Abelsen Wins Men's Shootout

Jim Abelsen is the winner of the 2007 Men's Shootout held at the club this morning. Each season, the top 20 season long point leaders meet at the end of the season to determine a winner. This morning, two groups of 10 teed off, with a player eliminated on each hole. At the end of 9 holes, Dean Weber and Jim Abelsen had eliminated all competition. Abe and Dean continued their match on the first hole where Abe sunk a long putt for par and the win.

Single Point Decides Men's League Winners

The 2007 Northland Men's League has finished for the year with the winner edging the second place team by a single point. The team of Jerry Dodd, Gary Moline, Colin Anderson (pictured above) and Jeff Scissons edged the team of Bill Gravelle, Frank Holappa and Gary Doty.
Thirty four teams played in the season long event this year. It's hoped that a field of 40 teams will enter next year. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all participants who played this season.

Happy Hour Returns October 3 - Other Notes From Food & Beverage

The popular Thursday night Happy Hour (actually, it's two hours) is returning to Northland Country Club on October 3. Each and every Thursday through the 2008 golf season opener, members will be treated to drink and appetizer specials. The fun begins at 4:30 and continues until 6:30.

Breakfast service on Saturday and Sunday morning has ended for the season. Coffee and toast (with peanut butter/jam) will be available in the men's locker room only for the remainder of this golf season.

Octoberfest at Northland will be held October 19 - the next Fabulous Friday event. Platters of German features will be available for much of that week.

Finally, Sunday food service will end once the golf course closes for the season. Bar service will be available from 11am - 7pm, but there will not be any food service. Most country clubs close at least one day during the week. While this has not been the case this season at Northland, the board of directors has decided to close the kitchen on Sunday.

Northland's New Bluebird Trail

Marshall Johnson, Jack Hauser, Susan & Charlie Nelson are shown above after installing one of the new bluebird houses at Northland.

On Wednesday of this past week bluebird enthusiast Jack Hauser was at Northland to set up 10 bluebird houses he built for us. Jack has set up numerous bluebird trails around Minnesota. The houses for Northland are numbers 508-517 that Jack has built and placed in about 15 years.
The Northland houses are located:
1. Below 15 tee
2. Behind 15 blue tee
3. Between 4 green and 14 tee
4. Right of the cart path near 6 tee
5. In the long grass right of 8 tee, near 9 fairway
6. Near the nursery left of 9 fairway
7. In the long grass right of 9 fairway
8. Below and right of 11 tee
9. Right of 12 fairway
10. Left of the cart path near 13 forward tee

The goal of the bluebird houses is, obviously, to attract bluebirds, get them to nest in the boxes, and to fledge one or two broods of chicks.
There are five species of birds which will inhabit the bluebird houses. Bluebirds, tree swallows, chickadees, house wrens, and house sparrows. If any of the first three species inhabit the boxes we will leave them alone. If either the house wren or house sparrows attempt to build a nest in the boxes we will discourage them by removing the nests. Because house wrens are a native species, once they lay eggs the nests cannot be touched. House sparrows are non-native species and the nest, eggs, and birds will be destroyed if found in the boxes.
In order to make sure the boxes are housing the proper species the trail must be "maintained" once a week. Northland members Charlie and Susan Nelson have volunteered to maintain the Northland bluebird trail. The houses will remain on the course through the end of October in order to allow migrating bluebirds to inspect the houses. With any luck we should have bluebirds in the houses next season.

Have You Reserved Spot For Crab Shack?

Don't forget the fabulous Old Fashioned Crab Boil Friday night at Northland. If you're planning on attending, the fun all starts at 7:00. If you're golfing before the event, remember you can bring a guest who can golf for free if they also attend the crab fest. Golf starts at 4:30 with a shotgun start. Alert the pro shop if you're playing. If you're just attending the dinner, please call to reserve your table today. (525.1941)

Aerification Update

The following email was sent to members today from Superintendent Chris Tritabaugh:

Yesterday we finally received the rain we had been waiting for all summer. Unfortunately it came about 24 hours early and we were not able to aerify any of the greens. Because of a number of factors, we will not be doing a complete core aerification on the greens this fall. Scheduling conflicts the rest of this week and early next week, along with our small staff numbers and the approaching cold weather would keep us from completing the aerification of the greens in a timely manner.
Past aerification and topdressing programs at Northland have made our greens the healthiest part of the golf course. While skipping this fall aerification is not something we will make a habit of; not doing it this fall will have no adverse affect on the greens. The putting green has been aerified already and we will also be doing #'s 5 & 16 greens. This will more than likely take place on Monday.
We will now move our concentration to aerification of the fairways. Our fairways are suffering from lack of aerification in the past and we will concentrate the next two weeks on making sure all of the fairways get aerified this fall.
Thank you for patience,
Chris Tritabaugh
Golf Course Superintendent

Fall Golf Tour?

This is the time of the year when many Northland members start to visit other courses in the region for a final round of golf before they close for the season, or when conditions might be slightly warmer to the south. A group of members was at Giant's Ridge yesterday and there will be other trips scheduled to courses near the Twin Cities in coming weeks....all an effort to extend the season. How many other golf courses have you played this year? We've posted a new Quick Poll on the right side of the page.

Weather Delays Aerification - No Carts Today

Tuesday's rain put a halt on plans to aerify all greens at Northland, and it doesn't appear as if the work will be started today either because of the overnight rains. Superintendent Chris Tritabaugh is reviewing course conditions and is expected to have an update later today. One other note, if you're planning on playing Northland today, there will be no carts allowed on the course because of wet conditions.

Superintendent Update: New Staff, Aerification, Seeding

Superintendent Chris Tritabaugh has sent the following to members:

New Assistant:
Since my last email we have had an addition to the Northland Country Club Turfgrass Staff. Jake Ryan has joined us as Northland's new Assistant Golf Course Superintendent. Jake graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Turfgrass Management degree in May of this year. His golf course experience includes time on the turfgrass staff at Cragun's, two years as a turfgrass intern at Halzeltine National Golf Club, and one season as the Second Assistant Superintendent at Midland Hills Country Club. Jake is originally from the Brainerd area and he is very happy to be in Duluth. Jake has been on the job for two weeks and he is already doing a wonderful job. His experience, knowledge, and enthusiasm are a great addition to Northland. Please take the time to welcome Jake when you see him on the golf course.

Green & Fairway Aerifcation: The aerification of the greens will commence tomorrow (Tuesday), weather permitting. Right now the forecast is calling for a 70% change of precipitation. Our plan is to aerify all of the greens tomorrow; should the weather dictate a change in the schedule I will notify you of what that schedule will be. Once we have completed the aerification of the greens, we will begin aerifying the fairways. This process does take some time and during the course of the process certain fairways will have plugs laying on them. We will do our best to complete the process in a timely manner and with as little disruption to play as possible. Please remember that while aerification does cause a temporary inconvenience, it would be impossible to maintain healthy turf without it.

Seed Update: In the coming days or weeks, as you visit the golf course, you will see work has been completed on the #9 & #4 tee box areas. The seed we planted on August 31st around #9 tee has germinated and the area around #4 tee was seeded on Friday September 14th. With a little bit of rain and warm weather these two areas should be nicely established and ready to go in the spring. You will also notice the areas in the fairways, and rough have germinated. Continuing to keep your cart out of these areas will help protect the seedlings while they establish.

Are you getting the updates from Chris and email alerts from other staff members? If not, click on the link below and add your name to the listing.

http://www.notjustemail.com/Form.php?provider_id=29

Course Closed Tuesday

The golf course at Northland Country Club will be closed for all play Tuesday to allow the grounds crew to complete aeration of all greens. The course will reopen Wednesday.

The pro shop has planned a golf outing to Giant's Ridge for Tuesday. Please contact the pro shop for details.

McCalls Win Season Long Couples Tourney

Congratulations to Gregg and Becky McCall, winners of the 2007 Northland Season Long Couples Match Play Tournament. The couple won the event Sunday by beating Brian and Sue Liberty.

Coming To The Crab Shack?

It's not too early to reserve your table for the NCC "Crab Shack" party scheduled for September 21.

The social hour begins at 7pm followed by our Old Fashioned Crab Boil at 7:30 pm. RSVP today for one of the season's most anticipated member and guest events by calling (218) 525-1941.

Golf members may opt to golf prior to the event. Shotgun start at 4:30 pm. Please note that your guests may golf for free if they are signed up for the Fabulous Friday Crab Boil. The cost for the evening's activities is $37.50 per person.

Sept .11, 2006

If you click on the archive section, (Sept 2006) on the right side of the screen, you can see images of what happened at Northland one year ago at approximately 6pm on September 11. Here are just three images, including the very first "bite" taken with the heavy equipment with Warren Askeland at the controls. More photos were published on the site in the following days.

Playoff Decides Spooner Regular Division - Senior Division Winners - Caddie Of The Year!

Matt Yeager (on the right, runner-up in the 2007 Northland Invitational) and partner Dave Haselrud were the winners in the regular division of the 2007 Leo Spooner Memorial Invitational Golf Tournament. The team was tied with Carl Horsch/Paul Mayer at 134 following 36 holes of play. The two teams played a sudden death playoff; with pars on 1 and 17, the two teams went to 18 where Yeager converted a 5 foot birdie putt for the victory.
In the Senior Division, Dave Gaddie (left above) and Duke Skorich expanded on their first day lead and won first place honors today with a two -day total of 139, or 3-under par. The senior division presented trophies for both the gross and net divisions. The two day net total for Gaddie/Skorich was 131.
Winners of the net division with a two-day total of 133 were Dick Delano (left above) and Dick Levey.The tournament format was changed this year, with six-somes teeing off together in an attempt to speed play. Following play today, there seemed to be consensus that the format was a success, but there will be further discussion to determine whether the format will be continued in future years.
A majority of participants at this year's event praised the condition of the golf course. Many had participated in the 2007 Invitational tournament and remarked on how the work of the grounds crew under the direction of Superintendent Chris Tritabaugh had produced great results.
Finally, the annual Northland Caddie Banquet was held at the club tonight, a time when members take a moment to thank the young men and women for their service over the past season. The photo above was taken this afternoon before all members of the caddie crew had arrived for the annual award ceremony (many more attended the festivities). Northland was blessed again to have such a large caddie program which is actually among the largest in Minnesota.
The caddies this year where under the direction of Caddie Master Dan Mosely, who returned from Concordia College in Moorhead to make certain this weekend's activities were carried out without a hitch. Dan was brand new to the job this season and did a terrific job in coordinating schedules and making certain that members needs were attended to and that the caddies were adequately trained to perform their duties on the golf course.
At the ceremony tonight, hundreds of dollars in prizes were awarded to the caddies thanks to the generous donations of cash and prizes from members who had supported the program all season long. Northland once again was pleased to have an Evans Scholar selected from its ranks (Andrew Ahlfield, now at the University of Minnesota) this past season and members once again have shown great support for the scholarship effort. For the second year in a row, Andy Krasaway of Pike Lake was selected as Caddie of the Year at Northland. The 13-year old, who recently shot a 77 to win a Junior Tour event at Northland, is an eighth grade student at Hermantown. In addition to his caddie duties, Andy, the son of Pete and Jane Krasaway, has helped the pro shop prepare many daily activities and has assisted with preparations for many of the season's major golf events.

Spooner Update: Two Tied At Top In Regular Division; Groups Will Play Six-Somes Sunday

The first day of play in the 2007 Leo Spooner Memorial Invitational has concluded with a tie for first place in the regular division; the team of Matt Yeager and David Haselrud is tied with the team of Joe Stansberry and Dale White, each team ending today's play at 5-under 66. Four teams ended the day at 68 and four others were at 69.
In the Senior Division, the team of David Gaddie and Duke Skorich are the first day leaders, with a 3-under 68. Two teams are 3 shots back. The Seniors are playing both Gross and Net; Gaddie and Skorich also lead the net division with a 64.
In an effort to speed play, all groups tomorrow will be playing six-somes, with an 8:30am start.

65 Teams In Weekend Spooner Memorial - New Champion To Be Crowned In Regular Division, Senior Champs Return

There will be new champions crowned in the regular division of the Leo Spooner Memorial Invitational Golf Tournament this weekend at Northland Country Club. While Lee and Reed Kolquist are playing in the event, each has a new partner; Reed will be playing with Brandon Kolquist while Lee will be paired with Mark Johnson. A total of 47 teams are entered in the regular division.

In the Senior Division, defending champions John LaBree and Charlie Whitcher have returned and will be joined by 17 other teams, the largest field in the Senior Division history.
The tournament schedule is posted above. If you're planning on attending the Saturday night dinner - and haven't already done so - it's suggested you call to Northland office to confirm your registration.

Correction: Member In The News: Cartier Honored By KARE 11 - Live Webcast Tonight

Northland member Tom Cartier will be honored in the Twin Cities this evening by television station KARE 11, as part of the station's recognition of 11 Who Care. You can learn more about the program here and also watch a webcast of the award presentation later tonight. A live webcast is scheduled to begin at 9:00pm. Here's what KARE 11 said about Tom on their website.


"If every person helped one in need, what a great World it would be!"

Thomas Cartier has a vision for a brighter future, a future free of diabetes. The passion for his work comes from his son Cory who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 10. This diagnosis motivated Thomas to become part of the quest for a cure.

When Thomas was introduced to Dr. Bernhard Hering at the University of Minnesota's Diabetes Institute his plan started to take shape. Dr. Hering's research required pig islets to replace insulin injections and in 2004 Thomas created the Spring Point Project to ensure that an unlimited supply of these islets would be available. In addition to the Spring Point Project, Thomas started the Cartier Challenge event to raise funds for diabetes research. To date, this event has raised over $650,000.

A milestone in the cure for diabetes is happening in our own backyard, and Thomas Cartier's efforts play a major role in the progress.

Designated Charity: Spring Point Project

Congratulations to Tom, who is being honored for his work with the Spring Point Project - click the link to learn more about Spring Point.

Pool Open On Weekends

Now that Labor Day has come and gone, the pool at Northland will operate with limited hours. It is expected to be open this coming weekend (weather dependent, of course) and the following weekend (Sept 15-16), again weather permitting. The lifeguards have all returned to school but have agreed to staff the facility if weather allows. With such a long, hot, dry spell the pool was a very busy place this summer. How many times did you use the facility? Take our Quick Poll posted on the right of the screen, just below the staff contact information.

Hole In One - New Starter - New Storage

Greg & Kara McGillivray thought Monday was a good day to bring their son out for a round of golf - Greg's day got even better on hole 5 when he aced it from 125 using a wedge. Congratulations.


If you've been to Northland golfing in the past two weeks, you've probably met the newest member of the golf operation. Doug Cameron has been hired to serve as the new starter during busy times on the golf course. It's been awhile since Northland has employed someone in this position. Doug has been working about 30 hours each week and is expected back next season.


Finally, work crews have almost finished construction of a new storage facility at Northland. The new building is being constructed between the tennis courts and the Stuart Cabin. Once completed, staff will move materials into the building and the trailer now sitting on the former tennis facility will be removed from the property, freeing up additional member/guest parking.