3M Championship ended with three birdies out of the last four holes, and boy was I happy to finally make two putts in a row for birdies-yeah! All the parties thrown by Hollis Cavner and staff couldn’t have been more enjoyable. Wednesday was the Lobster Fest in which I ate four lobsters with all the trimmings. Also, I know my group had a great time at the Casino Night, earning lots of chit. Fortunately for me, good friends came out and followed me; Albert and Sally along with Grant and Theresa from the Minneapolis area followed me and helped me through a tough tournament. I actually over worked my weight lifting before the tournament and had trouble with a slight strain on Tuesday the made it hard for me to have my full power and strength through the hit. It was quite an interesting Wednesday Insight Pro-Am with only being able to hit the ball about 210 yards off the tee. Boy is it hard to play from that far back. I was only able to help my group on a few holes. I’m so grateful that a few of my players came and said hello to me during the tournament play to wish me well. Mark and Eric were so thankful that I help them with their swings. It was sure nice for me to see their smiling faces after our slow day at the office. I had a great time and I felt assured that they too had a fun time. After all, this is my responsibility during the pro-ams , to make sure that everyone has a great time and wants to sponsor the event next year. Paul from Insight who sponsored the Wed. Pro-Am also mentioned that he had fun playing with me. I told Paul that I was going to post his final hole on Facebook to immortalize our day, letting be know that our group is coming back next year stronger than ever
Like most Tournament Players Courses, I have enjoyed playing them. The Blaine, MN TPC designed by Arnold Palmer has many reachable par 5’s along with wonderful green complexes thereby producing many opportunities for low scoring. I love the fact that you can birdie just about every hole on the course. David Frost along with Calcavecchia proved this point. There is now way anybody in the world could make more birdies than they did-quite phenomenal. Also, David Frost gave every player and all the caddies a bottle of Frost Wine produced in his native homeland of South Africa, which was a great gesture of kindness thereby endearing everyone to his beautiful Leroy Neiman labels of all the past greats like Arnold Palmer and Gene Sarazen. Thanks Dave. Karen and I will enjoy a toast to your win this week.
This week was outstanding for the Legends of golf, because they were invited in for a special competition that was played during our regular event. I think the gallery enjoyed seeing Palmer, Trevino, David Graham, Al Geiberger, Chi Chi Rodrigues, Miller Barber, Don January, and all the rest. I sure enjoyed watching them play. Trevino and Don January still have the touch cracking everyone up with their stories. The whole clubhouse was spellbound with their banter. What is so wonderful about the 3M Championship is that these players were treated like royalty with special dinners, interviews, along with VIP treatment that you would expect at Augusta, Georgia.
So I’m already looking to next year where I know I can win on such a great tournament course. I made progress this week with my confidence. I’m more confident now than when the week started, so it’s off to home, recovery, and back out west to Bend, Oregon for another challenging and fun golf course. Have a great time this week with your family, remember, life is what you make it.