Another golf painting finished

I just finished up a new painting for the CADE charity auction being held at Minnesota Valley Country Club this upcoming Monday, September 9th.

This painting is titled "The poser"

Unfortunately I am not going to be able to golf in the event this year as I am out this week golfing at Giants Ridge and my work load is too heavy right now for another day off on the course.  I am glad I am able to provide something for the cause though.  Hopefully it will help to raise a few bucks.

Golfing Columb ia one more time

In 5 days we head to Giants Ridge for an annual family tradition.  This weekend I took my dad and wife out to Columbia.  I wanted to erase some of the memories from league on the course and this would be a nice way to warm up for the big trip.

It was a beautiful day today.  Teeing off on the first tee.

One of my favourite holes on the course is actually the second hole.  A straight away par 4 with an enormous rise to the green at the end.

 A view of the green on the second hole seen from the 7th tee.  I just think this hole is so distinct and it is always a challenge to judge your approach to the green while hitting from so far below on the fairway.

 Lisa hit her tee shot right over the top of the par 3 3rd hole.  You can see her ball mark right over the stick.  She made bird.

 After carding her bird, Lisa ropes her tee shot on the 4th tee.

 The roses were in bloom on the par 4 7th hole.  This is the highest spot on the course and one of the highest points in the city of Minneapolis.

 A view of the skyline is the backdrop for the par 4 10th hole.

And finally my dad teeing off on the par 5 16th hole.

I exercised my demons today on the course.  I ended up carding a 76 with an even par back nine that consisted of one birdie and one bogey.  I am feeling really good about the Giants Ridge trip with my driver rock steady and my iron game really starting to get confident.

Dick Fowler P.I.

Dick Fowler PI is on the case.

Columbia- League Playoff Week 3

The final week of the Minneapolis Men's league playoffs was tonight. We were back to the front 9.  This week not only concluded the 2 out of 3 team low net competition but also throws in a single round low net winner.

Michael and I didn't fare too well.  I played pretty good off the greens but just couldn't get the speed on the putting surface.  I think they have stopped cutting the greens with the extreme heat and as a result I was leaving almost everything short.

If you were to look at my card it loos pretty good with 7 of 9 GIR (and one which was just on the fringe).  The only problem was the putting.  Yuck.  I ended up with a 43.

It was another fun year in the league.  It was great weather this year.  We didn't have a single rain out, though the beginning of the league was delayed by cold weather and the course not being open.

On a side note the sand bagger award this year goes to Brian Murn for shooting a net 29 with a  9-hole 12 handicap and a gross 41 on the final week.

Horse shoes and hand grenades

My golfing buddy Michael carded his first ace on August 12th.  Another golfer Paul, recently blogged about sticking a shot close only to miss his birdie putt.  I have never had an ace myself.  I have witnessed 3.  2 were seen in the same year. 

I have gotten very close to getting 3 aces in my golf-time.  The interesting thing was that 2 of the three close calls occurred on the same course but 5 years apart.

At Spooner National in Spooner Wisconsin, I somehow missed an ace when my ball ended up less that a ball away from the cup on the par 3 17th.  The ball was on the backside of the hole too so it somehow rolled over the hole:

That was in 2007.  In 2012, on the same course I nearly jarred the par 3 second hole:

My final close call was also a while ago, at Gross National where I collapsed the side of the cup on the par 3 7th hole.  That one was the closest of them all I guess but I ended up carding a par as the ball kicked a fair distance away.

Maybe someday I will get a real one but for now I have to live with these close calls.

Golfing Crystal Lake Golf Course

I headed down to Lakeville to play Crystal Lake Golf Course. I had booked here because it is fairly close to my father-in-law and I was trying to get him out for a practice round before we head up to Giant's Ridge next week.  Unfortunately he was unable to go but I did get to play with my wife and dad.

The practice putting green is large and the most undulated surface on the course.  There are very few flat spots to practice putting.

Crystal Lake is a really nicely maintained course that is not too long (6306 from the tips) with a rating and slope of 70.8 and 132.  There is water on 8 holes and a fair number of bunkers.

Wildflowers on the course.

We played under extremely hot and humid conditions and unfortunately suffered a very slow round of nearly 5 hours.

Lisa teeing off on one.

I managed to impress the starter on the first hole when I piped my drive 330 yards on the opening par 5.  I only had 160 yards left on my second shot!

Looking back on the opening hole.

On to the good news.  This was one of those rare days when my game was nearly all together.  From tee to green I was nearly flawless.  I think I hit one bad shot that landed me in a bunker off the tee on the 4th hole but other than that I was on point all day.

The green and back towards the tee on 7.

I am finally getting dialled in with my irons.  It is quite an adjustment to go from playing everything short of where you want and letting the ball run up to having to play at or past the target to account for the spin I am now getting on my approaches.

My dad watching his drive on 9

Despite my great play I ended up carding only one birdie.  I had a legitimate chance at 8 birdies though.  And by legit, I mean putts inside of 8 feet.  Unfortunately my putting game was just a touch off.  I left them all short but one!  If I had actually been on with my putter I could have gone just ridiculously low. 

Waiting on the 12th tee. We were stacked up 2 groups here.

I had 4 bogeys on the front (2 because I spun off the green).  And one on the back.  My bird came on the back too so I ended up shooting even par coming back in.  All in all it was a round of 75 (course par is 71).  My lowest round since last year at Pheasant Hills!

Hopefully today was not just an abboration and my game will continue to be this steady.  As I mentioned earlier, we are heading up to Giants Ridge next week and I really want to play well there. 

Minnesota is suffering under a week of extreme 90+ degree heat, but despite that, there are signs that summer is coming to an end.  A spotted the sumac on the course beginning to turn.

Columbia- League Playoff Week 2

A sweltering hot day for our second week of the playoffs.  We took on the new back nine this week.  Since they redirected the course the back nine now has all my least favourite holes.

I hit my tee shots well today but struggled with distance on my second shots.  I ended up carding a 42.  Michael really struggled and seemed to not be enjoying himself at all.

I am pretty sure we have shot ourselves out of competition this week.  Hopefully next week will be better, or at least a bit cooler!