I had no idea that Giants Ridge  was owned by the State of Minnesota. But it is owned by the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB).

According to a tweet from Minnesota Public Radio reporter Tom Scheck, the Giants Ridge golf courses will be closed if there is no state budget solution and the government shuts down at midnight.

Here’s a little quick Giants Ridge background from the resort’s website:

In 2009-2010, reviews and rankings by Golf Digest The Quarry ranked #1 and The Legend ranked #3 in “The Best Public Golf Courses in Minnesota.” On a national level, The Quarry ranked #20 and The Legend #72 in “America’s 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses” by Golf Digest for the same period. Very few golf resorts can claim more than one course in their “Top 100.”

So I hope that if you have July 4 golf plans, it isn’t at Giants Ridge. If it is, you might want to find a new place to play.

And what happens to the people who are already checked in at the resort? Do they get booted out at midnight? (update below) Also, will a skeleton staff get paid to keep the golf course in good condition? I ask that as the Minnesota Zoo will have some staff to feed/care for animals, but the zoo won’t open. Just thinking out loud.

UPDATE: Got a copy of the news release. Here is what it says:

Potential State Government Service Interruption of IRRRB Operations

EVELETH, Minnesota – In the absence of an enacted Minnesota state budget as of July 1, 2011, all Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) facilities will be closed to the public. These includethe following facilities:

IRRRB Administration Building – Eveleth
Mining and Mineland Reclamation – Chisholm
Giants Ridge Golf & Ski Resort including the following amenities and services:
o The Legend & The Quarry golf courses
o Wacootah Grille at the Quarry Clubhouse
o The Sports Dormitory lodging
o Catering & banquet services at the ski chalet
o The rental, snow and gift shops
o The disc golf course
o And hiking and biking trails.

“We do not know how long service will be interrupted. We have had to plan for the worst and now hope for the best.” said IRRRB Commissioner Tony Sertich.

Further information and future updates can be found at www.bereadymn.com.

Please note: The private operations at Giants Ridge will continue to operate, including “The Giants Ridge Lodge” and “Villas at Giants Ridge.”

Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) is a state economic development agency headquartered in northeastern Minnesota whose vision is to promote and invest in business, community and workforce development for the betterment of the region.

Or at least that’s what this story from the West Central Tribune says.

It happened at Little Crow Country Club, a course I have probably played 100 times.

I always get a little skeptical of stories like this, so I hope this is 100 percent true. But maybe I’m just a jerk cynic.

That’s the word I get from a blog tipster who works with an Edina Country Club member.

As I blogged about previously, Tom Lehman did a bunch of restoration/renovation work on the old Tom Bendelow design that opened in 1923. The club has had a number renovations over the past few decades and it hasn’t always been a smooth process.

The club initially wanted to reopen in June, but the weather this spring wasn’t all that friendly for growing grass, etc. Vandalism to the golf course earlier this month certainly didn’t help things either.

Edina CC has been closed for the better part of a year. It will be the second course to reopen this season, joining Hazeltine National. Hazeltine opened earlier this month after undergoing a project in which greens and fairways were regrassed. The Edina project — which includes the moving of at least a couple of greens, many bunkers and a few tees — was greater in scope. Hazeltine doesn’t look all that different. My understanding is that Edina will look very different.

Here’s to hoping that the changes turn out well. If any of my loyal blog readers get out there for an early spin, I would certainly be interested in hearing your impressions.

I played in a charity golf event for the Ronald McDonald House on Monday afternoon at TPC Twin Cities. Going into it, I wasn’t really sure what to expect.

I had repeatedly heard that TPC had a really, really rough winter and that the greens were horrible. I had heard rumblings that there were questions about what kind of shape the golf course would be in for the 3M Championship.

So I had very low expectations when I got there.

My quick verdict: The greens were fine.

The greens weren’t what they normally are as they weren’t as fast, smooth or firm as usual. They were noticeably longer than they usually are. In addition, good shots to the green left big ball marks that were borderline muddy, an indication to me that the greens are getting a ton of water considering how good the drainage is there.

 But there were no bare spots. There were no spots where you can tell newly seeded grass is coming in a hit or miss fashion. Honestly, if you didn’t know there was a problem this spring, you might not have known the difference.

With the Champions Tour’s 3M Championship just more than a month away, things are going to be just fine out in Blaine. 

I’ll write more about the golf course later — I have some catching up to do first – but wanted to get this out there. I was pleasantly surprised considering what I had heard.

John Harris out as Gophers Director of Golf. Less than one year into the job.

Not a whole lot else to say. I wasn’t a fan of the move before because it seemed unlikely just how much work is required of college coaches in the area of recruiting, etc. And considering Harris claimed he was going to also try to still play a little on the Champions Tour, it seemed like an awful fit.

And that was before Katie Brenny’s lawsuit.

I’ve got nothing else really to add.

Course: Oneida Golf and Country Club

Location: Green Bay, Wisc.

Course stats: Back tees – 6,662 yards, par 72.

Website: www.oneidagcc.com

Date played: May 23, 2011

Overview: I considered calling this post: Green Bay Hackers. After all, when I made the drive over from MSP to Green Bay last week, I had to turn on Packerland Drive to get to the golf course.

I truly didn’t know a ton about Oneida prior to my trip. I knew it was the old money, paper mill baron club in Green Bay. I knew it featured a classic golf course and that a certain quarterback named Favre had been a member there back when he played for the Packers.

What I learned was that the course was built in 1928 and designed by a dude named Stanley Pelchar. According to this page, Pelchar designed a few courses in the Midwest including Nemadji in Superior, Wis., and the Country Club of Beloit (Wis.). Even a search on Golf Club Atlas doesn’t really give a lot of information.

While the club dates back to the early 20th century, it is very clear that there was some work done in recent years on the back nine. It appears a new par 3 was built and another hole extended. While No. 13 fits in pretty well with the rest of the course, it’s clear from the bunkering on No. 14, that something changed.

Playing on a quiet Monday afternoon, my buddy Rob and I played 27 holes here in about four hours. We played the back nine twice and had a very nice day.

Thoughts: The golf course is pretty good and very solid. Golf Digest ranks it as the No. 5 course in Wisconsin.  I certainly haven’t played enough in Wisconsin to know for sure, but that seems a bit lofty of a perch. The golf course has a number of really good holes, but I don’t think it is better than Lawsonia Links and there are plenty of people who tell me that it isn’t better than Blue Mound (which I haven’t played and got rained out from playing).

The course starts a little bit slowly as holes 2, 4 and 5 are pretty average. But the rest of the way includes a number of really good and interesting holes. But overall, the golf course is good with some interesting green complexes and some spots where you certainly don’t want to be above the pin.

Here are some pics:

Looking back at the first hole (440, par 4) from behind the greeen

Approach to the 2nd green (548, par 5)

No. 3 (189, par 3)

Here is the approach to No. 6 (393, par 4). I don’t love the field goal trees that you have to hit it through, but this is an interesting hole. You have to hit it straight off of the tee and then really figure out and trust your yardage to the green. Hitting it beyond the pin leaves a tricky and slick putt.

Here is the approach to No. 7 (346, par 4). This is one of two shortish par 4s that dogleg left and have blind tee shots — along with No. 15. The golf course was soft the day we played because of a bunch of rain the night before and I just hit a 3-wood over the inside corner of the dogleg and didn’t have much left. My guy Rob says this hole is very frustrating when dry as it seems as if it is impossible to keep the ball in the fairway. Looking at this green complex, it’s pretty clear that you need to have at least a decent lie to make sure you can keep it on the green.

Here’s No. 9 (524, par 5) from the tee. The water runs along the length of the hole. Obviously a tee shot closer to the water makes a little easier second shot as you can hit it away from the creek.

One strength of Oneida is its collection of par 3s. There are five of them and they vary in distance (189, 164, 147, 167 and 215). Here is No. 11.

I don’t have pictures of either of the first two back nine par 5s, but neither really fit in with the rest of the course. No. 12 (486) is the tightest hole on the course. While a parkland course, there is a decent amount of room off of the tee in most spots. No. 12 is the exception. It’s very narrow and trees serve as the biggest defense for the hole. I didn’t love it.

No. 14 is a hole that has seen some serious work. The bunkering is much more modern. That, however, isn’t the biggest issue. What I didn’t like during either play was the very awkward second shot. There simply isn’t much room to hit a layup shot. Maybe I was totally confused, but it didn’t seem to fit.

Here is the tee shot on 15 that I discussed earlier. The best play seemed to be over the hump just to the left of the fairway. Even a little further left with a decent driver was just fine.

No. 16 is a cool cape-style hole (379, par 4) that bends to the left. Here’s a look at what you have left after an OK tee shot.

Would I play here again:  While the golf course isn’t perfect, I would absolutely play here again. It is a place where you could be very happy being a member and playing on a regular basis. If Oneida was in the Twin Cities, it certainly wouldn’t be among the elite clubs, but it would certainly be somewhere in the middle of the back. It is pretty darn good. We had a wonderful day. If you’re in Green Bay and know a member, it is certainly worth trying to get on.

There’s obviously been a multitude of words written about Rory McIlroy’s U.S. Open victory. So I’m probably not going to break any new ground here.

But the biggest reason why I’m pleased about Rory’s victory isn’t because of his wonderful play, for the four rounds in the 60s or for the near hole-in-one on No. 10 in the final round.

I’m happy because of how Rory has handled himself in the past and how he handled himself over the weekend. He smiles, he laughs, he has dialogue with the fans. And he generally doesn’t act like a jerk.

If you rewind to early April, you can go back to the final round of the Masters. It was there, of course, that McIlroy led after each of the first three rounds. McIlroy had a somewhat shaky front nine, but he still walked off the ninth green with the lead.

And that’s when he hooked it off of the planet on No. 10. He hit it left-to-left. Ridiculously far left. And then the wheels came off. He didn’t break 80 that day and looked like he just might fit in well with me and my buddies on a weekend morning. He was 21 years old at the time, he played a brutal nine holes on perhaps the biggest stage in golf and he carried himself with a tremendous amount of maturity.

As a former sports reporter, I probably look more critically to how athletes/public figures/golfers treat journalists than most people. Especially when the TV cameras aren’t on. The reality of the deal is that dealing with the media is part of the gig for pro athletes. It’s a very direct link to the fans who, in many ways, provide the purse money that these guys play for and buy the gear that allows for endorsement contracts.

But that day in Augusta, Rory McIlroy could not have handled things better. He was humbled. He answered every question asked of him. He acted like a gentleman.

Going back even further, I worked with the media staff at the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine. I worked in the area outside of scoring and helped coordinate post-round interviews between golfers and members of the media. For the most part, I worked with the foreign media like SkySports, the BBC, etc.

That week, there were many guys who were great to deal with. You didn’t have to beg them to do interviews. They said absolutely. Some of them immediately went and talked to reporters without have to be asked. Perhaps the three easiest guys to deal with that week were Padraig Harrington, Rory and Ian Poulter. All of them were great. It was like the realized that talking to the press was part of their responsibility. In addition, the Asian golfers were great to deal with as well. They simply signed their cards, walked out of the trailer and walked up to the media.

There were other guys who weren’t nearly so great. Vijay was kind of difficult. Tiger was a nightmare. I’m admittedly not a huge Tiger guy. The guy is an amazing talent. He can do all kinds of amazing things with the golf ball, but he makes it so difficult.

Too often, he acts like a moody jerk. He is short, he’s arrogant, he says nothing. There are too many times when he acts like a jerk because he has the ability to. And that doesn’t even get to the way he acts on the golf course. He is little more than a robot who doesn’t acknowledge the throngs of people who cheer for him. And, let’s be honest, the way Steve Williams doesn’t exactly help Tiger’s image.

On the Saturday of the ’09 PGA, he could not have been a bigger jerk in a live interview with Sky Sports — the network that was broadcasting the tournament in Europe. I was never really a fan of how Tiger acted, but that pushed me over the edge. When he crashed his car only a few months later and the wheels fell off of his life, I didn’t exactly feel bad for him.

Now I’m not going to be one of those people who is comparing Rory with Tiger and saying that McIlroy is going to be the guy who breaks Jack’s record of 18 professional major titles.

I’m just going to say that I’m pleased that something good happened to someone who has handled himself with so much class. I don’t know if Rory is a great person or a role model or whatever. All I know is that he has done things the right way, realizes that he has gotten crazy wealthy from playing a game, realizes how lucky he is and it looks like he’s having fun with the deal.

And I like that something good has happened to a guy who has acted so professionally.

Ten days ago, I posted about how I had yet to find a Groupon-type deal that was worth buying. Well that changed this morning.

This morning, I received this deal in my email from idealgolfer.com. The deal? Two rounds of golf with cart, range balls and a “meal” at Hastings Country Club for $79. Now the fine print is that the round has to be played on a Monday or a Tuesday. But if you can swing that at some point this summer, it’s probably worth a buy.

I played at Hastings just this past Sunday (more on that in a future post) and thought it was very good. While Hastings has struggled of late with members and has moved from being fully private to being semi-private, the golf course was in good shape. The greens were among the fastest I have putted on this season. In addition, the golf course has a number of good/interesting holes — especially on the back nine.

So grab a buddy, each of you pay $40 and you should have a pretty good day. This is a deal I endorse.

Other items:

- I might be having the absolute worst week in fantasy golf history. And it’s only the U.S. Open. In my league where you pick one golfer a week, you pick two for majors. I took K.J. Choi and Martin Laird. Both are likely going to MC Hammer it. And in my two Yahoo leagues, I don’t have Rory McIlroy in my eight golfers. Whoops.

- I would like to know the rationale behind how the Minnesota State High School League runs their golf tournaments. I don’t understand why Rogers and Wayzata didn’t playoff for the Class 3A team title rather than sharing it. I don’t understand why the course setup is the way it is (well I do, but I don’t agree with it). If I ran the thing – and this is based a little bit on covering state tournaments in some different states — ties for either team or individual championships would be played off. Also, I would give up this idea of having boys and girls of the same class at one course — at least for the bigger two classes. I would have the 2A and 3A boys at one course and the 2A and 3A girls at a different course. Why? The MSHSL said they have to limit the number of tough pins, etc., for the boys because they don’t want a girl in the team competition shooting 120. Then treat golf like other sports. They don’t play Class 2A boys and girls hockey at the same building on the same weekend. They play boys together and girls together. Also, I would allow every group of players to play early one day and late the other day. 

- What are your thoughts on shoe companies putting out limited edition shoes around major championships? Adidas, Nike, True, etc. have been doing it. I know limited edition basketball shoes, etc., are kind of a big deal with the sneakerheads, but there seems to be an increased interest in it in golf of late. I’ve liked some of the shoes. Here are a few examples of U.S. Open shoes. I like the Nike model and really considered pulling the trigger on these, but opted against it.

- That’s it for now. Play well this weekend. Make lots of birdies. Any special plans?

Hazeltine National Golf Club has been, in my opinion, the Minnesota golf course that I have associated the most with being both fair and challenging. There are few surprises when you tee it up in Chaska.

If you want to score well, you need to hit it straight and with an above average amount of length (depending on the tees one plays). Hitting it crooked off of the tee meant dealing with rough that is thick and often long. That, in turn, makes it difficult to get the ball on greens that are very well protected. Throw in several uphill approaches and there is a severe degree of difficulty in hitting the ball high enough to get it to stop on the greens.

While no course in Minnesota has hosted the number or variety of national championships as Hazeltine, there would always be rumbles and whispers from top players. They would quietly complain that the poa annua in the greens led to putting surfaces that were not as smooth or as true as they would like. There was certainly some truth to the comments as the greens would be a little bumpy at times. They weren’t horrible, but they weren’t quite as good as you might expect for a top 100 club that cares so much about the golf course.

Because of that, Hazeltine shut down last year right after July 4 and significant work was done. The club regrassed all of their greens and fairways along with the first eight feet of rough. In addition, the club tore down its old clubhouse and built a new, modern facility. Call it the beauty of hosting major championships. The project cost a total of $15 million and members were not hit with a special assessment. They had to continue to pay dues despite not being able to use the golf course, but they didn’t have to swallow a huge bill.

The course opened to member play last Tuesday (June 7). I was fortunate to see the changes on Monday morning. Here’s a look:

My overall thoughts: The biggest difference is in the greens. The reconstruction means that they are going to be firmer on a regular basis, they’re going to be smoother and they very well may be faster. What does that mean? I think it might mean that a challenging course might be even more challenging. I think it is going to be harder to fly the ball close to the hole and have it immediately stop. Getting it to stop out of the rough? That’s going to even tougher.

The good news is that if you can handle the speed of the greens, you might make more putts. Why? These things are super smooth. If you get it on line, it is going to stay there. That’s a good thing.  When I played Monday morning, the greens were quite speedy, among the fastest I have putted on this year.

In terms of greens, they didn’t seem all that different from before. A few greens that were expanded — No. 10, for example, has room for another pin in the back left. Thanks to technology, the previous contours were replicated.

Here are a few pictures:

No. 10 from the left rough

Here is the 16th green from No. 11 tee

Here’s the No. 11 green from about 150 out

Here is No. 13 from the tee

Here’s the short 14th from the left rough after a layup

Here’s 15 from the right side of the fairway

Here is 16 from the tee

Here is 16 from the fairway after I bombed a drive. Yes I hit it close and made the birdie.

No. 17 from the tee

And 18

About the clubhouse: It’s a huge upgrade over what they had previously. It is nice in a Hazeltine sort of way. I mean that in that it is classy and nice, but it isn’t over the top. It’s functionally nice. The locker room is nice and it is just steps from the putting green, golf shop and the first tee. There’s a cool three-season porch and bar area. There are a lot of cool photos and the like from past championships. In the basement, there’s a great indoor practice putting green and a Ping Performance Studio that has all kinds of high tech toys. Non-members can take lessons from Hazeltine professional Mike Barge in that area and get fitted for clubs there.

About the practice area: Hazeltine already had the best or one of the best practice facilities in the Twin Cities. That hasn’t changed. There are multiple target greens and a target fairway. The short game area is nice. A new practice green is the only thing that hasn’t opened as it was one of the last things to be seeded.

What does it all mean? I think this is a very nice upgrade to what was already a good golf course. I know there are people who think Hazeltine is boring, but there are a lot of good holes out there. It’s a very stern test of golf. And I like that it is a club about golf and about walking. There are certainly some social stuff there, but it isn’t a club that is all about that. It is much more about teeing it up, playing the ball down and playing by the rules.

Want more info: You can get membership info here. At a time when many, many private clubs are slashing initiation fees to secure new members, that isn’t the case at Hazeltine. They are doing a whole lot better than most clubs in town. It’s not surprising considering the product and the growth over the past 20 or so years in the southwest part of the metro.

Look what I ran into when I stopped at the Golfsmith in Roseville today.

Those would be a whole bunch of Trues. They’re available for purchase and — most important — available for trying on.

One of my biggest concerns, as I blogged about previously, was the fact that I had no way to try on Trues to get a real sense as to what they were like.

Well, I tried on a pair today. They were interesting. They ran pretty much true to size. They seemed comfortable, but I thought they were a little weird because the heels are very low.

For those of you who have them, do you get used to that? Thoughts?