Golf is a long ways away

Last month I went to Brainerd, MN to visit Cragun's with my brother.  He had done some work for them and received a $1000 credit for his efforts!  We drove up there to get fitted for new clubs for him.

Cragun's, and Brainerd in general, is home to some of the finest golfing in Minnesota.  Cragun's has Dutch's Legacy and Bobby's Legacy 18 hole courses and a par 3 course.  I played both of the 18 hole courses about 5 years ago and really liked them.  I hope to be able to get up there this fall for a tournament the Minnesota Golf Association puts on.

Right now the golf season is a long ways off according to how it looked up there.

Here is a shot of the 9th hole on Dutch's course

Back at the Cragun's hotel area, a view out across the lake shows the skating rink they have set up there.  They also rent out fish houses for ice fishing and snowmobiles.

One new addition in the clubhouse this winter is an indoor simulator.  It takes up most of the floor space in the pro shop but has allowed the pro shop to stay open for the first time this winter.  You can call in and book time on it to keep your game in shape during the winter.

Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to get my brother fitted.  Chris Foley was not there that day after having just been at the Minnesota golf show.  Mike is going to go back up there in April when the driving range will hopefully be open.

A bit of a rant

OK, OK, I get it.  Titleist is giving away one dozen free Pro Vs if you buy 3 dozen!  I don't need every golf course and golf merchant out there emailing me like they have arranged some great deal for me.

Rant over.

Goin' insane...going Ben Crane

More proof that the PGA needs more golfers like Ben Crane.
http://youtu.be/iiiOqybRvsM

Something new for me in 2013!

This Christmas I received a gift card to Totally Driven, a golf training and fitting company in Oakdale, MN.  I am really pumped to go try out some of their services.  Even better they are opening a new location closer to me, in Edina!

Totally Driven is at the Minnesota Golf show that is held mid February.  I will be spending some time with them this year in preparation for use of my gift card.  Ideally I would love to get a full club fitting done.  Only problem with that is then laying out some coin on clubs.

2013 Metro Golf Card course lineup changes

The Metro Golf Card, aka "The Common Man" card is changing the courses included this year.

For the past couple of years the courses have been:
Creeks Bend
Dahlgreen
Links at Northfork
Loggers Trail
Sawmill
Mississippi Dunes
Pebble Creek
Wild Marsh

The 2013 line up will now include:
Creeks Bend
Dahlgreen
Links at Northfork
Loggers Trail
Sawmill
Tartan Park
Pebble Creek
Wild Marsh

Mississippi Dunes is being dropped and Tartan Park added.  I have never played Tartan Park, which is 9 miles east of St. Paul in Lake Elmo.  I am kind of bummed as I really like Mississippi Dunes and will miss it not being on the card.

To get your Metro Golf Card go to http://metrogolfcard.com on February 1st

Happy 2013!

From an email from my friend Michael:

1. 125,000 golf balls a year are hit into the water at the famous 17th hole of the Stadium Course at Sawgrass (picture attached below).

2. The longest drive ever is 515 yards. The longest putt ever is a monstrous 375 feet

3. Phil Mickelson, who plays left-handed, is actually right handed. He learned to play golf by mirroring his fathers golf swing, and he has used left handed golf clubs ever since.

4. The chances of making two holes-in-one in a round of golf are one in 67 million.

5. Tiger Woods snagged his first ace at the tender age of eight years old.

6. Balls travel significantly further on hot days. A golfer swinging a club at around 100 mph will carry the driver up to eight yards longer for each increase in air temperature of 25°F.

7. The longest golf course in the world is the par 77 International Golf Club in Massachusetts which measures a fearsome 8325 yards

8. The highest golf course in the world is the Tactu Golf Club in Morococha , Peru , which sits 14,335 feet above sea level at its lowest point.

9. The longest golf hole in the world is the 7th hole (par 7) of the Sano Course at the Satsuki Golf Club in Japan . It measures an incredible 909 yards.

10. The largest bunker in the world is Hell's Half Acre on the 585-yard 7th hole of the Pine Valley Course in New Jersey .

11. The largest golfing green is that of the 695-yard, 5th hole, a par 6 at the International Golf Club in Massachusetts , with an area in excess of 28,000 square feet.

12. The driver swing speed of an average lady golfer is 62mph; 96mph for an average LPGA professional; 84mph for an average male golfer; 108mph for an average PGA Tour player; 130mph for Tiger Woods; 148-152mph for a national long drive champion.

13. There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.

14. The first golf balls were made of thin leather stuffed with feathers. Tightly-packed feathers made balls that flew the farthest. Feather balls were used until 1848.

15. The youngest golfer to shoot a hole-in-one was Coby Orr, who was five years old at the time. It happened in Littleton , Colorado , in 1975.

16. 22.8% of golfers are women.

17. Golf was banned in Scotland from 1457 to 1502 to ensure citizens wouldn't waste time when preparing for an English invasion

18. The term birdie comes from an American named Ab Smith. While playing 1899, he played what he described as a "bird of a shot", which became "birdie" over time.

19. The word golf does not mean "Gentleman Only, Ladies Forbidden". This is an internet myth. It is thought the word golf comes from the Dutch word "kolf" or "kolve", meaning "club". Historians believe this was passed on to the Scottish, whose own dialect changed this to "golve," "gowl" or "gouf". By the sixteenth century, this had evolved into the word we know today.

20. Don't feel bad about your high handicap --- 80% of all golfers will never achieve a handicap of less than 18.

Final post of 2012

Well Christmas has come and gone. Hopefully you all had a great one.  We are in the midst of the long Minnesota winter now.  I thought I would just post a quick recap of my golf this year.  I think I set a record for the number of times playing, though I have never really kept track before.  The following are the courses and times playing them this year:

Big Fish-1
Brookview-2
Chaska Town Course-3
Columbia-16
Como-1
Creeksbend-3
Dahlgreen-3
Deer Run-1
Dwan-3
Edinburgh USA-3
Glen Lake-1
Gross National-1
Hayward Country Club-1
Hiawatha-1
Inverwood-4
Loggers Trail-1
Mississippi Dunes-2
Pheasant Hills-2
River Oaks-1
Rush Creek-3
Sawmill-1
Spooner Country Club-1
Stonebrooke-2
Stoneridge-1
The Jewel-2
The Links at Northfork-4
The Summit-1
The Wilds-1
Valleywood-1
Voyagers Village-1
Wild Marsh-2

That is a total of 70 times I got out!!  The 16 rounds at Columbia were all nine-holes played during league.  Besides that I also had 1 nine-hole round at Glen Lake.  That means a total of 53 18-hole rounds and 17 nine hole rounds.  That is 1,107 holes I played between March 17th and November 10th. That is a crap load of golfing.

I have been truly blessed with another great year.  Not only did I get out to play a crazy amount of times, I had the fortune to visit the Royal and Ancient Old Course.  Away from golf, I am surrounded by great friends and a wonderful family.

Here is to wishing you all the happiest possible 2013.  May you always find the fairways, and if you don't I hope your life's lie isn't plugged.

Looking forward to spring. (Remember the 2013 PGA season is only 3 days away!)

 ; )

-Kris