It is, after all, still March. It is still the snowiest month of the year. And it is still a month in which the average high temperature in Minneapolis isn’t exactly shorts weather.

As great as this winter and early spring have been, the past several day have been much more like normal. High temperatures in the 50s, some breeze and a crispness in the air.

Because of that, on Sunday I had the opportunity to use one of the newer additions to my golf wardrobe — a pair of adidas fall weight pants.

I purchased the pair on closeout over the winter from Golf Locker. I don’t remember the price, but it was a good deal. The pants are essentially double weight pants. They’re thicker (which should be warmer) and they do a nice job blocking the wind (also a bonus on a chilly day). Under Armour makes a similar pant.

My review is only positive. I stayed warm, it didn’t seem like the wind went through my pants and they weren’t bulky or anything. I’ve since been looking for another pair, but the bargains seem to have vanished.

It has been well established that I’m not exactly a tough guy when it comes to cold weather, so I’m in favor of things that keep me warm.

Only Golf Matters reader David checks in with a little golf news of his own on his blog 7 Minute Miles.

The clubhouse at Valleywood in Apple Valley is under construction. 

David’s blog is worth a visit. He’s got some cool golf action shots from tournaments in Minnesota.

He also has a vast multitude of photos from courses around the state. Those are a great way to kill some time at the office.

I was going to call this the best day of the year, but clearly things don’t go downhill from here.

While I have already played seven rounds of golf on seven different courses in 2012 (including two in Minnesota), there is always something exciting about the first round of the year at your home course.

My club opened for the season on Wednesday and, not surprisingly, I snuck out of the office a little early. I was on the first tee by 4:20 and played 18 holes in just less than three hours.

Based on my round at The Wilds a few days early and a stop at the club on Tuesday, I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to expect. But even with my higher than normal expectations for the first round of the year, I was still very pleasantly surprised with how good it was.

This wasn’t a soggy first round of year with brown turf everywhere. It was like we skipped April and jumped right to mid-May. Thanks to the warm temperatures of late and Monday night’s rain, there was a lot of color on the golf course. Many years, greens that were covered over the winter stand out so much. This year, they blended in.

Everything had been mowed at least once and the greens rolled at a decent speed. Not summer speed, but still pretty good. The greens were also firm enough that it was sometimes impossible to find a ball mark. There certainly were not big mud craters all over the place.

The turf conditions were really good everywhere. Sure there are a couple of spots on a couple of greens that are going to need a little bit of TLC, but nothing of note. We have one fairway that isn’t great. But that is it.

It was a nice night. I went out as a single and cruised around. I hit it pretty solid. No birdies, but did managed to make consecutive double bogeys on the back nine. It’s funny how back-to-back doubles don’t irritate me as much in March as they do later in the year.

That’s it. Golf season is here. And I’m fired up.

I do love Groupon. And here’s a pretty good deal.

For $49, you get 18 holes for two and a shared cart at The Refuge Golf Club in Oak Grove.

The golf course, which opened about 10 years ago with aspirations of being a higher-end public course, is pretty decent. I’ve only played it once, but remember a number of good holes. It isn’t Troy Burne or StoneRidge or Rush Creek or Legends, but it is certainly as good as anything in the next tier of public courses in town.

There are some homes, but not a huge number. There are some forced carries, but only one I remember as being really severe. And at $25 a head, it’s pretty good golf. You can see some photos here.

Two pieces of fine print to the deal: It has to be used by May 25 and it isn’t good before noon on Saturdays or Sundays.

I got a tip on this earlier today and decided to check it out.

I can post honestly and truthfully that the range at Pioneer Creek is a good spot right now. I am in the middle of hitting a large bucket of balls. I’m hitting off of grass and there is one other guy on the range.

Sure it is a bit of a drive – Pioneer Creek is basically across the street from Windsong Farm – but there are no mats and no wait. I call that perfect.

This trend, I suppose, began when Fred Couples started wearing the Ecco street golf shoe in 2010. It grew in 2011. And now, in 2012, the rage of playing golf in shoes without spikes seems to be picking up more and more steam. If you don’t believe me, I will provide three examples.

1. That is the bottom of a True Linkswear shoe. And it is also one of the content pages in the newest issue of Golf Digest, the biggest golf magazine on the market.  In the April issue, you will see several pages of shoe reviews. Six of the shoes reviewed are spikeless models.

2. If you watched any of Justin Rose’s victory at Doral, you may or may not have noticed that the he wasn’t wearing traditional spikes. While us normal golfers play at places where the old-school metal spike is extinct, you still hear some clicking of metal spikes on tour. While most guys wear some version of soft spikes, the players have an option.

As was the case when he won the BMW Championship last fall, Rose was wearing the adidas Adicross shoes at Doral. The shoes look like a tennis shoe and have nubs all across the bottom of the shoe. And this isn’t a high end, expensive shoe as you can go to lots of golf stores and walk out with them for $90.

3. I was recently in Houston and stopped at a massive Golfsmith in The Woodlands on my way to the airport. The shoe department was very large and it had more new product than I had seen in Minnesota. I was kind of surprised just how many spikeless models are out there in 2012. A year ago, spikeless shoe options were primarily limited to Ecco and True Linkswear, you can now buy spikeless kicks from adidas, Nike, Ashworth, Callaway and Footjoy.

In other words, the big boys have moved into this space. To me that means that they think there are spikeless shoes to be sold. It also means more spikeless shoes will be sold in large part because the big brands legitimize the trend.

As I’ve made pretty clear on this blog, I’m a big fan of spikeless shoes. I currently have two pairs of True Tours from 2011 and a pair of the new 2012 True PHX.

I haven’t worn a pair of golf shoes with spikes since a trip to Chicago last July 28-29.  The area had received a ton of rain and the forecast was for more rain. While my Trues have been good in wet conditions — I don’t find myself slipping — I wanted a little more traction. Since then I’ve teed it up on more than 20 different courses with different grasses, different turf conditions and different weather. I haven’t had any problems.

Why do I like them? And why have I become such an advocate for spikeless golf? The biggest reason is comfort and weight. Spikeless shoes are much lighter than shoes with spikes. Spikeless shoes don’t need  a plate for spikes to be screwed into and they don’t need as heavy of a sole.

I was initially uncomfortable with how the Trues looked. The toe box is big. They look a little clown-like. But once I wore them and my feet felt great after, I didn’t care what they looked like. Don’t get me wrong, I love the classic look of some sweet Footjoy Icons, but as a hardcore walker, I want comfort and function.

As 2011 moved along, I would start to see more and more Trues out there. There are three other guys at my club that I know of that got them (one guy has two pair) and I expect to see more. When I was in the locker room at other clubs, I’d keep my eyes open for Trues and would sometimes see a pair here or there. On my trip to Texas, I saw Trues for sale in the pro shop of a very well-known club.

I expect that I’m going to see more and more Trues and other spikeless shoes this season.

All of that leads me to a couple of questions. Do you think spikeless shoes will continue a rise in popularity? Will they really gain enough momentum to stay in the shoe equation for years to come? And do you think you’ll try a pair?

The subject line even read: Best E-Mail of the Year!

What was it? Obviously it was word that my club is opening next Wednesday.

The March 21 opening will be the earliest in the 93 years the club has been around. It will be six days earlier than two years ago, when the club opened on March 27.

Yes, I’m excited.

The covers are off the greens and the supposedly look great.

You know what, I’m hungry. It’s lunchtime. Yes, I am going to drive by my club on the way to get some lunch and see how the greens survived the winter.

UPDATE: Yes, I did drive past my course while out grabbing lunch and things look great. I only looked at the No. 13 green (right by the parking lot) and the putting green. Excuse the not so great iPhone photo, but for March 13, this looks pretty awesome.

So this was sitting in my mailbox this morning when I arrived home. I had seen some chatter about the latest version of the Golfweek modern, classic and state rankings, but hadn’t really investigated all that much. I figured that I’d get a hard copy version and I could check it out then.

I actually just looked and the Top 100 lists are not yet online. I will post links when they become available.

[Disclosure goes here: I am one of the several hundred members nationally of Golfweek's raters panel. I have played and rated many, but not all, of the Minnesota courses/clubs mentioned.]

In terms of the Top 100 lists, not a whole lot has changed for Minnesota clubs. The Top 100 Classic list (for courses built prior to 1960) still features four clubs from the state. The Modern list (for courses built after 1960) still features Spring Hill and Hazeltine National Golf Club.

Here’s a quick look:

Classic courses

- Interlachen remains the highest rated classic course in the state at No. 52. The Edina club didn’t move from a year ago.

- White Bear Yacht Club slipped five spots from a year ago, moving from No. 61 to 66.

- The Minikahda Club also dropped five spots, moving from No. 72 to No. 77.

- Northland Country Club in Duluth was the only Minnesota classic course to move up. The great Ross course overlooking Lake Superior moved up seven places, from No. 93 to No. 86. I talked about my love of Northland in my end of ’11 blog post here.

The top 50 of the Classic list doesn’t really feature much movement, it’s courses moving a spot or two in one direction or another. Several clubs made big jumps in the second half of the top 100 including Sleepy Hollow (up 28 spots to No. 57), St. Louis Country Club (up 13 spots to No. 60), Charlotte Country Club (up 23 spots to No. 63), Old Town Club (up 20 spots to No. 70) and Skokie Country Club (up 19 spots to No. 79).

If you want to play a course on the Top 100 Classic list, it’s pretty easy. You get in your car and drive to Green Lake, Wis. There you can tee it up on No. 55 Lawsonia (Links). The most expensive walking rate for 2012 is $90 on the weekends. You can play during the week during the high season for $59 and at twilight for $30. That’s awfully good for a course that ranks ahead of WBYC, Minikahda and Northland.

Modern

- Spring Hill dropped 11 spots from No. 59 to No. 70.

- Hazeltine National Golf Club moved down three spots from No. 83 to No. 86, not really a major move.

The Best in State public list

Even before I became a rater, I found the state-by-state public course list to be a great reference. It’s a great starting point when you are traveling and looking for a place to play. Here’s the updated Minnesota list:

1. Wilderness at Fortune Bay

2. Giants Ridge (Quarry)

3. Deacon’s Lodge

4. The Jewel

5. StoneRidge

6. Dacotah Ridge

7. Meadows at Mystic Lake

8. The Classic at Madden’s

9. Rush Creek

10. Preserve at Grand View

My take: I have played nine of the 10 (the Meadows at Mystic Lake being the only one I haven’t played) I think the courses are the right ones and I think that the No. 1 and 2 courses are correct. But I don’t love No. 3.

I like The Wilderness more than the Quarry because it is more playable for more people and it is more fun. I don’t dislike the Quarry, but there are a couple of holes where I don’t feel like golfers have a lot of options. If this was my list alone, I would put The Classic at No. 3. I think it is the best course in the Brainerd area. To me, Deacon’s has too many forced carries and, as a result, isn’t as much fun.

As a FYI, Troy Burne is No. 8 on a tough Wisconsin list that includes one major championship venue (Whistling Straits) and a future US Open site (Erin Hills). An argument could be made that Troy Burne is better than No. 7 University Ridge, but I haven’t seen it. I can’t see Troy Burne moving up any higher.

What are your thoughts? Are there any other public courses that are worthy of being in the Minnesota top 10? Chaska Town Course perhaps? Can Keller move into the top 10 after the redesign?

What have I played on this list? There are a lot of people who actively seek out top 100 courses. I’m interested, but it isn’t always my priority. Here are my results:

Classic: No. 11 Pinehurst (2); No. 52 Interlachen; No. 55 Lawsonia Links; No. 71 NCR South; No. 74 Medinah (3); No. 77 Minikahda; No. 79 Skokie; No. 86 Northland; No. 94 Rolling Green.

Modern: No. 12 Muirfield Village; No. 58 Paa-Ko Ridge; No. 63 Kapaula Plantation; No. 70 Spring Hill; No. 86 Hazeltine; No. 90 Valhalla; No. 94 Briggs Ranch; No. 97 We-Ko-Pa.

I’m not going to go into full detail on the state list, but I played at least one ranked public course in 20 of the states.

Growing up in west central Minnesota, the goal was always to have played golf before someone got the Green Jacket at the Masters. Usually it happened, but it wasn’t always a given.

I remember very clearly playing nine holes on a cold April Sunday in 1986 on the day that Jack Nicklaus won the Masters. I’m pretty sure there were years when we didn’t put a tee in the ground until after taxes were due.

But since moving back to Minnesota in 2000, things have changed. While there have been springs that were slow to arrive — that was certainly the case a year ago — but there have been years in which March golf has been a reality.

In 2007, I remember playing at Mississippi Dunes in late March, the day after Tubby Smith was announced as the Gophers head basketball coach. A year later, a made a March trip to St. Cloud to tee it up with my friend Tom at a bad course called Sartell Golf Club (which has now gone from 18 holes to 9 holes because so few people played there).

Two years ago, in 2010, was the greatest early spring here for golfers. Pretty much every course in the Twin Cities opened in March, including private clubs. At least when it comes to golf, climate change is a reality.

All of that said, I still can’t believe I just played 18 holes of real/non-simulator golf. In Minnesota. On March 11.

But that’s exactly what happened on Sunday. Even with the warm winter and the melting snow, I thought we were still several days away from courses in the Twin Cities opening for the season. But late last week, Mississippi Dunes announced that it was going to open this weekend for a shotgun start each weekend afternoon. They ended up adding a morning shotgun for Sunday.

Now, I’m not really a huge fan of The Dunes. While there are some good holes on the course, there is too much stupidity out there for my taste. Too many blind shots, too many tee shots where you don’t really know where to hit it and too many wild greens that lead to bad breaks (though the free yardage books that are new from my last round there do help). I also don’t like that a place that is officially called “Mississippi Dunes Golf Links” is a golf course that features a overwhelming number of elevated greens in which the ball needs to be flown onto the green. — a contradiction considering how “links” golf is supposed to encourage the ground game and options of how to get the ball close.

But, the course has a great advantage of being built on some wonderful sandy soil along the Mississippi River. Drainage is seemingly automatic. Now if only a real architect had been hired to build the course instead of the owner’s DIY bulldozer project.

I teed it up with friends Jason, Rick and Ryan. We had a nice time despite the pace of play. Everyone in our group made at least one birdie (something that can’t always be said of a summer round) and everyone made some awful swings.

In an effort to squeeze as much possible revenue out of a record-high-temp Sunday, let’s just say the management put a few too many golfers on the course. We were the THIRD group off of the 18th tee. We waited a lot. The result was a 5 1/2 hour round. Yes, 5 1/2 hours.

So that wasn’t awesome. We waited on a lot of shots. When we got to the third tee (our fourth hole of the day), there were already two other groups on the tee. Getting into a rhythm was very difficult.

But the golf course really was pretty good. There were a couple of holes that were really wet, but for the most part, things were pretty dry. It wasn’t a muddy mess or a total slop fest. It was also warm enough that I played in pants, a long sleeve golf shirt and a sweater vest and never got cold. Sure beats long underwear, two jackets and a stocking cap.

The photo at the top of this post was on No. 17, a par 3 that was our final hole of the day. One of the guys working said that there was a foot of snow on that green earlier in the week.

Here are some other photos from the day.

Here is Jason putting on No. 2 with the Mississippi River in the background. Yes, it is frozen.

There was a little snow here and there, but not really all that much.

Here is probably the worst looking bunker of the day. I did hit it in a couple of bunkers, it was like hitting out of mud.

Here is No. 17 — the snowiest hole of the day — from the tee.

All in all, this was a good day. Sure there was a little snow on the golf course. Yes, the pace of play was awful. But it was March 11 and we were playing golf in Minnesota. It’s hard to complain too much. I can honestly say that I’ve never been less annoyed by a 5 1/2 hour round in all of my life.

Looking at the 10 day forecast, it appears as if things are only going to get better. The list of courses opening seems to be growing by the day. I would anticipate there will be a lot of St. Patrick’s Day golf.

This is an admission that that I’m not embarrassed to make: I’m a golf ball snob.

There are certainly things that I am not extremely particular about: I drive a Honda Accord, I don’t wear fancy suits, I have a modest house and I’m not one of those guys who has to constantly go to fancy restaurants. None of that is bad and I’m not judging.

But golf balls? I am very particular.

Several companies make good golf balls — the gap between Titleist and everybody else isn’t nearly as large as it was even five years ago — so I’ve tried several different top-line balls. Two years ago, I played the Nike One on a regular basis as I thought they were a very good value. Last year, as I blogged about, I played the TaylorMade Penta for quite a while.

But as last season went along, I moved almost exclusively to the Titleist ProV1x. The version of that ball that was released prior to the 2011 season simply fit my game better than anything else. It has low spin off of the driver and launched reasonably low, two things that are really good for my high-launching spinners off of the driver.

In addition, the things just fly and fly and fly when it is hot.

The rub is that you’d think the things are made out of gold. They are expensive, too expensive really. But they are like crack to me.

So here’s the good news: It appears as if Titleist is going again run the same good personalization deal that they ran a year ago.

While I haven’t seen it announced anywhere else, I got an email from a public course with this wonderful news:

Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x Special

Purchase 3 dozen Pro V or Pro V1x golf balls and receive 1 FREE dozen and FREE personalization on all four dozen.

Offer runs from March 15th – April 10th

So while this isn’t exactly the bargain bin, it does make things a little less awful. Yes, I’ll be ordering myself four boxes of these spheres of goodness.

The only question left is: How long will they last?