What’s In A Name

Mr. Guy Green has been a dear friend for the past 30 years. Many times chatting over an adult beverage we have discussed the “Best Name For A Golfer.” This month I have allowed Guy Green to substitute for me and tell the tale of Wylie Bogie. Enjoy! – R.J. Smiley

POWER PLAYERS – A “Golf Profile” Series CADDIES

PEOPLE move the needle in golf, from visionary developers like Mike Keiser to architects like Jeff Brauer and players like you and me. But non-players like caddies can be just as important to game development—carving their own niche in the sport, making the game easier on the high end resort and PGA Tour level.

3M Open Recap

Much needed to change in and around the inaugural 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities. From course design to player security, from a free event to a paid event, almost everything about this event was different from the prior PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS event the 3M Championship.

PACE OF PLAY

One Men’s League evening in 1996 I took a ride around the course to see what was going on. Though we had Rangers on both nines… there were four foursomes waiting on #6 tee box. We had a problem with pace of play.

The Corner Office With Chris Sauer

This month we are featuring Managing Partner/Owner of three golf courses Chris Sauer. Chris has his plate full of activities and family life. Striking that important balance between both.

Birdies And Beauty At Wild Marsh Golf Club

Off the top of my head I can’t think of a more appropriately named golf course than Wild Marsh. The natural wetlands at this Buffalo, Minnesota track have been perfectly worked into a splendid course design that brings plenty of those wet carries, natural bird habitat and stunning scenery right to your golf cart window.

A First-Class Ride At Riverwood National Golf Course

Golf tends to pride itself on retaining an old world charm even in the face of the annual onslaught of technology that equipment manufacturers bring to our doorstep. Granted, there is honor in adhering to the traditional values which have their roots deep in the Scottish Middle Ages but… why not make life a little more comfortable?

Close Finish At 2019 Minnesota State Open Championship

With a 6-foot putt in a battle for par on 18, Brady Madsen ultimately won the 2019 Minnesota State Open Championship with a three-round total of 13-under par.

Fairways & Greens

Birdies And Beauty At Wild Marsh Golf Club

A First-Class Ride At Riverwood National Golf Course

A Hidden Gem At Heritage Links

Situated in the big sky, rolling landscape around Lakeville lies a gem of a course. The Heritage Links Golf Club often gets overlooked among the collection of high profile courses in this corner of the Twin Cities, but that is about to change.

Whispering Pines Golf Course – The Comeback Kid

The author of this particular comeback story is Mark Dvorak, and he started writing the comeback story of Whispering Pines Golf Course in Annandale seven years ago. How is it going now? “It’s going great,” Mark says.

Old World Charm – The Links At Northfork

Vast stretches of fescue, large waste bunkers, serpentine fairways, long carries and undulated green complexes. News flash - The Links at Northfork has been bringing this type of golf for years!

Pebble Creek Golf Club – A Stone’s Throw Away

Many locals, with enough firsthand experience to know, insist Pebble has more character than several TOUR stops. The difference is, people outside of Minnesota don’t know about Pebble Creek, which only leaves more tee times for the rest of us.

History Marches On At Les Bolstad Golf Course

There are a handful of blue-chip historic courses across the greater Twin Cities area and the University of Minnesota Les Bolstad Golf Course is certainly in that league. Having morphed and reinvented itself several times since opening as a nine-hole course in 1915.

At The End Of My Days, I Want To Come Back A Caddie

Many of us started playing this game caddying either for a parent, family member, friend, or a complete stranger who hopefully tipped you well! Or at minimum gave you a few life long stories!

The Wilds Golf Club – Realizing Their Potential

If a change can do you good, then several changes should make you really good, right? The Wilds Golf Club is primed to find out. Head Golf Professional Scott Reuter is an ambitious man, and success has followed him throughout his golf management career.

Stairway To Deer Run Golf Club

At Deer Run Golf Club, there is a clear sense that someone has their eye on the big picture and someone has an eye on the small details. You notice it as you pull into the well-organized layout, make your way up to the clean clubhouse and check in for what is about to become a truly first-class golf outing.

POWER PLAYERS – A “Golf Profile” Series CADDIES

3M Open Recap

If I Was… In Charge Of Running Charity Events

Over the years I have been fortunate enough to have played in some really fun events. I have played in every type of event you can think of. Family tournaments, charity fundraisers, celebrity pro-ams, section pro-ams, professional tournaments.

PACE OF PLAY

There Is No Perfect Golf Swing

The Psychic exhaled in exhaustion when Matthew Wolff’s 27-foot putt found the bottom of the hole at the 3M Open. He knew that he was too tired to follow a playoff.

The Corner Office With Chris Sauer

This month we are featuring Managing Partner/Owner of three golf courses Chris Sauer. Chris has his plate full of activities and family life. Striking that important balance between both.

Not Everyone Can Make It In The Pro’s

So you think you can be a touring PGA TOUR golf pro!?? I love it when some of these X former athletes and soon to be retirees think that in their “next life” they will just pick up their golf clubs and play on PGA TOUR Champions.

Kate Smith Takes Minnesota Women’s State Open Championship

With a 25-foot putt for birdie, Kate Smith of Detroit Country Club wins a two-hole playoff against Jasi Archarya for the Minnesota Women’s State Open Championship title at Southview Country Club.

Close Finish At 2019 Minnesota State Open Championship

With a 6-foot putt in a battle for par on 18, Brady Madsen ultimately won the 2019 Minnesota State Open Championship with a three-round total of 13-under par.

The Greatest Golf On The Greatest Lake Now Even Better!

Experience spectacular and untamed natural beauty paired with unparalleled golf at Superior National at Lutsen. It’s on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior, famous for its rocky shores, rugged wilderness, and outdoor recreation.

It’s All About Speed

There are three elements when looking at putting; direction, distance control, and green reading. Of the three, distance control is the most important.

Divots Can Tell You Everything

Are you aware of the four primary Ball Flight Laws? If you decided to change careers and become a PGA Professional, you’d have to for a passing grade. Without this understanding, I believe that golf instruction would still be a primitive art and certainly not a science.

Improving Your Approach

According to Peter Sanders, golf statistician and founder of www.ShotByShot.com the average golfer (15-19 handicap) will have 20 approach shots per round. These approach shots are shots that are hit from 51 yards or more from.

Does Your Improvement Puzzle Have Too Many Pieces?

How many pieces did your first childhood jigsaw puzzle have? I’ve seen them in toy stores with as few as 4 pieces. How many pieces were in the puzzles you bought as you got older and became an adult? More? Why?

Data Driven At Club Champion

Swinging like a PGA TOUR Player probably isn’t going to happen for 99% of us, but if Club Champion has any say in it, we will all be given the best chance possible.

Turning Four Shots Into Three

You always hear that short game is the easiest way to lower your scores and if you look at it statistically, it truly is. According to golf statistician Peter Sanders, founder of Shot by Shot players who shot in the 90’s on average, hitting less than five greens in regulation and save par from off of the green less than 20% of the time.

SWING LIKE A “10”

From an early age, we become aware of the “rating” scale of 1-10. It has been used in everything from attractiveness to truthfulness. “On a scale of 1-10...” How can you use this scale for your golf development?

Choosing The Correct Tee

Golf is always a lot more fun when we play well and shoot a good score. One of the reasons long hitters have an advantage in the game is that they are hitting shorter clubs into greens.

Assessing Your Game

A good friend of mine always says, “A goal without a plan is nothing but a dream!” As we approach the golf season, what are your goals?

Golf Is Fun…When You Know What You Are Doing

Not that long ago I was teaching a beginner golfer. He told me right away about a big work tournament he had coming up in a couple months. Like most golfers new to the sport he thought it was important to get the ball into the air with some regularity.

From Spritzers To Sangrias

Everyone needs a good sangria and/or spritzer recipe for the summer, am I right?

Perfect Pairings For The ‘Dog Days Of Summer’

Sure beer is pretty easy to match up with most things that come off the grill. But wine, on the other hand, always seems a bit more complicated for some folks to match up with those summer cookouts.

Dad’s Day Bevis

As we head into the month of June, and our weather finally turns true to its season, we know we can prepare to gear up for a few things – more time for grilling outside and more libations for pairing!

Going Green

Everywhere you turn these days, producers from every label are touting ‘organic’. From cereal to mac n cheese, wine, and into the world of liquor. But have we really ever stopped to think about what all of this labeling really means?

Don’t Ignore The Reds When The Temps Rise

For most, nothing screams summer and spring like a crisp, refreshing glass of white wine – am I right? We live in Minnesota, so it’s fair to say that it gets pretty darn cold in the winter time.

Beyond Chardonnay And Pinot Grigio

According to the country’s most recent wine industry reports, Americans really only consume approximately four grapes. Considering there are over 10,000 varieties of wine grapes in the world, we have a considerable way to go before we can begin to categorize ourselves oenophiles.

Going Green

Everywhere you turn these days, producers from every label are touting 'organic'. From cereal to mac n cheese, wine, and into the world of liquor. But have we really ever stopped to think about what all of this labeling really means?

Perfectly Pairing Your ‘Reds’

It should come as no surprise that the instinctive wine choice for a mouthwatering pan seared or perfectly grill marked steak hot off the grill is red, but have you ever truly analyzed the exact choice of red grape when pairing to your favorite cuts of meat? I

Golfers And Wine – A Perfect Blend

As many know we are fortunate to be hosting the 2016 matches of the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National and the U.S. team is captained by golf professional, Davis Love III. A gentleman that not only shares great passion for the game of golf, but of another subject that happens to be quite near and dear to my own profession and passions, wine.

King’s Walk Golf Course – Royal Fun

I can’t say I’d walk 300 miles to play The King’s course in Grand Forks, North Dakota, but I’d certainly drive it (again). I wish I lived even closer, but four and a half easy hours of interstate is all that separates the Twin Cities golfer from North Dakota’s only Arnold Palmer Signature Course.

Hawktree Golf Club – Better To Be Lucky

How often do you realize your dreams? Depends on the dream I guess. A dream to me might not be a dream to you, and vice versa, but it was always a dream of mine to play Hawktree Golf Club in Bismarck, North Dakota until I realized it.

MEDORA, NORTH DAKOTA & BULLY PULPIT GOLF COURSE – Explore It. Adore It.

Ely is the gateway to the Boundary Waters. Estes Park is surrounded by Rocky Mountain National Park and Medora… well… Medora just might be the most unique small town in America.

Destination Extraordinaire – The Resort at Pelican Hill

From the moment you pass through the vaulted lobby for that first look at the Pacific, The Resort at Pelican Hill is calling for your attention. What is found spread out below you is the stunning, infinity designed Coliseum pool in all its Italian Renaissance splendor.

Island Resort & Casino From Sweet To Sage

Island Resort & Casino in Harris, Michigan doesn’t just have a BRAND NEW course at Sage Run (opening in full this Spring), and it doesn’t just have another course that’s an annual contender for “Best in State” at Sweetgrass.

Tournament Club Of Iowa – The King Reigns On

I miss Arnold Palmer, and how could I not. Meeting him, listening to him, watching him… each opportunity left me wanting more opportunities. I have similar feelings when I play golf courses I love.

Otter Creek Golf Course – Otter This World Fun

2019 marks the 10 year anniversary of my first visit to Otter Creek - not anything for the world to celebrate, by any means, but something I marvel at, just as you might looking back on your own golf travel history.

Amana Colonies Golf Club – Emerging Target

Not all golf courses like to be considered a “hidden gem.” It implies, somehow, that you have to really dig to find the value. In that instance, Amana Colonies is NOT a hidden gem. Its value is blatantly obvious.

ALOHA FROM KAUAI Home Of The Ultimate Golf Trip At Jurassic Park Country Club

The Island of Kauai, where Jurassic Park and other Hollywood blockbusters were filmed, is a wonderland filled with tropical treasures. The island contains more golf courses than you can play in a week.

MEDORA, North Dakota – Explore It. Adore It.

It’s a trip you have to take… at least once. At least twice. It’s a place you have to spend a night… at least one. Okay, at least two. Really, at least three. Medora may geographically, for all intents and purposes, be in Montana, but it’s also a lot closer than you would think to the Twin Cities.