Power Players – A “Golf Profile” Series Sand Valley Developer: Michael Keiser, Jr.

PEOPLE move the needle in golf – from merchandisers and marketers to players, architects and course builders. But golfers wouldn’t have places to play, and architects wouldn’t have courses to build if it weren’t for visionary developers and financiers- industry catalysts like the Keiser family.

The Corner Office With Tom Abts

The Corner Office is an ongoing series where we provide readers with an insightful look into the thinking and personality of the people in golf leadership roles. This month we feature Tom Abts, at Deer Run Golf Club.

Is Brooks Koepka The New Tiger Woods?

The Psychic watched the Saturday and Sunday telecast of the Bethpage Black version of the PGA Championship with a heavy heart. His all time favorite golfer, Tiger Woods, was no longer on the golf course.

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.

A Welcome Feeling At Dahlgreen Golf Club

It’s a rare instance when you’re instantly welcomed by a stranger. The accompanying feel good exchange lasts well beyond the meeting. That’s exactly what occurs when golfers make the trek to play 18 holes at the inviting Dahlgreen Golf Club in Chaska.

“HONEY, JUST TAP IT”

It was the couples club championship at Whispering Pines Golf Club near Myrtle Beach. On the final day, Frank and Linda were leading by four strokes with only seven holes left to play.

Up, Down And All Around At Mississippi National Golf Links

Sitting within those bluffs, just south of Red Wing, is 36 holes of elevated tees, serpentine fairways and rolling greens with plenty of character. Take a right a few miles south of town into the Hiawatha Valley and enter the world of Mississippi National Golf Links.

Gopher Hills Golf Course – Sweet River Valley High

Similarly, you can’t call Gopher Hills Golf Course “unheralded.” Check out the feedback they get on GolfAdvisor.com. We have Top 10 ranked courses in Minnesota that don’t get the amount of love Gopher Hills gets.

Fairways & Greens

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

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.

Best Reasons To Visit Crystal Lake Golf Course

If you are going to build a golf course, the smart money says to plant stakes in a community that is positioned to grow. When Crystal Lake Golf Course in Lakeville opened in 1995, the city’s population was around 40,000 residents. In 2019, Lakeville is one of the fasting growing suburbs in the Twin Cities area with a population percolating at over 61,000.

Predicting Blue Skies At Timber Creek Golf Course

Chances are good that if you’ve played 18 holes at Timber Creek Golf Course in Watertown you’ve met or arranged a tee time with Vonnie. If a golf course has only one chance to make a good first impression, then Timber Creek is golden when Vonnie is the first smiling face, voice, or personality you encounter in the clubhouse.

Stillwater Oaks Has Got Game

I’m hard pressed to find a course in the eastern suburbs that offers a collection of golf holes with more variety than Stillwater Oaks. Within each nine-hole stretch on the card you will find open prairie style free-swingers, tall tree-lined narrow fairways, perplexing doglegs and the always fun, short par 4.

A Welcome Feeling At Dahlgreen Golf Club

Chomonix Golf Course In Lino Lakes – Back, And Better Than Ever

In 1969, Chomonix Golf Course opened as a private nine-hole course. Today’s Chomonix is a wooded 6,500-yard, 18-hole beauty owned and operated by Anoka County.

The Bridges of Winona – Seek and Ye Shall Find (Great Golf)

I LOVE hidden gems and I LOVE to write about them. Minnesota has a handful of them and when you get down to southeast Minnesota there’s a 9-hole gem in La Crescent, and an 18-hole one just up the Mississippi River in Winona – The Bridges.

Red Wing Golf Course – Short And Sweet

Perhaps it’s a bit odd to introduce one golf course by introducing three (all under the same ownership). If you live in the Twin Cities and haven’t heard of the River Valley Golf Trail, you should look it up. Right now.

Power Players – A “Golf Profile” Series Sand Valley Developer: Michael Keiser, Jr.

The Corner Office With Tom Abts

Is Brooks Koepka The New Tiger Woods?

If I Was… A Ranger… Err… Player Assistant

Years ago, before my father retired, he was famous for saying he wanted to become a golf course ranger when his office days were done.

Pavlov And The Golf Swing

We all know about Pavlov’s, but probably not much about Pavlov and the golf swing. Ivan Pavlov was a Russian scientist who lived from 1849 to 1936. He did not play golf. However his ideas have affected the game.

The Minnesota PGA and Treasure Island Resort & Casino Partner to Host 2nd Annual 100 Holes for HOPE

Minnesota PGA and its charitable arm, PGA REACH Minnesota, and Treasure Island Resort & Casino in conjunction with the Minnesota Department of Veteran Affairs are proud to host the second annual 100 Holes for HOPE charity golf tournament.

POWER PLAYERS: A “Golf Profile” Series Player: Brian Knoetze

Do you golf? Are you a serious golfer? How serious? Golfers ask “icebreaker” questions like these when they’re in confined spaces with people they don’t know. They ask “small talk” questions like these to gauge your passion compared to theirs.

Meet Marcia Lockman – Vice Chair Of The 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

Marcia Lockman was the first executive team member that Ruth Kimmelshue, General Chair for the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, selected when she was appointed.

Meet Ruth Kimmelshue – General Chair Of The 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

The biggest question facing Hazeltine decision makers: Who would represent Hazeltine as General Chair? Ruth Kimmelshue was quickly identified as the obvious choice. Ruth’s resume reads like a Who’s Who for the job of General Chair of a Major Golf Championship.

If I Was… A Golfer In A Warmer Climate

The latest April snowstorm found many of us that love and/or work in golf asking, “Why do we live here?” It’s a question rooted in exasperation over the fact that we have been looking at beautifully green golf courses on television all winter long and then The Masters comes and “WE should be playing too!”

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.

Screen Golf

Over the course of the golf season, each month in this column we will be sharing ideas to help improve your golf game without changing your golf swing. We will talk about things like efficient practice methods, equipment, course management and new technology.

Making The Most Of Winter

October/November means the end of the golf season for most of us in Minnesota. But just because the season is ending, it doesn’t mean that you have to stop working on your golf game.

CHIP SHOT, Have A Ball Not A Strike!

The most important shot in golf may be the chip shot. Why? Because most players (average scores over 80?) do not “hit the green in regulation (have a birdie putt) very often.

Lowering Your Scoring Barrier

Getting comfortable shooting lower scores and analyzing and working on the areas impacting your game will go a long way in lowering your comfort zone and scoring barrier!

THE BUNKER SHOT

The most important aspects to improving your ability to hit successful bunker shots are…

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

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.

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.