Halfway Through the 2010 Season?

Dateline: Monday, June 28, 2010, 11:00 pm, Country Inn & Suites, Owatonna, MN

No, it's not really halfway through the 2010 season yet - at least, not according to the calendar. The season didn't officially start until May 17 (only 6 short weeks ago) and won't end until September 28 (13 weeks from tomorrow). But with all of the events that will have been completed by this time next week, it will be more than half over in that regard.

Statistically speaking, by next Monday night (July 5), we will have conducted 20 state-level qualifiers, 4 USGA qualifiers and 6 championships. That leaves us "only" 5 USGA qualifiers and 10 championships on the schedule.

Currently, I am finishing up a stretch of three consecutive weeks, and four of the last five, of MGA championships. This week, I'm at the Owatonna Country Club in Owatonna MN (about 60 miles south of the Twin Cities) conducting our 20th MGA Mixed Team Championship. The field is a little smaller this week allowing us to do one wave (or block) of starting times and not starting those times until an unheardof 10:00 am. Wow, an opportunity to sleep in on a tournament day! This is a much appreciated respite from the 4:30 wake up time during last week's MGA Players' Championship at Spring Hill.

During these events, we have encountered some challenging weather, seen some superb play and had to "hang out" at some pretty special places including Interlachen Country Club. Interlachen, site of Bobby Jones' victory in the 1930 US Open (and infamous "lily pad shot"), the third leg of his Grand Slam that year, is a wonderful place. While I had all of my volunteers making sure our matches were going smoothly, I was engrossed in the multitude of historical memoribilia hung throughout the clubhouse. Some of the most interesting were the trophies of Jones' grand slam, a replica set of clubs that he used that year, and Patty Berg's Wilson clubs she used her last year on the LPGA Tour.

I also "had" to spend some quality time at Spring Hill Golf Club for our Players' Championship. Certainly, the club doesn't have the rich history of an Interlachen, but the golf course, complimented by the wonderful staff and service, makes any trip to Spring Hill a treat.

Once I finish with this event tomorrow, I take a break from my administrator's job to be on the other side of the scoring table, so to speak. I begin my career of senior golf on Wednesday by attempting to qualify for the US Senior Open at Mendakota Country Club, site of last year's MGA Amateur. One of only 26 attempting to qualify, we are aiming for the one spot into this year's event to be held at Sahalee Country Club in Washington.

Interesting note, this is one of three USGA qualifiers that are requiring the use of the new conforming groove clubs. However, under the agreement between the USGA and Ping, I am able to use my 1986 Ping Eye 2 irons. The waiver Ping agreed to back in April only allowed the USGA to prohibit the use of the pre-1990 Eye 2 irons for the US Open. So, I've been trying to get accustomed to using them again.

Another interesting note, one of the 26 players is Macalester College golf coach and former LPGA Tour player Martha Nause. She is the first woman to attempt to qualify for a non-women's USGA event in my 13 seasons with the MGA. Obviously, her game is still there as she qualified for the US Women's Open back in May. She will be playing in that championship at Oakmont CC in July.

Until next time -

Doug

P.S. Make sure you check out my rules segments on Golf Bound, Sunday nights at 11:05 pm on KARE 11.

Recent Happenings

Dateline: 8:45 pm, Thursday, June 10 @ MGA Office

Yes, I'm still at the office finishing up work for the Sectional Qualifying events for the 107th MGA Amateur Championship. I'm scheduled to play in the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am starting tomorrow and then it's on to our Senior & Mid-Players' Championships at Interlachen CC next week. If I didn't stay and do it now, it would never get done.

The past month has been extremely hectice. Since my last post (May 11), I have conducted: (1) qualifying for the US Open (unfortunately, none of our qualifiers made it to Pebble Beach), (2) the MGA/PGA Cup Matches (in which the professionals soundly defeated the amateurs), and (3) the MGA Women's Mid-Amateur Championship (with Amy Schintz of Duluth besting the field by a whopping 10 strokes, shooting a course-record 5-under par 69 in Round 1).

Today, I had to do the course set-up at Interlachen for days 1 & 2 of the Senior/Mid-Players' event. Actually, I didn't have to do much thinking about it. I am using the hole locations for days 2, 3 & 4 of the US Women's Open Championship (played there in '08) for my days 1-3, respectively. Interlachen is a real treat to be able to use and play. Unfortunately, "dotting" tee and hole locations takes time and today was really busy on the course, so we didn't play as much as we would have liked.

Tomorrow, I start the first of my two events of the year. The Tapemark Pro-Am gets started at Southview CC. It is a terrific tournament that has raised over $6.5 million dollars for charities that support families and individuals with developmental disabilities like mine. It's a highly competitive, yet feel-good, event that is in its 39th year. Congratulations and many thanks to the Klas and Cody families for their support over the years. The forecast doesn't look good for the weekend. Let's hope this is one of the (seemingly) many times the weather people are wrong! You can follow my progress on their web site.

As I said, I will be playing in (at least) one more tournament. I will be attempting to qualify for the US Senior Open through the Sectional Qualifying on June 30 at Mendakota CC. I am one of 26 players vying for the opportunity to tee it up with the best senior golfers in the world at Sahalee CC (WA) in late-July. I hope my schedule settles down before then!

Unfortunately, between now and then, I also have the MGA Players' Championship (@ Spring Hill GC, June 21-23) and the MGA Mixed Team Championship (@ Owatonna CC, June 28-29) to conduct. Hmm, and when will I be practicing??

You can check out all of the action from MGA events, and learn about other happenings in golf in Minnesota, at the MGA web site: http://www.mngolf.org/.

Okay, it's taken me 21 minutes to write this. Since my starting time tomorrow morning is (ugh) 6:40 AM, I guess I had better go home and take a nap! I'm afraid tomorrow's going to be a LONG DAY!

Oh, one last item. Golf Bound starts airing at 11:05 PM on KARE11 this Sunday night. Check it out - my rules segment might help you.

Until next time--

Doug

P.S. - Congratulations to my son Zach for graduating from Rosemount HS and earning an Evans Scholarship to the University of Minnesota!