Playing BrookView

Today I got a chance to play Brookview in Golden Valley.  I played with Mr Vigen, Kris Gerber, and Mike's friend Damon.  As we started the round Damon announced he was going to be a first time dad in October.  Congratulations to him!

I forgot a camera for the round so no pics.  The last time I played this course I was unable to take any pics because it was pouring rain.  Todays weather was cool (upper 50s, low 60s).  The sun was out at the start but the clouds came in for most of the orund.  The wind was up and was a factor.

The day started out well for me. I hooked a poor 3 wood off the first tee but recovered on my second.  I ended up hitting the green but a tail wind pushed my ball over the green to the back fringe.  I was able to chip on and get down for par.

The second hole I again hooked my drive but missed the water right.  I had to lay back, hitting a gap wedge up over a tree to about 150.  My third found the green.  This is where the day started downhill.  I proceeded to 4 put for a double 7.

From there I had too many double bogeys.  I did manage to card a few pars, including every par 3.  The real kick in the teeth came on 18.

18 is a finishing par 4 that requires a carry over a pond in front of the tee.  Left is OB and right is another pond.  The wind was slightly into us but it did not feel like a lot.  I am not sure what the carry is over the water but I usually play to carry the entire length.  I think it is about 250. 

Here is the details of how the hole played out for me:

1. Tee shot right where I wanted to hit it straight over the water- short and into the water.
2. Re-tee.  Tee shot over swung and hooked right into the water.
3. Re-tee.  Tee shot right where I wanted to hit it straight over the water- short and into the water.
4. Re-tee.  Tee shot right where I wanted to hit it straight over the water- finally carried to the fairway.
5. From there I was about 160 out and hitting into the wind.
6. I hit an OK approach shot that had a bit of a fade, as I failed to come though on impact.  The ball balloned in the air and landed just inside the OB stakes left.
7. Re-hit from the fairway.  This time I hit a really good iron shot that I aimed right to ensure missing OB.  The ball came to rest just off the green on the first cut.
8. I chipped on (flubbing that shot but still amking it half-way to the hole).
9. I hit a good putt that just missed on the low side.
10. Tapped in for a solid 13.

Ugh.  Still hurts.  As I said the round was mostly OK but there were too many doubles.  I carded a 97, adjusted to a 90 for my handicap. 

I want revenge.

Follow Up- First Week of Play at Columbia

So playing Columbia for the first week, I was pleasantly surprised.  We played the front nine so I didn't get to see the back 9 and how it has recovered from flooding.  I did see the hole from a couple fairways over and it appears to be back to normal.

Gone this year are the several large irrigation holes that were on several of the holes.  The greens too seem like they have grown in some from the devastation of last year when several lost much of their turf.  While by no means is the course pristine it does bode well for the year ahead.

I didn't play the best but it is a long season; a marathon, not a sprint.

1st week of league play at Columbia

Today is the start of the Minneapolis golf league season.  Michael Vigen and I get to defend our championship title at Columbia.  It should be a great day for golf, low 70s and sunny.

My wife is also in a league this year.  She is playing at Theo Wirth in Minneapolis.  Maybe this year she can get a trophy too.

I am interested to see what shape Columbia is in this year.  Last year they lost most of hole 11 after drainage ponds flooded during one particularly fierce rain storm.  I was looking at the course today and found that google has a good picture of the damage in their map. 

You can see a brownish cirlce in the fairway short of the water damage.  This was their temporary "green" though putting on it was ridiculous. They turned the hole into a par 3 instead of the normal 547 yard par 5.  You can see the flooding did not affect the green, as it was elevated above the fairway enough to be spared.  The green can be seen to the left of the damaged area :

The 2nd annual Johnny Open

The second annual Johnny Open was held again at Deer Run golf course in Victoria.  This year we played early in April.  Last year this time in April we made a trip down to Iowa to play in "warmer" weather and ended up playing when it was something like upper 40s.


This year we had a little warmer spring but unfortunately on this day the rain came along with cool temps.

The tournament this year was to raise money for the  Ruffi family.  A good turn out despite the crap weather.  A few people didn't show but most everyone turned out to try help out another great family in need.

Deer Run has done a great job hosting this tournament again.  I've heard from John, the organizer, that they are a great place to work with if you have a charity outing like this.

It was a shotgun start this year with us starting on hole 15.  I played with my brother Mike, and his co-workers Kevin and Dave.

Herer are some random pics from the tourney.

And here are some pictures of the course.  We played behind a group with former Twins player Al Newman and an old neighborhood kid Jim Belanger.  Look for some shots of a major leaguer's swing as well as a video on hole 7.

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 6

 Hole 7

Now this is a major league swing. Guess how many home runs Al has?  The answer he will tell most people is "one more than any of you @$$holes!".


Hole 8

Hole 9

Hole 10

Hole 11

Hole 12

Hole 13

Hole 14

Hole 15

Hole 16

Hole 17

Hole 18

Another great day for a great cause.  Other than freezing and getting soaking wet.  It was nice to sit in front of the fire at the clubhouse after the round.  I sat there long enough to have my clothes dry out completely before I left the festivities to attend my friend Keith's 40th birthday party.

Golfing Como

My Dad and I got out after work today to play the St Paul city course Como.  We played the front 9.  It was a very up and down round for me.  I had a few good shots but there were enough bad shots to really mess with my confidence.  I ended up getting a 43 with 1 bird and another one just missed but with a couple of wild hooks/sh@nks it felt a lot worse than that.

I didn't bring my camera so no pictures of the course.  The conditions were very good in general.  The rough was not mowed so that made things a bit harder.  The greens were in really good shape.

I have a charity scramble event this weekend and with how poorly I played I am going to try to find some time to hit the range before then.

Minnesota Golf

While I have already logged 7 or so rounds of golf this season, we are in Minnesota.  I received a newsletter from the Wilderness up in Fortune Bay, one of my favorite courses.  Just yesterday this is what their course looked like:

This after they had opened with their earliest opening day ever, April 13th.  The golf lasted 3 days until 6 inches of snow fell forcing the course to close.

Ah, Minnesota!

Golfing Glen Lake

This weekend the nice weather continued so I headed out to Glen Lake with my father and Lisa to warm up the sticks.

Glen Lake is a nice facility to practice and play.  They have a large driving range, along with a quite large putting green.  Glen Lake is a big participant in the First Tee and have a lot of kids lessons. 

I dont mean to sound like a golf elitist but sometimes the course can play pretty slow with a lot of beginners out there hacking it around.  There are only 2 sets of tees on the course.  The layout has 4 par 4s and 5 par 3s.

Hole 1 is an uphill 117 yard shot to a green that can not be seen from the tee.  A large bunker is short and right and can come into play if you are facing a right pin location.  Long is trouble as a cart path runs directly behind the green along with trees.

Hole 2 is a downhill par 3 at 147 yards.  Again right has more problems than left which is wide open.  Usually one less club is needed here due to the downhill approach.

Hole 3 is the first of the par 4s at 308 yards.  A large grove of trees protects the right side of the hole off the tee.  A scattering of trees left can also come into play.  The green is protected by a couple of bunkers and the right side which falls off towards the 4th tee.

The 4th hole has a small grove of flowering trees that I always enjoy seeing in the spring.  A sure sign of summer's impending arrival.  We usually play out here in the spring and again in the fall to see the great tree colors.  Today the trees hadn't yet bloomed but they were close.

The 4th hole itself is well guarded 153 yard hole with water left off the tee and water right next to the green.  The green is pretty long (40 yards or so)so take it into account based on the pin selection.

Hole 5 is the second par 4 at 273 yards.  Not long by any means it is not easy to hit the green from the tee as the hole curves ever so slightly left.  The green is protected by a bunker complex right and trees left.  The best play here is center of the fairway rather than trying to green it off the tee.  I really like the look of this hole with the high cut pines on either side.  It makes me think of Augusta.

Hole 6 is another par 4 that is actually quite difficult.  The hardest part of the hole is the second shot to the green on this 357 yard dogleg left.  The green is surrounded by trees and falls off both right and left of the cart path.  The base play is to cut over the left bunker off the tee to have a short approach.  If you take driver out and miss too far right you will hit through the fairway and find trees.

Hole 7 is another downhill par 3 at 147 yards (or 173) depending on the tee.  The wind is usually a factor here.  The pond right is not.  A large tree on the left can cause problems.

Hole 8 is yet another downhill par 3 at 166 yards.  The tee box here is massive so the yardage can vary.  Left is OB and I have seen plenty of balls hit there onto the road.

The final hole is a par 4 at 301 yards.  Driving this hole is tough as a grove of trees left and a hill right requires utmost precision to reach the green.  The left side of the hole borders wetlands so the better miss here is right.  Missing on the right will likely find your ball on a side hill lie but playable.