Columbia on a Friday afternoon

My wife went out to dinner tonight so my friend Michael and I hit Columbia for a round of golf after work.

It was a nice evening.  Slow though.  Neither of us played very good but it was better than being home doing laundry.  I think we both shot around bogey call, if I recall.

PHAT tour event 2- StoneRidge

The second tour stop for PHAT was hosted at Stoneridge in Stillwater MN.

 I love this course.  It is my favorite course in the cities.  I just think the rugged look of the course is absolutely beautiful.

The last time I played here I shot my worst round of 2013.  It was actually the last round of 2013 for me as I was so disgusted that I put away the clubs.

That hasn't diminished my love for the course.  So a return engagement here was something I was really looking forward to!

I arrived early to grab some lunch at the course, only to find a large contingent of my fellow tour players already there.  Boy do they take this seriously!!

 Look at all of the players at the range working on their game!  Some of these people are even members of the PHAT tour!

The course had aerated the fairways so we played a lift and place from the fairway.  The aeration holes were pretty large so your ball usually was sitting down in a hole otherwise.

This week in the tour was the first round of a multi-round match play sub-game.  We were seeded based on our results from the first event at the Meadows.

Here is what the matches were (seeds in parenthesis):
Jason Simek (1) vs Scott Loe (16)
Jeff Jiovanazzo (8) vs Bill Starken (9)
Todd Heil (4) vs Michael Vigen (13)
Dan Magnuson (5) vs Jim Crowley (12)
Jeff Heil (2) vs Eddie Rymer (15)
Nick Smith (7) vs Ryan Winterquist (10)
Brad Opsahl (3) vs Matt Oelschlager (14)
Kris Halsrud (6) vs Chad Mechke (11)

 

 Dan Magnuson tees off in the second group as Todd Heil ponders life's mysteries.  The first group of Jason, Scott, Jeff, and Bill are on the green on this opening par 4 hole that plays straight away at 311 yards.

Jim Crowley tees off nervously after watching his opponent Dan stripe his down the right side near the woods.

A look at the tee on the par 5 2nd hole.  This runs parallel to the par 5 4th hole -one of the best holes on the front. You can see that the recent storms have left some standing water in the traps.  The course itself was well drained and the greens rolled a lot better than week one's soggy surfaces.

A view at the well guarded raised green on the par 4 3rd hole that plays 350 from the blues.

Brad and Matt ponder how much of the sand to take on on the tee of the fourth hole.  This hole is a gem.  You must decide how much of the sand on the right to take on.  Into the wind this is a factor but without wind it is fairly easy.

The second shot will likely be just short of the cart path bisecting the hole.  Again a decision as to how close you want top go awaits.  A large bunker extends down the left side, followed by one down the center right protecting the bottom of the hill on this raised green.  The green is not deep and approaches from any distance will likely roll through to some treacherous rough behind the hole.  A chip from there gets dicey as you need to hit back to the green sloping down away towards the front.  Too far of a chip can lead the ball to spill down the hill far below.

Brad stripes his drive on 4.

A look at the difficult green on 4 as seen from the next hole's tee box.  This is the number one handicap and one I agree with.

The 449 yard par 4 5th hole looks tame in comparison to the 4th, however it is a long hole and a well struck tee shot is essential.  A large bunker on the left side is mostly hidden from the tee.  A miss right is the better option but the rough is thick here.

The elevation drops as you approach the green which is well bunkered on both sides.

Here is a look back down the 5th hole from behind the green, as seen from the 6th tee box.

The sixth hole offers a generous landing area off the tee.  Just don't miss the fairway.  A huge waste bunker runs down the entire left side passed the tree.

Down the right side is a hill that may funnel a ball back onto the fairway- or leave you with a terrible side-hill lie.

A look into the green from the right side of the hole.  The group ahead, captained by Jeff Heil putts out their assured four birdie putts.

A look at the tricky par 3 7th hole.  Played usually into the wind, this 150 yard par 3 is made more challenging by the false front on this green that extends a good 15 yards into the putting surface.

The 8th hole is a tough par 4 at 354 yards that plays uphill the entire length.  A myriad of bunkering requires you to hit the fairway or face making the second shot to the elevated green nearly impossible.

The 11th hole is probably considered a signature hole on the course.  A barn down the left side offers golfers an opportunity to say they can actually hit the broad side of a barn with their tee shot.

A huge landing area is coupled with a huge waste bunker down the right.  The approach in on this most accessible par 5 is protected by a centered bunker.  The bunker to the left in the picture is actually about 40 yards short of the green.

On of the best examples of the beautiful ruggedness of StoneRidge is exemplified on the par 4 13th hole.  A short hole at only 310 yards, it plays diagonally off the tee and offers tremendous risk to anyone trying to shave distance or go for the green.  A line of bunkers acts as sentries on the rugged hill that makes up the right side of this hole.  Surrounding this hole is probably the largest expanse of sand on a golf course in Minnesota, save for perhaps the Quarry in Biwabik.

In this shot Matt attempts a rescue after hitting into the danger zone on 13.  In the background Michael ponders an equally harrowing shot on the 15th hole.

One of the pretties par 3 holes in the cities found at a public course is the 14th. 177 yards of no bail out possible space awaits your tee shot.

And another pretty par 3 is quickly followed on 16.  This one is longer at 195 yards but offers an opportunity to miss to the right.

My play didn't live up to the excitement.  I ended up carding an 87.  More pathetic driving showcased my ever crumbling game.  I finished a T-5 week 1 with a 10th place finish.

Jason Simek continues his absolute domination of the league.  He has a stranglehold at the top and wins again amassing 200 points out of the gate, besting the next closest comptetitor (Jeff Heil) by 88.5 points.

Here are the overall results of the second event (Gross/Net):
1 Jason Simek 82/72

2 Eddie Rymer 81/73

3 Dan Magnuson 85/75

T4 Brad Opsahl 83/76

T4 Jeff Heil 84/76

T6 Jim Crowley 85/77

T6 Todd Heil 89/77

T6 Ryan Winterquist 82/77

9 Chad Meschke 83/78

10 Kris Halsrud 87/79

11 Bill Starken 89/82

12 Jeff Jiovanazzo 90/82

13 Matt Oelschlager 98/83

14 Michael Vigen 103/84

15 Scott Loe 96/85

16 Nick Smith 101/90

In matches the following occured:
Simek defeats Loe
Jiovanazzo defeats Starken
Todd Heil defeats Vigen
Magnuson defeats Crowley
Rymer defeats Jeff Heil
Winterquist defeats Smith
Opsahl defeats Oelschlager
Meschke defeats me.  Boo!

Columbia League Play Week 2

A beautiful weather night for our second week of the Minneapolis league at Columbia.  I finally made some signs of progress with my driver.  By weakening my grip on my right hand I seem to be able to remove my crashing dives off the tee.  It is taking some work as it feels very awkward.

Week 2 we took on the back nine.  Our opponents in match play were Bruce and James.  This week it was Michael and I.  I 3 putted the first hole to set up the bogey train I would ride pretty much all night.  I did fall off the tracks with pars on 7 and 8 and double bogeys on 2 holes.  The doubles came on holes where I tried to be aggressive and sink a par putt from a long distance, as Michael had already gotten in for the match.  In both cases I hit too far and missed the come back.

The back nine was in good shape except for the fairways (especially 11 and 13) that are so lumpy, it is ridiculous.  They seriously need to introduce more drainage features on those holes.  More ash tree removal is easily apparent on holes 14.

So I ended with a 45.  Crud.  On a positive note, we ended up winning all 5 points.  It came down to the final hole, which Michael salvaged with a bogey.

Inaugural PHAT League Season Event 1 - The Meadows

My second league I am involved in the year started this week.  Consisting of 16 players, this is the inaugural year of the Professional Hackers Association Tour, or PHAT.

We started off the year at The Meadows at Mystic Lake.  Because of league play on the course we started earlier than normal, at 2pm.  I manage to get into work early and was able to leave in time to make the 50 minute drive down to Shakopee.

This was only my second time playing the Meadows.  The only previous time, I played with my dad on fathers day in 2011.

We played from the blue tees, which are 6668 yards.

Because of rains, golf carts were not allowed off the cart paths which was a real drag.  Today was forecasted to be stormy, but when things started out it was nice.  There was even a little sun peaking out while we warmed up at the range.

Jeff teeing off on the 1st while Brad and Todd watch with envy.

A shot of the lush and soon to be soggy first hole from the tee.

The green on the uphill par 3 second hole.  This is a tough hole at 195 yards, which was into the wind.  That is my ball on the left on the fringe.  You would think that an up and down was likely, but with a terrible chip and 2 putts I was on my way with a bogey.

A look back up the third hole from behind the green.  The green is an island.  Jason Simek hit a great shot in here.  His ball is to the left of the pin.  He went on to make bird.

The uphill short par 4 fourth hole.  At only 308 yards it is tempting to try driver but all kinds of trouble awaits by the green.  On this tee the rains finally came.

On the 5th hole the lightning started and the siren blew to get us off the course.  Unfortunately with the carts being path only, the GPS enabled carts wouldn't let us cut across the one hole we needed to get back to the clubhouse from the 5th hole.  Instead we had to drive around on the paths down hole 11 and back along hole 10.  Not cool when you can see ground strikes by lightning all around.

We had an hour storm delay while the brunt of the storm came through.  That was fine, as we all went inside and had a couple of drinks and I got a chance to each some lunch.

After the weather delay we went back out to the 5th hole where we had marked our balls.  You can see that the soaked course got even more water logged with standing water in the bunkers.  You can see Jason going to look for his ball in the gully that runs down the left side of the 5th hole.

I hit a great shot from 170 yards out onto the 5th green, shown here.  My ball is just short of the stick.  I went on to make my first par of the day.  Maybe the weather delay was a good thing?

Onto the 6th hole, the par 5 "Bear".  hence the cool statue to the left of the tee.  You can see the 5th green and the casino's hotel in the background.  The Round green building is the pro shop and restaurant.

Todd tees of on the 6th in the group ahead. Brad puts the body english on for Todd's ball.

A view of the landing area on the 6th tee.  A pretty waterfall and another bear statue gaurd the right side on long approaches to the green.

If you play safe to the left on your second shot, this is the shot you face on your third into the green.  Jeff Heil hit a booming 240 yard second shot onto the green from the group behind while we were putting.  He drove up sheepishly to apologize to us, at which time we put a hex on his ball and he missed his eagle.

The pretty par 3 7th hole.  Too bad the Dakotah Ice arena takes a little of the ambiance away with it looming in the background.

Jason hitting from the sand on the 7th.  He hit a great shot and saved par.

A view of the 9th hole's fairway.  We played this hole last as we had to switch to the back 9 when the Meadows' league started.

A view of the ninth hole's green.

More great sculpture work on the course.  This one is one the 10th hole, "Meadow".

A view of the tee shot on 10.

And the approach in towards the 10th green.

Dan Magunson sizes up his approach into 10.

Yeah!, I finally hit a tight shot into the 10th.  Too bad it was too save par.

The 11th green.

Dan teeing off on the par 4 13th.

And a view into the downhill par 3 14th.

The tee shot on 15.  Lots of sand to contend with in the landing area.

A look back down the 15th.

And the rains came back.  A sudden downpour coincided with us being conveniently located by the shelter between the 15th and 16th holes.

A view of the very wet 16th par 3.  We waited out the rain a while and once it let up a little went back out to finish.

The tee shot on 18 must carry the marsh and avoid the waiting bunker right.

Bill hitting his third shot.

And Jason hits his third. I had hit another shot into the green within 5 feet.  I hit the putt was on line but the wet greens were too slow and I left it one roll short for of a birdie.  That would have been my only bird and good enough for a skin on the hole. Ugh!

A view of the 18th green taken over by the practice area, earlier in the day.

Here are the final standings for the first event.  Net score in parenthesis.

1 Jason Simek 81 (70)
2 Jeff Heil 82 (73)
T3 Brad Opsahl 84 (76)
T3 Todd Heil 89 (76)
T5 Kris Halsrud (86) 78
T5 Dan Magnuson 88 (78)
T7 Bill Starken 86 (79)
T7 Jeff Jiovanazzo 86 (79)
T7 Nick Smith 91 (79)
10 Ryan Winterquist 86 (81)
T11 Chad Meschke 88 (83)
T11 Jim Crowley 91 (83)
13 Michael Vigen 111 (18)
14 Matt Oelschlager 110 (94)