The first 90 seconds of this is pretty cool. Dude gets to the 15th hole at Chambers Bay, his buddy pulls out a video camera and the guy makes an ace.

I saw this in Golf World Monday and it certainly looks like it is real. Apparently it was a pitching wedge from 139 yards (and quite a bit downhill).

The emotion is great.

The only bummer is that embedding has been turned off, so if you want to see it, you have to click here.

But it’s worth the watch.

When it comes to historic courses in the Twin Cities, the talk seems to frequently focus on Bobby Jones skipping it off the lillypad in 1930 at Interlachen or US Opens at Hazeltine or maybe a little talk about Minikahda.

But there may be no course in the Twin Cities that has seen more quality players play it as Keller. It hosted the St. Paul Open on the PGA Tour from 1930-1969. It hosted the Patty Berg Classic on the LPGA Tour from 1973-1980. It hosted the Western Open in 1949, back when it was a big deal. It even hosted two PGA Championships (1932 and 1954).

But for some reason, it seems like too many people maybe don’t understand how cool the course in Maplewood really is. I’m as guilty as anybody.

Some of that has to do with the fact that it is only 6,566 yards from the back tees and 6,041 yards from the white tees. Some of it probably has to do that they slam a lot of people through there on the weekends. And, frankly, the fact that the most expensive rate to walk is $36 probably doesn’t scream of great quality.

I played Keller in April on the first day it was open. Yes, I should have posted this previously. It was th

e first time I had played there in ages. Maybe since I was a teenager. It was one of those courses that I always said I should go play, but never did. I went out there after work and played 14 holes (1-13 and 18) before dark. It was very fun. There are interesting green complexes, some cool diagonals and the like.

I find it really hard to compare old-school, classic courses that were built 80-90 years ago with modern courses with bigger budgets and modern construction equipment. Both can be great, both can be below average. But they are kind of apples and oranges.

I do really think that Keller is probably the best classic public course in the Twin Cities.

Here are a few pictures (and I admit to not taking enough photos).

The last two pictures above are of No. 8, a funky 396-yard par 4 with a far more interesting green complex than you will find at most public courses. It’s elevated without a real option to run it up. I like it.

About the fourth hole

On Golf Club Atlas   a poster who I have met once posted about No. 4 here.

The fourth hole is a 150-yard par 3 with a large tree in front of the green. Here are two pictures from my April visit:

The first picture is from the tee, the second is from the green looking back at the tee. Obviously it as a different look when filled with leaves.

Is it a good hole? I’m not totally sure, but it is the hole many people remember Keller for. It was playing only about 145 yards the day I played it was an easy 7-iron. I hit the ball pretty high, so I didn’t have any issues getting over the tree. I can, however, understand how and why others think the hole is unfair.

In summary, Keller is worth the play and is certainly the best course under $40 in the Twin Cities. There are interesting holes, greens that are far from flat and some history. I don’t know what pace of play is like in the middle of the summer, but I’m guessing there are times when it might be on the slow side. It isn’t a country club for a day, but it is a cool course.

Are there issues? Certainly. The very first picture in this post is of the second hole from the tee. I hit a draw off of the tee and ended up on the left side of the fairway. Even though I was in the fairway, I was somewhat blocked out by overhanging branches — and this was before we ended up with leaves. There are some spots where there are too many trees. You could cut 500 trees down and it would make the golf course and turf conditions better. Unfortunately, there are many courses where the same thing can be said.

Yesterday, friend of the blog and commenter Ryan played at the Town and Country Club in St. Paul.  I asked him to snap a photo of downtown Minneapolis when he was on No. 9 (that’s the hole that runs along Marshall Ave.). It looks like the photo was shot from the right side of the fairway. You can see the driving range in the foreground and small piece of the clubhouse. I think it is a cool view.

I don’t exactly why, but I like holes with skyline views. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a town of less than 20,000 that probably doesn’t have a building taller than about five stories. I don’t know.

All I know is that I think it is cool when you can see a skyline in the distance. There are obvious examples of this in the Twin Cities: You can see the Minneapolis skyline very clearly from spots at Minikahda, from the par 5 that runs along Hwy. 280 at Midland Hills, from several spots at Theodore Wirth and Golden Valley and the hole above.

But there are also some less obvious ones. You can actually see the top of the Minneapolis skyline from (I think) the 18th tee at The Wilds, a course that is 25 miles away. You can do the same from the 14th tee at Hillcrest Golf Club in St. Paul and the second green at Somerset in Mendota Heights. Both of those courses have to be at least 15 miles away.

Any other good ones out there, whether in MSP or elsewhere?

So happy golfing this weekend friends. And to my golfing friends in Minneapolis, let’s hope the rain stays away a little.

There was a time not all that long ago when, in my opinion, the Titleist Pro V1 was far and away the best golf ball on the planet. When it became available to the masses in the spring of 2001, it was a revolutionary ball because of how it flew off of the driver, spun around the greens and had much greater durability than wound balls.

Now I’m not going to knock the Pro V1, but the gap isn’t nearly what it was. It isn’t because Titleist is making a bad product — that’s far from the case. But the top-line ball from every company has improved dramatically.

A year ago, I became something of a Nike One Tour loyalist. It was simply an economical decision. At a time when a dozen Pro Vs were going for around $45, you could get two dozen One Tours for between $50 and $60 depending on the current deal that was available.

I’m not going to say the Nike One Tour was better than the Pro V, but it was plenty good. And the Titleist wasn’t $20/dozen better.

Now it appears that TaylorMade is getting into the act. When TM launched the Penta, it was another $45/dozen ball. Now most places are selling the Penta for $40 and there is a promotion at pretty much any retailer in which you can get a free dozen if you buy two dozen.

The math on that is pretty simple: 3 dozen balls for $80, or about $27/dozen. And I just pulled a coupon out of my Entertainment book that will give me $15 off of a $75 purchase at Dicks Sporting Goods. If I can apply that to the sale golf balls, I’ll get three dozen balls for $65 or about $22/dozen.

I have played a couple of rounds with a Penta. It seems to provide a good combination of distance off of the tee, decent spin around the green and even some solid durability.

The ProV might be a little better than the Penta, but I’m not sure it is $20-$23 a dozen better.

Anybody else have strong opinions?

Finally getting around to looking at Golfweek’s new state-by-state public course rankings after the publication recently landed in my mailbox.

Let’s start with the Minnesota rankings:

1. Giants Ridge (Quarry)*

2. Wilderness at Fortune Bay*

3. Jewel Golf Club*

4. Meadows at Mystic Lake

5. StoneRidge*

6. Deacon’s Lodge*

7. Dacotah Ridge*

8. The Classic at Madden’s*

9. Rush Creek*

10. Legends Club*

*= a course I have played.

This is the point where I have to add the disclaimer that I am a Golfweek course rater and have, with my ballots, played a role in some of these rankings. I generally find the GW rankings to be very solid. Prior to my days as a rater, I fould the GW public rankings to be key in making good course choices when I was on the road.

My thoughts:

Apparently there’s a course I need to check out: I have heard mixed reviews of the Meadows at Mystic Lake to be honest. Nobody has said that it is terrible, but some people I know have described it as average. Others have indicated that some of the money on extras could have been spent on the golf course. But I’ve also heard good things. A friend who I believe is a clear thinker said it is really good and that I would like it. These GW rankings also raise my interest. It doesn’t immediately move to the top of the to-do list, but I’ll make an effort to get there before the end of 2011.

The top two are correct: I think a case can be made for both The Quarry and The Wilderness to be named as the best public course in the state. But I think they are the only true contenders. The two courses — which are only about 30 minutes apart — are both very, very good. The greater Biwabik metro area is clearly the best destination for public golf in the state.

How big of a Jewel is it?  I have played The Jewel in Lake City, but it has been several years. I also played there shortly after the place opened. And when I say shortly, I mean only days after opening. It is probably time for a return visit five or so years later.

Some non-Minnesota notes:

- Troy Burne is ranked No. 7 in Wisconsin, ahead of Blackwolf Run (Meadows Valley), University Ridge and SentryWorld.

- Was pleased to see The Harvester remain as the top-ranked public course in Iowa. I think it is a wonderful Keith Foster course (with the exception of perhaps one tee shot).

And in case anybody cares, here are the courses on the lists that I have played:

Alabama: 4. Capstone Club; 6. Grand National (Lake); 9. Grand National (Links)

Arizona: 1. We-Ko-Pa (Saguaro); 2. Troon North (Monument); 5. TPC Scottsdale (Stadium); 13. Grayhawk (Raptor); 18. Golf Club of Estrella; 20. Wigwam (Gold).

Florida: 5. Sugarloaf Mountain

Hawaii: 1. Kapaula (Plantation); 8. Wailea (Gold)

Illinois: 1. Cog Hill No. 4; 2. The Glen Club; 8. Pine Meadow; 14. Shepherd’s Crook

Indiana: 3. The Fort; 4. Harrison Hills; 7. Brickyard Crossing; 8. Purgatory; 10. The Trophy Club

Iowa: 1. The Harvester; 5. Tournament Club of Iowa.

Kentucky: 4. Lassing Pointe

Maine: 2. Sugarloaf Mountain; 5. Belgrade Lakes

Michigan: 13. Eagle Eye at Hawk Hollow

Mississippi: 7. The Bridges at Hollywood Casino

New Mexico: 1. Paa-Ko Ridge

North Carolina: 1. Pinehurst No. 2; 2. Pine Needles; 4. Tobacco Road; 5. Mid Pines

Ohio: 5. Shaker Run

Oregon: 7. Pumpkin Ridge (Ghost Creek)

Tennessee: 4. Hermitage

Texas: 12. Texas Star

Wisconsin: 3. Lawsonia (Links); 6. The Bull at Pinehurst Farms; 7. Troy Burne

This is still a pretty good message to receive:

Yep, I’m slowly dominating Tiger Woods 12 for Xbox 360.

Let’s be honest, I’m not exactly a long-term relationship kind of guy when it comes to my golf clubs. I’m much more of a serial dater.

I recently blogged about how many drivers I\’ve been through in recent years. The number is pretty significant. I have a little longer attention span with irons — I had a set of Callaway X-18s for several years — but I’ve been bad of late.

Last fall, I picked up a set of TaylorMade Burner 2.0 irons. I bought into the hype of picking up distance. I wanted long, I wanted to hit the ball further than ever. In retrospect, it seems like such a poor decision.

I am, admittedly, not a long hitter. Through both club and ball technology, I hit the ball futher than I ever have. But I often hit 6- or 7-iron on a par 3 when a friend might hit 8-iron. I wanted that to change.

But the thing I overlooked in all of this is that when I play my best golf, it is when I am in control. It’s when I hit fairways, I hit a bunch of greens and I hit a couple close enough to make easy birdies.

And going for distance runs counter to that.

I never got comfortable with the Burner 2.0s. Much of that had to do with distance. And maybe not for the reason you might think. I didn’t have a problem with the new math of the clubs, that I might hit 8 where I used to hit 6 or 7. I can do that.

The problem that I had was that the Burner 2.0s can come out of nowhere and launch a ball that never comes down.

I posted this over on golfwrx.com and asked if anybody else was experiencing the same thing:

I am struggling with these. My past two rounds I’ve had shortish irons into greens (a 7 yesterday and an 8 this morning – both from the fairway), I’ve put a good swing on the ball and they have flown like crazy. Totally airmailed greens and led to two doubles.

For the most part, I like the irons. But if I don’t know how far they are going to go, they aren’t worth a whole lot to me.

Let’s just say I wasn’t alone in experiencing hot spots.

For me, not knowing how far the ball is going to go with a good swing is a pretty hopeless feeling. So that means only one thing: New sticks.

I ended up doing something I’ve never done before when I picked up these sweet things:

Because while I have owned a lot of clubs over the past 30 years, I have never owned a set of forged irons. I always felt like I didn’t have the game for them, that I needed the help that game-improvement and super game-improvement irons provide.

I figured that after experiencing the lack of control that can sometimes go along with cast irons, there was no better time to try some Mizuno forged irons.

Now don’t get me wrong, these are far from blades and they will certainly help a guy who doesn’t hit the sweetspot every single time. There’s some perimeter weighting and that is a big bonus.

These are the MX-300s from Mizuno that were only available in 2010. For some reason, they were produced for only the one year and were eliminated from the line in favor of the JPX 800 Tour irons. I did look at those, but couldn’t imagine that they were $300 better than this slightly used set. Plus I’m going to simply say that the MX-300s look much better.

My guy Scott at 2nd Swing tried to get me into these last year, but I still wasn’t sure I had enough game. So he was happy to get me into them this week.

I took the new sticks out for a first date last night after work and the initial results were pretty good. The ball got airborne, I hit the 4-iron as a layup on a couple of par 5s it didn’t lead to awful shots and they go pretty darn straight. I know I’m only 18 holes into this, but they felt more forgiving than I would have guessed.

And then there is the feeling you get when you hit one well. So sweet. I have a pair of forged Scratch wedges, so I have an idea of what it is like. But it does feel good to hit a forged club on the center of the clubface. I had a couple of those and it was quite nice.

There’s still a little adjustment that will have to be done — I actually went right to the first tee rather than the range as I had a chance for a full 18 holes if I immediately started playing — but they seem good.

Here are a few shorter golf-related items rolling through my brain right now:

- Last weekend, I spent $21 or so to swap out the empty propane tank for my grill and replace it with a full one. I’m curious as to how much Golden Valley Golf and Country Club is spending on propane. Best I can tell from the road, the club is using propane heaters to create a good growing environment for their greens that suffered damage over the weekend. There have been massive propane tanks near a few of the holes north of Golden Valley Road. My people tell me three greens remain closed.

- Today is my birthday and for the second consecutive year, there isn’t golf-friendly weather. Oh well, it happens.

- This one is a couple of weeks old, but I still need to share. It is also meant primarily for my friends in the media. When a pro athlete says they are going to try to be a pro golfer when their career is over, just smile and nod, but don’t write a thing in your notebook. And certainly don’t write a story about it. Why? Because golf is hard. Really hard. Just ask John Smoltz. The ex-MLB pitcher had a reputation of being a very good player. He has talked about the Champions Tour. So he gets a sponsors’ exemption to the Nationwide Tour’s South Georgia Classic. And what happens. She shoots 84 and 87 to finish DFL and miss the cut by 27 shots. Yes, 27.

- There was a story in the Star Tribune last week about Minnesota high schools students going elsewhere to go to school and work on their games. In that story, it said that one girl is going to skip the state high school tournament this year in order to play in an American Junior Golf Association event that week near Rochester. I understand and realize that summer golf is way more important than high school golf, but I thought this was unfortunate. I guess my biggest beef is why the AJGA needs to play one of only two Minnesota events at the same time as the state high school tournament. They couldn’t hold it a couple of days later? I know the AJGA can do what they want, but this seems unfortunate. There will be girls who want to play, but can’t or choose not to. At my club, for example, there is a girl who finished in the top 10 at the state meet next year as a sophomore. It would probably help her to play in the AJGA event. But her high school team very well may play in the state meet.

That’s all I’ve got today. Coming soon: Pics and words about what might be the best value/low budget golf option in town.

A loyal blog reader from Stillwater pointed this story in my direction.

Apparently a suspected drunk driver thought it was a good idea to try to outrun the cops instead of being pulled over.

This story from WCCO TV has video and quotes cops saying there was damage to both the putting green and the driving range.

The guy also apparently also ditched his car and ran to hide. The cops put up a helicopter and found him under a tree.

I’m sure we’ll learn more about this story soon. Hopefully the damage can be repaired without too much trouble. Bummer for the members there.

My friend Jerry went to Bandon Dunes a while ago and picked this up for me.

The other side:

I think I’m going to bust out the Bandon/Old Macdonald poker chip ball mark for the first time this afternoon.

What do you think? Like the poker chip ball marks? Too big and obnoxious?

Last week, I blogged about how I was going to get on the launch monitor and get fit for a driver.

Well, I did it. And it was a tremendously interesting evening.

While my home course is fun to play, has good greens and even better people, it is very much lacking when it comes to a driving range. So at about 7 p.m., my pro set up the launch monitor on the first tee and I started beating balls.

I started hitting my own driver (Ping i15) to get something of a baseline reading. What I saw wasn’t totally surprising. The launch angle was a little higher than ideal as were spin numbers. They weren’t horrible, but they could be better.

The reality was that I wanted to hit two drivers: The Titleist 910D2 and the TaylorMade R11. I had hit the Titleist 910D3 previously and while it is awesome looking, the primary thing I wanted was more forgiveness.

We started with the R11. I’d hit a few. My pro would make some adjustments. I’d hit a few more. And we’d repeat. I pretty much tried to not pay attention to what was happening as I didn’t want knowing adjustments to influence my thinking and potentially my swings. I pretty much wanted to try to make good swings and do it blind.

After a while, I hit some with the 910D2 with a couple of different chances. We couldn’t really get the kind of numbers or ball flight we were looking for. So it was pretty clear it wasn’t going to be a winner.

What I found with stock R11 (with a 60 gram Blur shaft) was that I probably need a heavier shaft in order to bring the spin down a little bit. To further prove that point, I hit my pro’s G15 that had a 70 gram Diamana ‘ahina (the updated Whiteboard) and the spin numbers were good. That’s key as my carry distance remained about the same but the lower spin will likely lead to more run once it hits the ground.

I shouldn’t be surprised by this considering TaylorMade’s history of good drivers, but the R11 is more than just a driver head with a white paint job. There’s some good science in there as well. Both my ball speed and carry distance went up over my Ping. The carry distance went up between eight and 12 yards, depending on swing.

Is that worth making a change? I think so. Hopefully if we can get a better shaft in there, the spin will go down and the carry and total distances will be very good. As someone who isn’t a long driver, that is key. I had a couple of options, I could order the R11 TP from TaylorMade, but who knows when that would actually arrive. I could also just buy the stock R11 and order a new shaft off of the internet. The beauty of the R11 is that shafts can be switched out with just the turn of the wrench. There’s no shaft pull or epoxy needed.

I ended up going with the later. After buying the stock R11 — which is still decent — I won a eBay auction for a Diamana Kai’li 70 gram shaft. TM only offers the ‘ahina in a 60 gram shaft. I want the weight in an attempt to reduce spin, even though the Kai’li (the new Blueboard) will launch and spin a little more than the ‘ahina.

If the shaft is awful, I’ll flip the shaft on eBay and try the 70 gram Blur TP shaft and see what happens.

The early results on the R11 are solid even before getting the new shaft. The thing wants to go quite straight. The biggest challenge is to trust myself and realize I don’t need line up my shot down the right edge of the fairway in order to draw it into the fairway. Now I can just pump it down the middle and know that I might even cut it a little bit.

Did I think I would be among the masses buying into the hype and picking up a white driver? I didn’t know. But I’m all right with it so far. Even though I know TaylorMade will put out a new driver too soon (but that’s a topic for another post).