Greetings Golfers,
It’s almost November – this has been the quickest year of my life. They say time goes faster as you get older … I must be getting really old!
Sunday night we’ll close the golf course for the season. We always close by November 1stbecause we need to put the course to bed before the snows come. In 1991 we tried to stay open as late as possible, and then we got hit by the Halloween Blizzard. Because we hadn’t put the course to bed, we had to pay the price for it in the spring. Even if we don’t get an early blizzard, normal wear and tear to the course doesn’t heal. The bottom line is we close because we want to protect our beautifully maintained golf course.
This year we did open early – in fact we opened in mid-March. But it immediately snowed and we basically had the same opening we have every year in early April.
The weather was pretty typical until mid-summer. But, shortly after the 4th of July to the middle of September, it seemed to never stop raining. That type of rain is a nightmare for a golf course superintendent. Barry Provo did an amazing job keeping the course playable. And in August when we had constant 90 degree temperatures … our golf course was very vulnerable to disease. Barry kept us healthy throughout a lengthy, dangerous time. I can’t sing his praises enough.
All of our staff did an outstanding job and I’d like thank every one of them: Dan Abts, Doug Backstrom, Bill Bailey, Kelsey Bell, Paul Bickel, Jack Braaten, Heidi Breen, Jerry Brown, Scott Clark, Jim Clinite, Gordon Davis, Larry Dobson, Emma Duncan, Darryl Egertson, Bob Elfering, Dick Eller, Don Ellwood, Tyler Erickson, Sam Esse, Shelly Esse, Ray Falls, Kevin Fitzgerald, Bonnie Fredrickson, Carolyn Gaskill, Jim Gibson, Calvin Greene, Anna Hanson, Gabriela Heise, John Herrmann, Paul Hook, Ashley Hughes, Sonny Jurgens, Morgan Kelsy, Willie Kelzer, Todd Knutson, Madison Koebnick, Ray Kutz, Abby Kuzara, Kasey Liebeg, Kevin Loney, Stephanie Loney, Bob MacKinnon, Amanda Malo, Fred McGraw, Lori Money, Lee Moran, Mikalea Meadows, Emma Melander, Beth Melander, Sarah Menzuber, Stephanie Meuwissen, Colton Motschenbacher, Dennis Miller, Kayla Mork, Maddie Mork, Don Nelson, Taylor Nelson, Kristi Notvedt, Nick Peters, Dan Peterson, Gary Peterson, Gary Plummer, Sophia Priem, Barry Provo, John Rochford, Jacob Rollin, Erin Schliesman, Jim Schmieg, Todd Schlinder, Don Schneider, Paul Schullo, Conor Schwartz, Ron Solheim, Roger Swanson, Michelle Tentis, Morgan Tentis, John Thompson, Mike Thompson, Jim Werre, Tom Wellhausen, Kristi Williamson.
Our staff has been recognized for their exceptional efforts by the readers of TEE TIME magazine. In their annual “Readers Poll” they rated Deer Run GC in the top 5 in seven categories: “Best Golf Experience”, “Best Course Condition”, “Best Greens”, “Best Clubhouse”, “Best Pro Shop”, “Best Course to Host an Event” … and “Best Hospitality” for the 5th year in a row!
And … the Midwest Golf Course Owners Association awarded Deer Run GC their 2016 Golf Course of the Year.
Not only for Deer Run GC – but for golf in Minnesota – 2016 was a great year. The Ryder Cup hosted by Hazeltine National was a spectacular event. The Americans pulled off a much needed victory … and the weather was perfect. On stage in front of the whole world, Minnesota golf looked as good as it gets.
It was a pretty good year – no wonder it went so fast.
Cheers,
Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com