lost some trees

36 holes @ The Wilderness is too much for my tired hands

The Wilderness is still the greatest

Need Dutoit to maintain his lead Sunday

My new “jackpot” clubs – thanks, Golf Pro Cody

Mr. Golfer plays at Baker

The pork ribs at the Meadows Grill

Looks like I’m switching to TaylorMade 

Sunday round with Leo @ Gross National

The ones I haven’t played:

• Austin
• Burl Oaks
• Cloquet
• Eshquaguma
• Lafayette Club
• Medina
• Minikahda Club
• Moorhead
• Oak Ridge
• Owatonna
• Ridgeview
• Somerset
• Spring Hill
• St. Cloud
• Wayzata
• Windsong Farm
• Woodhill

Pretty sure this is where it was @ Fairbault Golf & Country Club

Congrats, Sergio

IBM doing their thing at the Masters

Round number two was a little rougher

Golf with John and Cathy @ Palmbrook CC, Sun City, AZ

Top charity golf tournaments in the metro

A very snowy Meadows at Mystic Lake 

The Mobile Golfer’s Top 50 Golf Courses You Can Play in America: Nos. 10-1

http://www.golfdigest.com/gallery/americas-100-greatest-golf-courses-ranking

Flashbacks @ Goodwill

Tenth tee at Stonebrooke

Hardly ever this nice in November – Stonebrooke, Shakopee, Minnesota 

Back to Midland Hills (thanks to Special Olympics)

Wish I played better, but what an amazing October day in Minnesota 

Ridges at Sand Creek

http://www.turfnet.com/blog/8/entry-1318-the-real-deal/

Jack Nicklaus, fake 16th fairway, Hazeltine National Golf Club

First tee, final Saturday match, Ryder Cup 2016

After years of planning, Ryder Cup week has finally arrived in Minnesota. It’s extra fun to see the golf world focus (again) on the local club that has so many great people connected to it – members and staff alike. The last time a major was held here (the 2009 PGA), I had a media pass and covered it for my old Golfing in Minnesota website. The major before that (the 2002 PGA), I volunteered for one of the charities in a food booth. This time I decided to just put my name in the lottery and ended up with Tuesday practice round tickets.

As I’ve mentioned before, the early part of the week is almost more fun than the competition days because the players are relaxed and will generally interact with the gallery. You can also take all the pictures you want, which is really cool considering how close you can generally get. This time I just used my new iPhone with the “zoom” lens and got some decent shots (see the full gallery after the jump). Tuesday also had the added benefit of the celebrity matches, which included Bill Murray and Michael Phelps playing for the U.S. side. I didn’t know they were doing that, so that was a fun bonus.

I went with the Miller brothers and we both parked our cars at the main public lot at Canterbury Park in Shakopee. The bus ride only took about 20 minutes, but traffic on 169 was terrible and overall it took much longer than I planned to get there. The busses dropped off at Chaska High School and people walked from there to the course. The entry was nicely designed and dropped you into the area at the opposite end of the driving range from the new clubhouse. The super gigantic store was impressive, as was the entire temporary village of tents, platforms and chalets.

We ended up looping around most of the course, as Brad hadn’t seen it before. I’ve been lucky enough to play Hazeltine six times over the years (only breaking 100 half of the time, never below 90) and love seeing how the very talented Chris Tritabaugh has prepared everything for the world’s best. It’s really too long and difficult for me, but should be a great time for these players with the much-lower-than-PGA rough and newly rebuilt fairways. Not a fan of the hole re-numbering, though.

In addition to the U.S. and European players (professional and celebrity), we also saw Tom Lehman, Jim Furyk, Bubba Watson, Tiger Woods and my friend Doug, who was the scorekeeper for the Phelps group. We also saw lots of familiar red U.S. Bank Stadium jackets on the Monterrey Security team members that did the mag screening. Many companies with suites at the stadium were represented with corporate tents, so I think there will be a lot of overlap between my two worlds this week.

Levy Restaurants bought Prom Catering last year and created the Levy Prom Golf subsidiary that is providing the food at this Ryder Cup. The tent I went to was out of burgers and chicken sandwiches and had a very long line. I ended up with a $5 hot dog, $3 bag of chips and a $3 salted nut roll. Can’t recall how much the bottle of Mt. Dew cost, but they had many different beverage options. Wish they would add a little variety on the food side, but overall it was fine.

We stopped at the store on the way out and I thought the selection was amazing and the prices were generally fair. Of course the two things I really wanted, the hockey jersey and daily player shirts, were the most expensive ($265 and $90, respectively). I did leave with a signed Michael Birawer print, though, that was only $35.

Getting home was a two hour exercise in patience. The lines at the high school snaked back and forth across the parking line in a queue that rivaled anything you see at Disney. It moved at a decent pace, but unfortunately a lack of busses meant waiting in a pen for 10-15 minutes before we were able to board. Traffic leaving that part of town was horrible, so I got home much later than planned.

All in all, though, very much looking forward to a return visit on Saturday…

Why does the one item I liked the most cost $265?

The more I practice, the luckier I get…

Low slope and rating = rough on index @ Dwan 

Valleywood Par Three

Tuesday is all I could get

Big hitter, the Lama…

12th hole of the current Braemar layout

Willingers 12th hole, Northfield

TVs may not work, but this will do

First railroad vehicles at Sand Creek in ages (maybe ever?)

http://www.mngolf.org/m/News/Van_Rooyen_Cruises_to_Victory_at_Tapemark

The South African Gopher takes it by five

Phil Anderson starts things off on number one at Southview

Look what pulled up next to the Tapemark tent

Kid two and friend out between hole four and hole eight @ SVCC

Tapemark #45 @ SVCC