Why is this man smiling?
It's possible someone could walk off Northland today $100,000 richer....the prize for a hole-in-one today during the annual UMD Athletic Department Bulldog Open, thanks to hole sponsor North Shore Bank of Commerce.
What a finish!!
Winners of the 11 flights were grouped in the event-ending shoot-out that began at 3:30 this afternoon. In the first group pictured above were Tim & Gregg McCall, Steven Landwehr & Jay Thomas, Kris Zuber & Kraig Karakas, Kent Davyduke & Judd Medak, Dan Baresh & Bruce Wagers, and Cory Cartier & Travis Merrick.
Players in the second group of shoot-out participants included Mark Sams & Joe Golcz, Tom Hom & Steve LaFlamme, Ray Peterson & Brock Peterson, Ed Speck & Bill Langtot, and David Letourneau & Tom Conroy.
On the third hole, the team of Cory Cartier & Travis Merrick made the decision to have Merrick play from the deep rough left of the green (photo on the right), chipping out and eventually making a double bogey six, forcing a chip-off with the Baresh-Wagers team. The Cartier-Merrick team came up short and was eliminated.
On 16, Thomas-Landwehr were forced to take a drop after one of their shots ended up on the creek fronting the green. Landwehr is shown dropping in the photo on the right. The pair was able to force a chip-off with Medak-Davyduke, but they lost and were eliminated from the shoot-out.
Each of the remaining teams was forced into a chip-off. In the photo on the right, Dan Baresh prepares to chip from just left and in front of the green. Baresh's chip was within 8 feet of the hole, but he and Wagers were eliminated as the other two teams were able to put their shots closer to the pin. It was on to 18 with just two teams remaining and a large gallery waiting at the clubhouse for the finish.
Both teams were able to play second shots into the 18th green from approximately 125 yards on the 412 yard hole. In the photo on the right, David Letourneau is shown as he makes a four-foot uphill putt for par sending the match into a sudden death playoff.
In the photo below, Medak has just played the team's second shot from the 1st hole fairway while Letourneau was playing the second shot for his team from approximately 120 yards away in the center of the 18th fairway. Both shots came up just short of the green and the teams halved the hole. It was back down 18 for yet another time.
Following the event, the winning team admitted that despite their professional hockey careers which have resulted in some tense moments, they have never experienced the emotions that came with the win today during the Member-Guest.
The golf course is a little soggy from yesterday's thunderstorms that rolled through Duluth, but bright, sunny skies greeted golfers this morning for the opening of the 2008 Member-Guest Weekend. Sixty-six men's teams are entered, including last year's winners: Kent Lund and Dan Klass.
Northland is blessed to have a very active caddie program this season - some days, as many as 35 young men and women have been working in the caddie corps. One of the more frequent questions addressed to the pro shop concerns the fee caddies should receive. It seems many guests and even some members aren't sure how much they should pay at the end of the round.
Northland's Ray Peterson ran into a buzz-saw this morning in his match against Trent Peterson in the Minnesota Golf Association's Player's Championship, losing 6 - 5.
We've taken a step to make posting your golf scores that much easier - just in case you forgot to enter your score at the club, or were playing at a course other than Northland.
Northland Country Club member Ray Peterson had made it to the final 16 in the 2008 MGA PLayer's Championship being contested at Northland Country Club.
After the Minnesota Golf Association (MGA) Amateur changed from a match play to stroke play format in 1967, the MGA was without a match-play championship. That changed when the Players' Championship was created and first hosted in 1979 at Interlachen Country Club, Edina. The 2008 event is being contested at Northland Country Club through Thursday of this week.
Well take a moment to recognize that during the Longest Day of the Year Party Saturday at Northland, junior golf members Katrina Wood and Josh Lyttle set about to make certain they captured the Most Holes Played Title...they did. The pair played 65 holes throughout the day, and Josh had the cards to prove it - with some pretty great scoring during the day as well.
The highlight of the after-golf activities was the closest-to-the-pin contest in which members were invited to throw golf balls from the member's floor balconies to the 18th green. A lively crowd watched on and participated, culminating in just a single hole-in-one. But, what's unclear is just who made the putt-throw. Mike Archambeau claimed it was NWGA President Leslie Gramstrup....Leslie sticks by her story that it was Mike. In all the confusion, no one clearly saw who's toss it was that went in.
During the winter the high parts of the green were exposed to the weather; they were covered but there was no snow on those portions of the green. In cold winter conditions the Poa annua, which is very prominent on our greens can be severely affected. When injured or killed it can take Poa some time to bounce back in the spring but with warm temperatures and long days it typically does bounce back very well. This is what happened on the 14th green. While I knew there was some Poa injury on the 14th green coming out of winter my feeling was our normal spring aerification, fertility, verti-cutting, and topdressing would take care of any Poa injury fairly quickly. Each time one of these cultural practices was done I waited expecting the combination of the cultural practice and improved weather to help the green heal. However, every time something was done we were greeted by very poor weather, which did not help to heal the green. In our most recent attempt to help the green along a fertilizer application was made to the 14th green last friday. This is a fertilizer I have seen in the past, produce fantastic results in a situation like the 14th green. This fertilizer application will more than likely produce favorable results, especially since we have finally received extended good weather. However, we are now maintaining the greens to tournament conditions in preparation for next weeks MGA Players Championship, and the Northland Member/Guest weekend. Under these types of conditions and practices it may be difficult, even with the fertilizer application, for the 14th green to improve over the next week and a half. 
If by the Monday after the Member/Guest there has not been significant improvement to the 14th green we will explore three possible options. 
Here's an update on some of the events being planned for the Longest Day of the Year Party at Northland on Saturday.
For each of the contests above, there's a $5 entry fee for three chances. All proceeds from these contests will be directed to the Spring Point Project, the non-profit corporation established by Northland member Tom Cartier and others to seek a cure for diabetes. You can learn more about the Spring Point Project here.
The Northland Entertainment Committee is meeting tonight to finalize plans for this weekend's Longest Day of the Year event.
The photo on the right provides proof that the bluebird houses placed on the course last season have produced results.
Representatives of the leading golf equipment manufacturers will be at Northland Country Club on Thursday of this week.
Northland Superintendent Chris Tritabaugh and wife Lindsay welcomed Olive Jo to the world on Friday night. Chris is shown in the image on the right holding Olive after the 7:57pm birth.
It's almost over.....the wet, cold Spring, that is.
The immediate weather forecast is calling for moderating temperatures with afternoon highs in the 60's....Men's League will be held as scheduled.
Researchers at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute who studied 500,000 golfers to explore the game's potential benefits to one's health have released their findings: the study suggests playing golf can increase life expectancy about five years.
PGA Teaching Professional Peter Krause is coming back to Northland next week to conduct a clinic on short game play.
Here's an opportunity to learn some of the new rules that have been adopted for golf this season.
The photo above was taken on an early morning this past Spring in one of the neighborhoods surrounding Northland Country Club and shows three deer munching on some early Spring flowers. Recently, at the annual meeting of members, board members were asked if the club has experienced any damage from the deer that populate the golf course and nearby areas. Many Northland neighbors continue to experience hundreds to thousands of dollars in damage each year as the deer eat flowers, shrubs and some tree species. From all appearances, Northland has not experienced any such damage, other than some limbs on the cedar trees near the tennis facility.
Northland Superintendent Chris Tritabaugh explains why cart traffic is not allowed on the course following a significant rain event in his latest posting on the Northland Grounds blog site.
The week at Northland kicked off this morning with a 7:30 shotgun start to the PGA Junior Tour. As a result, the course is closed until Noon today.
The golf shop has released the pairings for the Men's Season Long Four-Ball Championship, the Men's Individual Match Play Championship, and the Couple's Season Long-Four Ball Championship.
Northland received nearly three inches of rain overnight and early this morning - so no carts will be allowed on the course on Saturday. Depending on the weather, cart traffic may also be restricted on Sunday.
With the arrival of the summer golf season, please remember Northland has a policy that requires members to use a cart or caddy on weekends prior to 12:00 noon. This policy does not apply to junior golfers.
Northland congratulates members Leonard & Melanie Johnson on the arrival of Siena Kirsten. Siena is shown with big brother Mason who will be two later this fall.
Northland's Entertainment Committee is putting the finishing touches on the events that will be scheduled during this year's Longest Day of the Year Celebration on June 21.
It's likely the Thursday Men's League will experience some rain this afternoon, but it's too early to determine whether the entire day will be cancelled. The Pro Shop will alert golfers of any change before the 1:30 shotgun start.
The beautiful work of Ann Jenkins is just one of the many new pieces of art that will be on display at Northland tonight as members celebrate the purchase and gifts of art and furniture that now fill many of the walls and rooms within the clubhouse.
In addition to the new art throughout the clubhouse, tonight's reception will also allow members to see recent changes that have been made in the private dining rooms, including The Legends Room shown in the photo on the right. For the past few months, Barb Klatzky, Mignon Fryer and Barb Gaddie have led a team that has remodeled portions of the clubhouse. The private dining rooms also have had Plantation shutters installed. New furniture purchases have allowed to club to make greater use of space.
Thank you to those who responded to a mailing in April inviting more members to become Evans Scholarship Par Club members. About 600 letters were sent out, and the yield was 3 new Par Club members joining 16 previous members.
If we can get to 38 members (so we are half-way there), we will be contributing in proportion to the aid our caddies have received over the years when comparing the various clubs that have had caddies receive Evans Scholarships to the University of Minnesota.
It is interesting to note the commitment of our three Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame members (Ev Stuart, Leo Spooner, John Staver) to the Evans Foundation. Ev was a Par Club Member for 36 years; Leo for 32 years; and John is a Lifetime member.
We honor them with a display of their photos and memorabilia, and wouldn’t it be nice to honor them and their values also by boosting our membership in the Par Club they so loyally supported? For those that have not yet joined, if you have misplaced the application form, please contact Ann Robertson in the NCC business office to obtain a new form. Thank you for considering this plea.
Thank you also to Board President Cameron Fryer for encouraging us (in his 5/29 letter to the membership) to give jobs to our present caddies on weekdays as well as weekends. In the past week I spoke with two parents from different families that see how their 14 year old children could benefit greatly from caddying this summer, and of course the demand for their services needs to be there if they are to benefit. We benefit from the walking, and the chance to know and help these youngsters, as they learn about the great game of golf though their service as caddies.
Kevin Treacy,
Northland Evans Par Club Captain
If your schedule hasn't allowed you to get to Northland this morning, there's still time for you to get to Northland to take a lesson with PGA Teaching Professional, and President of the Minnesota Section of the PGA of America, Kathy Swanson.
