On to the Ryder cup

Early morning golf on ESPN!  Here comes the Ryder cup where the Americans will try to defend their previous win on American soil.  It has not been a friendly road for the US when playing in Europe but for some reason this year I think will be different.  Mostly because their captain is Corey Pavin who I have the utmost respect for because I think he might be the smallest guy on tour and yet he was able to compete with the big boys for quite some time.  He kind of reminds me of me except with a heck of a lot more talent.  Here are a few photos of the area and why a golf trip to wales might be a great thing to experience some day.  Albeit if you could avoid the crappy weather.  Not much of a golfer who wants to play in the rain all the time and if I did I think Ireland would come first but still this area looks pretty damn awesome.

Scoreboard Watching:

Celtic Manor Aerial View

 Seriously....this is the hotel to a golf course nearby where the Ryder cup is being played.  It is called the Old Rectory.  How fantastic would it be to wake up in a castle every morning after a long night of whiskey drinking to grab the sticks and do it all over again!

The Old Rectory Hotel

Finally I leave you with an image that just screams old school and tradition.  When visting Wales there is plenty of history and cool stories.  Not to mention you could take a tour through my vacation home shown below (ha ha just kidding) but man wouldn't it be fun to have lived in a time where people actually stayed in buildings like this.  I totally would have had a pet dragon for my moat.

 

And remember if you are playing bad golf or losing a match it might be handy to whip one of this one-liners out there to lighten the mood.  Enjoy!

One Liners

and now for something different

So golf season is winding down here in mn and that means the hockey season is firing up! Unfortunately as a Minnesota wild hockey fan I think I am in fir a long winter. The boys are off to a very slow start and reality is that it's gonna be a long year. Lots of new guys to watch and hopefully Todd Richards gets them to skate for him but really mikko an Brent can only do so much and the depth is just lacking. In the meantime I am going to find out if my summer of p90x pays off for my hockey prowess. Season starts next week in my work old man league.

Here's a link to the old men playing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRchwWpKcxg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I love hockey even though I was introduced to the game late in life. We have a great group of guys that play and the pickup games at the local rink near my house are awesome. God bless mn and it's love for the sport. If the real stuff goes bad I guess there is always the beauty of sitting in the club level at the X and taking a pro game either. Man I can taste the labatts already. Go Brent burns!!!



Next on the docket. Vikings scramble at the beautiful creeksbend golf course in new prague mn. Would have been a contender but we lost my good buddy dan because he got attacked by a raccoon at work fell down and torn ligaments in his wrist. I ant make that crap up. :(. Well we will have some beer and enjoy a round of golf anyways

Stack it

I just found this surfing the web and it made me laugh.  Can you believe it is back.  Stack and Tilt from the new hottest swing coach on tour.  Keep it short and simple and let it rip.

Sean Foley saving your back with Stack and Tilt

Home Sweet Home

I love home.  Everything about it makes me happy.  Did I mention that I live close to my parents (original house where I grew up) and my wife's parents house.  There is something great about always being home.  That is why I am so excited that I have a new golf home!  Hazeltine National Golf Club baby.  I have looked across the street for so many years while I worked at the Chaska Town Course at Hazeltine and wished that I could just go play there and now I can!  By the way the Chaska town course is probably one of the best golf courses in the entire world.so don't take my previous comments the wrong way.  I think Chaska is a secret little golf mecca in the state of minnesota.  They have Bluff Creek, the TPC@CTC, HNGC, Dahlgreen, the par 30,  and within stones throw are countless other golf courses.  I got to go out to HNGC today for the first time after work and just look around.  I was super stressed about a crappy day at work and there was nothing better than driving up to the course and seeing all the canadian geese flying around and the trees turning colors and the greens looking absolutely amazing!  Next June cant come soon enough.  The clubhouse is completely new and will be open in Oct. 

Wedge Range at HNGC with Number 7 in the background

Up next on the golf experience is a gem in northern minnesota called Wildflower.  This course is super cool because it is a links style course that is really low key and is maintained to absolute perfection.  I have had many good rounds up there with the buds having a few beers and enjoying a great day of golf.  This weekend will be no different.  It is Me, Dan, Chris and My wife playing an early morning time before our good friend Blakes wedding.  Rest assured if the golf is going rough the BAC will be in good shape before the wedding.

Cool photo I found on the web of Wildflower

Up next on the docket....a quick peek into my 2nd pastime.  I will give you a hint...Training camp just started!

In the beginning

When the leaves turn colors and you put on 3 shirts before you leave the house you know that you have entered the Minnesota fall golf season.  Today marks a few beginnings for me.  I walked 36 holes of golf in one day and I decided that it was time to write about the thing that I love the most (other than my beautiful wife of course!!)

Dwan Golf course known for its grueling fairways and greens and ferocious length, ha just kidding but this place is a fantastic city course that I love to play golf with my wife at.  This morning we got up at 7am and headed to for some bagels and coffee before we hit the links.  My wife snuck in some baileys for our coffee at brueggers today!  We then got to the course (3 minutes early I mind you) to find out our tee time had been given away.  Luckily the man was kind enough to let us play anyways.  We had the pleasure of playing with a man and his dad.  The dad could hardly walk yet he hit it dead straight down the middle every time and the best part was his under the breath comments to his son.  "Bring me my damn putter in case I ever get to this stupid green" -Old Dude at Dwan.  Absolutely classic!  It was a beautiful for morning for some golf except for the 2 minute downpour when the sun was peaking its head out for the first time at 930am.  You can never go wrong playing golf at a city course for 55 bucks for 2 people.

Dwan Golf Course, Bloomington MN

After completing my round of 77 at Dwan :(  not my best effort because the damn tee ball just wouldn't stay in the fairway for me we headed home for lunch.

Then came the afternoon which I had been waiting for.  I had the opportunity to play my first round of golf at the Minneapolis Golf Club!

MGC scorecard photo

I was super excited to that the chance to get out there and the course and weather didn't disappoint.  This course was in absolutely fantastic shape and a real gem of the Twin Cities.  Too bad that the inside of their clubhouse can't hold up the golf facility or it would be on the top of anyones list to join as a private club.  Beautiful building but the locker and dining areas need a little updating.  Enough about the clubhouse though because really you come to a golf course to play golf.  I hadn't been to MGC since Tom Lehman hosted his Dayton's Challenge out here many years ago and I didn't really remember what the course was all about.  Let me tell you....beautiful fairways, gorgeous mature trees and very fast greens that were pristine!  I played much better in the afternoon than in the morning and was able to get around with an 82.  Still had a few duck hooks going on but the wedge game was going well.  I hit a monster par 5 in 2 as well and lipped out my eagle putt on the back nine.  I lost my original playing companions on this hole when they had to go to his son's soccer game.  Number 10 is a beast.  230 yards and into the wind....somehow I managed to get up and down from near the bunker and made one of my nicer pars of the day.  MGC is pretty long 6800 yards from the blue/white tee layout but they really get you on a few par 3's and the par 5's are all pretty long as well.  I think it is a very fair setup for a golf course and if I ever get the chance I will be back out there again!

10th hole at MGC (230 yards)

Luckily after only two holes I caught up to a threesome of players from Edina Country Club.  They are in the same boat as me, a member at a club where they can't currently play due to renovation.  It was great.  They were very friendly people and very light hearted which is the type of people that I really enjoy golfing with.  Tension drives me nuts when I am playing golf!!  As the sun was drifting away at the end of the round I couldn't help but take a photo of some of the trees starting to change color.  Minnesota is greatest place to live for all the beautiful season and here is just a snapshot of the color starting to showup for Fall.

Now its time for a relaxing beer and a little reflecting on my wonderful day of golf!

Preview for my next blog thought:

#7 of my new golf home!