Golfing Island View Golf Club

On a beautiful late July summer day with low humidity and temps in the mid 70s, I headed west to Waconia, MN to play Island View Golf Club.  Located about 35 miles west of Minneapolis, the course is situated on the east side of lake Waconia.

Island View is a semi-private course with 375 members.  They do offer limited public tee times but only 3 days in advance, and only for select times of the week.  The current rate is $55 on the weekend, $50 during the week.  A cart will run you an extra $17 per person.  Comparing those rates to my benchmark western suburban course (Chaska Town Course) at $67 and cart for $17.  The course is certainly well maintained and a very fun layout.  There is only one hole with a problem I would say has a bad design.

Today I was treated to my round by my brother-in-law Dave, as a late birthday gift.  I also teed it up with Mr. Vigen and Dave's dad Larry.

The course is a fairly short layout at 6578 from the tips with a respective rating and slope of 71.4 and 133.  There are 4 sets of tees (blue-6578 yards, white-6252 yards, gold-5691 yards, red-5335 yards) that are generally fairly close together, and the course prides itself on pace of play stating that rounds should be completed in 4 hours.

Built in 1959, and officially opening in 1960 the course has alternated between exclusively private and semi-private.  It was designed by Bill Kidd Sr. and George Oftelie.  Bilk Kidd Sr. was the head pro at Interlachen from 1920  until his son took over in 1956.  Bill Jr. finally retired in 1993 and their combined 74 years is the state's longest father son tenure.

The layout is a traditional park-land style course with mature trees lining the rolling fairways.  While the course is not on the shores of Lake Waconia, water does come into play (dramatically on a couple holes) on 4 holes.  I would say most holes are well bunkered with around 50 total bunkers in play.  The biggest challenge comes from the trees which demand precision on nearly every shot.

On to the course.


Hole 1- Par 5 (486/465/465/448 yards)
A par 5 to start off the round, this hole plays straight away, rising to an elevated green.

 There are 2 fairway bunkers down the right side of the hole.  Trees line either side, which is a constant on pretty much every hole out here.

The green is protected in front by two bunkers and an additional one on  the right side.  This is the shortest of the par 5s on the course.


Hole 2- Par 4 (398/364/364/335 yards)
A long uphill par 4 that doglegs right around the trees.  On the left side of the dogleg is a large fairway trap.  The better angle into the green is the left side of this hole as the right side can be blocked by the trees.

An accurate second shot is needed to another elevated green that is well guarded by 3 greenside bunkers.


Hole 3- Par 5 (520/509/490/436 yards)
This par 5 plays fairly straight for the first 2 shots before turning slightly right at the end.  This is the second longest hole on the course.  Off the tee there are a pair of bunkers down the right side.  The tee shot is elevate from the fairway.  You can see water down the right off the tee but it will not be in play until the second shot.

Down the left side of the hole runs a grove of trees, so if you want to avoid the fairway bunkers right you run the risk of tree trouble down the left. A grass gully runs across the fairway 270 yards off the tee.

 On your second shot, the best play is to the left side of the fairway to set up the best angle into the green and to keep the water out of play.

 The green is deep and guarded down the right by the water and down the left by three bunkers.

 As with most of the greens here, they look relatively flat but have a lot of subtle breaks that can fool you the first time you try them.

A view back up the hole.


Hole 4- Par 3 (161/147/147/131 yards)
The first par 3 on the course, it is the shortest out here.  A large green can affect club selection of the tee.  It is important to hit the green as a bevy of four greenside bunkers will catch most wayward shots.  The green slopes back to front so hitting short of the pin is a better options than a downhill come back putt.

Hole 5- Par 4 (394/378/365/357 yards)
A straight away par 4 that has OB right and trees down the left.  The fairway tends to run off to the left so hitting to the right center side of the fairway is preferred.  However the right side miss is definitely more penal with the OB and trees down that side.

 The hole descends dramatically towards the green at around 150 yards.

The green is flanked by a pair of bunkers, with water on the extreme left.  Another deep green can demand an extra club or two based on the pin position.

Another view back down the hole as seen from the 6th tee.


Hole 6- Par 3 (189/176/167/133 yards)
One of the signature holes on the course, a demanding par 3 requires a long carry all over water on this par 3. 

 There is room to bail out right but a bunker protects the front of the green between the water and the green.

Hole 7- Par 4 (400/357/290/290 yards)
A long uphill par 4 requires a tee shot from the hill that carries the valley and passed the fairway bunkers on either side of the landing area.

Once in the fairway, a second shot must miss the bunker running the length of the left side of the green.

Hole 8- Par 4 (384/355/315/292 yards)
Similar to the last hole, another elevated tee shot, requires a carry over a valley.  Two fairway bunkers guard the landing zone.  Playing just short of the left bunker is ideal as it gives the best angle into the green on this slight dogleg right hole.

 The second shot is slightly uphill, making the approach blind.

The green has a single large bunker on the left side and is slightly domed on all sides.

 A view looking back down the hill to the fairway.

Hole 9- Par 4 (401/384/312/310 yards)
This is the one hole that I disliked.  Off the tee on this long par 4 is a large tree on the right.  It makes a driver a risky proposition.

Off the tee unless you can get the ball up very quickly, you have a very small target area, shown here.

Playing into this window brings the far side of the fairway into play, and its trees, on this sharp right dogleg.

Hitting a safe high shot over the tree, results in a long uphill second shot to a tree lined green.  No bunkers are around the green but the trees do come into play.

Hole 10- Par 4 (364/355/355/338 yards)
This hole has a wide landing area off the tee.  A bunker down the right side guards the bend on this dogleg right but is only 215 yards from the tee.

This hole is the longest par 4 on the back nine.  With the elevated, domed green protected with a bunker short left and surrounded by trees it is a stern test to begin the second half of your round.

Hole 11- Par 3 (206/174/174/157 yards)
 A longer par 3, the hole is visually pinched by trees but is otherwise unprotected by hazards.

Hole 12- Par 4 (322/310/310/285 yards)
A complex of bunkers protects the left side of this straight-ahead par 4.  The fairway narrows down at 230 yards.  The safe play is to play just short of the bunkers, where the fairway is widest. 

I preferred to take driver down the right side, using the cart path to find the flower bed near the 18th tee.

The green has another pair of bunkers protecting the front side, and falls off on the back.


Hole 13- Par 4 (345/329/300/263 yards)
A daunting tee shot waits on this par 4.  A peninsula fairway must by located off the tee.

 Hitting right is obvious doom but aiming left can bring well placed bunkers into play.

 If you do miss badly off the tee you can be left with a more daunting third shot that must carry the water again.

 A wide green accepts balls esily but there are some contours so accuracy is key.

A pair of bunkers protect the short right side of the green.  A view back up the hole can be a bitter moment if you don't play well here.

Hole 14- Par 5 (571/558/445/445 yards)
The longest hole on the course, you will find OB down the left and water down the right off the tee.  From the back tees it is 200 yards passed the water.

 If you've found the fairway off the tee, your second shot may be slightly blind, as the fairway descend on the way to the hole. 

 There is danger reachable in two down the left side with another pond in play.

 The pond protects the left while a pair of bunkers protects the right of the green.

Hole 15- Par 4 (336/325/325/302 yards)
A short par 4 it makes up for its distance with a severely narrow tee shot.  Hit an iron here and keep it in play.

Vigen was surprised to find his ball in the fairway.

 The approach from the fairway must negotiate 4 bunkers surrounding the green.

 Even if not in the bunker, the sunken borders can lead to awkward lies.  Missing right on this hole can find your ball rolling all the way down near the 17th tee box.

Hole 16- Par 3 (145/131/131/129 yards)
Another pretty par 3 requires you to carry the two bunkers short of the green.

Trees also mess with your head as you take aim at the hole.  The green is large and just hitting the surface doesn't guarantee a par.

Hole 17- Par 5 (Par 4 for Gold/Red) (554/543/334/334 yards)
 The penultimate hole is a long par 5.  A slightly blind tee shot off the tee, the hole id straight-away.  Hit it as long as you can down the middle to avoid the trees- the only trouble on your first shot.

It is hard to hit a bad shot with balance like Dave has.  He played really steady and carded an easy 81.  The hole falls downhill towards a green the has two large bunkers right and short of the green.

Hole 18- Par 4 (Par 5 for Gold/Red) (402/392/402/350 yards)
The final hole is an uphill par 4 back toward the clubhouse.  Along the way you must avoid the large bunker down the left side.

 The green is elevated on the second shot and is unguarded but is domed.

A view of the large green.  Don't make a mess on the green as a crowd is likely watching you from in the clubhouse.

I ended up with an 85.  I played fairly well but had a real problem with distance control on my wedges.  I think I came up short 6 times with a wedge.  The greens were deceptive too.  While most putts looked straight, they had some tough breaks.  Some downhill putts were really slick too.  All in all it was a fun test.

As for the course, I really enjoyed it.  The rates are reasonable, actually very reasonable given the conditions the course is kept in.  A great layout (except the 9th) and impressive elevation changes make this course a very fun round of golf.

Playing with the group I did was a great time.  It was the first time Michael and Dave had seen each other in a long time so that was great.

I will have to try to get out here a bit more.  It is a hike for me and with very limited tee time windows it might not be a frequent course in my rotation but I will look forwarded to coming out here again.

Columbia- League Week 12

We had been fairly strong on the back 9 lately so we entered into this week hopeful for our chances this week.  I blew up with an 8 on the first hole though.  Luckily Michael played it well and we ended up winning the hole with his par.

From there we went downhill, similar to the fairway on hole 11.

You can see here the damage from the flooding that occurred in early July.  We pushed the second hole and then lost on the third hole.

Next we came to the dreaded 13th.  This hole always seems to be our downfall.

I hit a great drive with a 3 wood right down the middle and then an iron onto the front of green.  I proceeded to hit a firm putt that hit the hole but had too much speed that ran by.  I hit a good comeback putt that didn't move like I thought.  I ended up with a horrendous bogey after 4 really good shots.  Ouch.  We ended up losing the hole and thus the front half 2 to 1.

On the back half of the match we ended up pushing every hole.

Here you can see the greenside bunkers on 15 are being expanded quite a bit.  This is the general direction of the course lately, with larger greens and larger bunkers.

I just missed a bird on 17 so 18 was the last hope to win a hole and split the points.  I made par but one of our opponents made bogey, with a stroke, for a push.

The total ended up being 2 holes to 1 for the match.  We received a single point and gave up 4 points.  Had I made my putt on 13 and my putt on 17 we could have walked away with 4.  Grrr.

Playing the Summit Golf Course

I made my way down to Cannon Falls, 45 miles south of the Twin Cities today for a round of golf at the Summit Golf Course.  Built in 2002 this is a great course that does not offer a lot of amenities, other than a fun round of golf.

Featuring what might be the smallest clubhouse I have seen, don't expect to find a big bar or fancy food for sale here.

The Summit is kind of a tail of 2 nines. The first 9 is generally pretty open, while the back 9 gets pretty tight amongst the trees.


The tightest holes on the front are probably the par 3s, along with the par 4 4th hole. 

I think the 389 yard 4th hole is the one hole they need to change.  They should trim back the trees on the right and the bushes on the left.  Especially from the forward tees, there is just nowhere to aim off the tee.

The front nine is relatively open, with holes like the 426 yard par 4 7th hole shown here.

The Summit also features probably the best looking tee shot in the Twin Cities, on the 552 yard par 5 13th.  As you can see above it features a tremendous elevation change from the tee boxes down to the fairway which then doglegs left around a grove of trees and the bunker in the distance before rising to an elevated green.

Driving from the tees down the steep hill, there is a warning sign due to the grade of your descent.

The 13th is followed by another white knuckled tee shot on the 397 yard par 4 14th that rises uphill to a back to front sloping green.  The entire right side, and most of the left is tree lined, requiring a straight long ball.

Not to be outdone, the 15th hole is the hardest of this three hole stretch.  A 589 yard par 5, is a double dogleg right hole in the shape of a C.  Driver off the tee can find the trees through the fairway unless you can move the ball left to right.

The par 3 16th offers a bit of respite before the 17th.

The 17th offers a fairly wide open tee shot.  You want to get your ball as close to the aiming stick you can see as possible.  That stick is the 150 yard marker on the hole.

From the 150 yard marker the hole falls away into a gully before rising up to a large green.  If you cannot carry the 150 yard distance, you are going to face an uphill blind approach to the green.

Here you can see that uphill approach shot.

And one view back down the hole past the green.

To finish off the gauntlet that is the back nine, and your round, the par 4 18th arrives with a narrow fairway to hit with trees lining the left side and water down the right.  The 390 yard hole doglegs  around a pond and features a large green in front of am old barn.

All in all I played well.  My wife played good too, especially on the back where she shot a 43.  This was her first time playing the course.  My dad didn't play too good and struggled with the tree lined fairways.  I hit the ball really well on the back, with 7 our of 9 GIR.  Only problem was that I three putted 6 of those!  Still I managed to get around with an 80.  If I could have putted I would have gone seriously low.

Columbia- League Week 11

My wing man was missing this week, since Michael is up north camping at Cross Lake.  So I had to face Mitch and Darren on my own.

I played really well.  Carrying over my play from Northfork, I shot a very steady round.
I made birdie on the first hole with a great drive, a good chip and a 2 foot putt.  I ended up bogeying the third with a three putt to fall to even par.

I had another three-puke on the par 3 fifth hole shown here for another bogey.

Hole 7 I nearly chipped in for an eagle when my pitch from the location of this picture hit the flag stick but didn't drop.  I made the bird though.

All in all it was a fun time.  Great opponents, and even though it was Vietnam hot, our round was fairly quick since we had the first tee time.

I ended up with a one over 36.  My best round in league ever.  It was only enough to split the points for the week at 2.5. I was happy about that, since I was flying solo.

In my last 54 holes I have finally started scoring, with 8 birdies in that stretch.

Golfing Southern Hills- The Ramalynn Open

Last Saturday I was asked to participate in a four man scramble tournament to benefit my niece and nephew's school.  The tournament was held in Farmington, south of the Twin Cities at Southern Hills.

I have played Southern Hills one other time, which was two years ago in late fall.  The only thing I really remember about the course was the aerated greens that made putting a task.

The Ramlynn Open has been held for over a decade and the winners are engraved on the cup.  This year our Team was my brother-in-laws Jeremy and Dave, and Dave's dad.  Despite surprising people last year with a 6th place finish, Dave's team this year was predicted to finish second to last.

The school really does a nice job and gets some great prizes donated.  This year there were lots of tickets for Twins, Vikings, Gopher Football, and Hockey.  There were also some rounds of golf and hockey equipment.

The night before the event we got heavy rains.  In the Shakopee area they got close to 6 inches overnight.  While driving to the tournament I heard on the radio that The Meadows at Mystic Lake, and Bent Creek in Eden Prairie were both closed due to flooding.  Southern Hills was actually fairly dry, all things considered.  We were able to take out carts and not stick to the paths, but there were some areas of standing water, like this puddle right by the ninth green.  Because of the wet conditions the local rule allowed for complete relieve from bunkers, since most of them had severe wash-outs or were flooded.  With the scramble format that never came into play but Jeremy and I both lost a ball when they went into a greenside bunker holding several feet of water.

We started on hole 7, a tight 363 yard par 4.  The fairway slopes go the left and is only around 20 yards wide.  We all hit good drives but all missed the tiny fairway.  here Larry tees off first.  he hit first all day and put a safe ball in play on almost every hole letting the three of us hit away.  We failed to hit the green in 2 and settled for an opening par.

The second hole is a tough 196 yard par 3 with the pin in the very back, uphill, and into the wind.  Dave hit what looked to be a good shot that turned out to be 20 yards short of the green.  I hit a 4 hybrid to the collar that we ended up using.  We failed to get up and down and suffered a devastating bogey.  Not good in a 4 ball scramble!!

 Here you can see the typical state of the bunkers, the ones that weren't submerged.

Jeremy tees off on the short Par 5 ninth hole.  At only 462 yards a reachable green.  Jeremy hit his a bit thin but I connected with a solid tee ball and we had 150 yards in.

A view into the green from our approach.  Jeremy hit a nice close shot which we failed to convert on, but we made a tap in birdie.
 

 Hole 11 is the prettiest on the course, a down hill par 3.  At 155 yards you need to be precise and factor in the wind.  Two bunkers protect the front of the green and one bunker is behind.  This shot was taken from the 9th tee box, showing the green from a side angle.  The green is also bisected by a hump to make any putts from the wrong half more difficult.

 Another view of the 11th, showing the farm fields in the distance.

Hole 12 is a 534yard par 5.  There is no bunkering on the hole at all.  A dogleg right off the tee, the green is protected in front by a hill down the right side.  This makes going for it in two a blind shot to the pin.  Today you can see an extra water hazard appeared short of the green, were a grass hollow is normally.

The downhill par 3 15th.  At 128 yards only one of us hit the green.  A stiff wind into us fooled 3 of us and we ended up hitting long into the water guarding the right and back of the hole.

The green on the 358 yard par 4 16th has water and trees guarding the right edge.  We hit to the right collar of the green here.  I hit a great (and lucky) chip that found the cup for birdie.

The 18th is a par 5 at 490 yards that was playing dead into the wind.  I hit another good drive just down the middle, leaving us with around 220 yards into the wind.  Dave hit an unbelievable 3 wood straight into the wind that landed on the front right corner of the green.  Larry putted first and drained a 40 foot shot for eagle!  He won the longest putt on the hole and got Vikings tickets from Whitney Wheelock's family.

Another shot showing the clubhouse behind the 18th hole.  You can see again the washed out and flooded condition of the bunkers.

We ended up with a par on every par 3, except the 8th that we bogeyed.

We were 5 under on the par 5s, with an eagle and three birdies.  We had an easy chance for a second eagle when I hit our second shot on the Par 5-1st hole to within 10 feet. 

On the nine par 4s we shot 6 under.

Collectively that gave us a -10 score.  We ended up finishing one stroke out of first place.  We lost to a team with 2 members of Hazeltine.  I figure not too shabby.

We shot a blistering 28 on the front nine, and that included a bogey!  That was the lowest nine of any team in the tournament.  Guess the predictions of Dave's team were a little bit off.

The best part of the whole thing was as my prize for coming in second I received a round of golf at Woodhill Country Club with Rama, his brother Ravi, and their father.  I am so pumped for that!!!

Hiawatha Golf Course Closed

This last weekend the twin cities got over 5 inches of rain Saturday night.  I just received word that Hiawatha Golf Course is currently closed due to flooding, as Saturday morning's storms left many holes completely under water. The course will be re-evaluated this week and based on water levels and damage, a determination as to re-opening will be made at that time. The Hiawatha driving range is open for business.

I also heard reports that the Meadows at Mystic Lake and Bent Creek had also closed due to the rains but those courses have since re-opened.

Columbia- League Week 10

So week 10 is in the books and this is my first blog post about the entire year.  Sorry, but I am way behind.  This week we played one of the most fun pairings in the league, Matt and Tom.  This year we have had good luck on the back nine, averaging many more points there than the front.  By we I mean Michael.  Other than a couple of rounds I posted 39s this year has been rubbish city for me.  Michael has gotten a severe hump in his back from carrying me around this year.

 Tom tees off on hole 10.  I hit a great drive then pulled my second shot right which found the cart path and lots o trouble.  I ended up with a triple.  One bad shot can really mess with your game!

Hole 11 flooded again this year with the heavy rains we had.  This was the first week of it being open again.

 The fairway is heavily damaged and finding the high spot in the fairway with grass remaining is a luck break indeed.

Hole 15, the par 5.  After snap hooking my driver all day I broke out my 3 wood and hit a missile right down the middle about 280 down the middle.  On my second shot I thought I would lay up with a 5 iron.  I was 230 yards out but ended up absolutely smushing one.  My second ended up just past the green.  A 230 yard 5-iron?  Hmmm.

The 15th is having the right side green-side bunker extended.  It is becoming longer encircling the front edge of the green and stretching to the back edge of the putting surface.

We ended up losing the front 2 and 1.  On the back we rallied.  I made birdie on 17 to seal the 2 points for the back side.  On the 18th I was the only one to find the fairway, on a 290 yard drive.  My second shot was right on line but 20 feet short.  I made par which was a push, with Tom receiving a stroke from me.

All in all it was a really fun round.  After going 6 over on the first 3 holes I played the others even par.  I played really well and feel like I am striking the ball better and better.  I just need to keep myself out of trouble to take advantage.

The weather tonight was brilliant.  The opponents were fun, and we split the points at 2.5 each.  Right now we are in 5th place with 4 more weeks to go until playoffs.