Easter

Happy Easter everyone.  This is such a special time.  I won't get into the religious end of it, but just to see so many families get together; it's a gift that many of us take for granted.  Although I'm working today, I am still in good spirits
Christ has risen! Hallelujah! 

Warm and sunny

It's a heat wave!  45 degrees outside today.  It felt amazing ... which is so damn sad.  My fellow assistant golf pro and I have been trying to plan our all-new program called "Family First Swing".  It's a group lesson program for families or friends that haven't played any golf or are just getting into the game to come out and get some help.  The other assistant is an incredible instructor, but has mainly worked with highly skilled players.  He hasn't done much with beginner/youth instruction, which I believe is my strong suit.  I think this will be quite the adventure over the next 2 months.
The sun needs to stay out and we need a bit of water to dry up so this season can finally get under way!  If you're in the area and you're interested in the game of golf, call the Golf Shop today at 605-226-0989 and we can get you into our Family First Swing program!

Spare time?

I'm sure you're not still seeing snow on the ground like we are here in Aberdeen, SD.  But if you are, I would just like to extend a friendly gesture and give you a few words of advice to keep you from going insane while you wait for the snow to melt.
For me, as a golf professional, I'm always looking to improve my game.  Along with improving my game, I'm also looking for ways to improve YOUR game.  When I have downtime at the office or even at home, I search the Web feverishly to find new ways of game improvement.
There is one way to improve your scoring without having to take any lessons from a Club professional, and that is practice your short game.  Everyone's game is unique, but most everyone has the same issue: a poor short game.  If you tend to miss 4-5 foot putts on a regular basis, then you're only hurting yourself by not going and practicing those putts regularly.  Once you're comfortable with putts, move to close range wedge shots.
Not everyone hits 18 greens in regulation.  In fact, NO ONE does.  That's why your wedge game is so important.  Practicing and having confidence in your wedges makes a huge difference in your game and immediately can lead to lower scores.
So, put that fancy new driver away, pick up your bag and walk to the short game/putting area and get to work.  And if you're like me, who has a lot of spare time due to weather, practice putting on your carpet at home (or at work if you can get away with it).  Get used to your putting stroke and memorize each movement.  Know exactly where your putter head will strike the ball.  Go online and research lessons.  Go buy a training aid.  Whatever it takes ... improve your short game first!  You'll thank me later.

Bring it on (No, not you Kirsten Dunst)

I'm taking this diet on with full force. I went to the grocery store this morning and picked up a ton of fresh fruit, lowfat yogurt, Naked juice smoothies, chicken, vegetables, etc.  I was actually getting excited while picking all of this stuff up.  It makes me feel better about myself.  I will say right off the bat that the Naked juice smoothie called 'Protein Zone' was pretty rough.  It has whey and 30 grams of protein in it.  Granted it is a 32 ounce bottle, I drank about a quarter of it and shoved it back in the fridge.  Might make my gal finish that one off for me.
Well, I'm feeling good about myself and I'm ready to shed some winter pounds!  Bring it on!

Time to shed some pounds

It is official.. My younger brother and I have settled that we are challenging each other to a battle of who can lose the most weight before his wedding on July 15th, 2011. My brother is roughly 5'11", about 223 pounds. I stand at a hair under 6'1", 238 pounds.
Both of us are 'well-built' guys. It runs in the family. Unusually broad shoulders, wide hips, thick arms and legs and big chests. It's just the nature of it. Coming out of high school, I was roughly 190 pounds. By the time I was done with college, I was 225. I've become a bit complacent with myself and I'm looking to change. My brothers wedding is a great end date because it's not too far down the road, but wanting to look good in a tux will keep me honest.
We do have the challenge set up, but we have yet to set up what the other will win for losing the most weight. Any ideas?
We were thinking of buying the winner a piece of apparel from the other's golf course (Moccasin Creek CC, Headwaters CC, respectively). We don't want to go overboard with any big prizes. In the end it will be all about bragging rights. But I remember when Steve was in high school and didn't weigh more than 175 pounds. He was a healthy kid. Now he's engaged and slacking a bit. I'm sure his fiancée will appreciate him devoting some time to shedding the poundage.
If I'm feeling up to it, I'll start posting weekly pictures of my progress. No guarantees...

Secret in the Dirt

I cannot stop raving about how great of a social network Secret In The Dirt is (www.secretinthedirt.com).  It gives amateurs and golf pros alike the opportunity to view and read about some really great instruction.  I strongly suggest signing up and check out what Secret In The Dirt has to offer!
Side note: SNOW SUCKS!

The white flakes are coming

And no, I'm not talking about dandruff. I'm talking about snow. We are supposed to be getting 6"-8" of snow on Friday night/Saturday morning. Eesh. This is the longest winter EVER. There will be no spring. Just winter, summer, fall. Lame.

Noon Group

I'm under the assumption that most courses that offer golf memberships in the US have a 'Noon Group'. A 'Noon Group' is a group of men between the ages of 29-60 that play somewhat competitive golf Monday through Saturday. Most are retired or are businesses owners that are wealthy and don't have much else to do other than play a round of golf with their pals. The average round usually takes 4+ hours to play. Afterwards most of the Group comes into to the Clubhouse and sits down to have a drink and complain about their wives (or ex-wives).
MC3 has a Noon Group. A very loyal Noon Group, in fact. This Noon Group usually takes up at least 3 tee times on any given weekday, especially on our Wednesday Men's Day. The groups are no smaller than 4-somes and most Nooners refuse to play in 3-somes. I'm not going to get into any sort of betting schemes they have. To tell the truth, I can't follow half the the games I hear them playing.
I've played in the Noon Group on occasion (five or six times a year). As a 0 handicap, it's really tough for me to keep up with the 14 handicapper who plays at about a 9 but insists he's a 16. That's the thing about Noon Groups, they are the only group of men who prefer their handicaps to go up on a weekly basis instead of going down. I've seen a Nooner intentionally lip out a 2-foot putt so he can keep his handicap up.
Every Club needs a 'Noon Group'. Consistency is a big part of a Club, and a 'Noon Group' is about as consistent as you can get. I mean, come on, the name says it all.

Well today is my day off. I won't be playing with the Nooners today, but I do intend to put in a lot of practice into my short game this afternoon.

Charl Schwartzel FTW

Congrats to Charl Schwartzel for winning the 2011 Masters in spectacular fashion. The guy was an absolute beast on the back nine, essentially stealing the win from Adam Scott and Jason Day.  Schwartzel is the 3rd South African to win a PGA Tour major in the last 4 years (Trevor Immelmann, Masters, 2008 and Louis Oosthuizen, British Open, 2010).
I can't remember being as excited as I was while watching The Masters, or any golf tournament for that matter. There were so many pros that were in contention that CBS's broadcast team couldn't keep up. It was insanity. Not to mention the Twitter overload of Masters talk. #MastersSunday was the leading trending topic all afternoon while we watched Tiger Woods shoot to the top of the leaderboard after a 31 on the front nine. Rory McIlroy imploded before our very eyes shooting a record-tying high score for a 54-hole leader, 80. We all felt sorry for the kid, but he was quickly shoved in the backseat once Schwartzel, Adam Scott, Jason Day, Luke Donald, Geoff Ogilvy, Tiger Woods and Bo Van Pelt started climbing the leaderboard.
As a swing instructor, I insist that amateur golfers watch Schwartzel's swing and study his mechanics. Schwartzel has a very good swing that ams can copy with ease. It isn't over the top, nor does it have severe plane changes. He has a solid swing, steady spine angle and a very good position and impact as well as follow-through. It shouldn't be hard to watch his swing and understand what his mechanics are.
I'm very happy for Schwartzel. It was a well deserved victory. As for Tiger ... his swing looked magnificent today but his putting is pathetic! Tiger has 6 three-putts for the tournament. We would have won The Masters without contest by eliminating just a few of them. Too bad... Congrats Charl!

The Hangover II

Great. Awesome. Shit!
I just read that The Hangover 2 comes out May 26. As much as I loved the first one, I was bombarded with the comparisons to my likeness to the character of Stu (played by Ed Helms). For roughly 2 months after the first Hangover was released into theaters, my name was no longer Mike, it was Stu. I began answering to Stu. I answered as Stu. For a while, I just assumed I would forever be .......... Stu.

Stu is great. He plays piano. He is goofy looking (like me). His girlfriend is a bit on the psycho-obsessive side (like mine .. joking). Stu is alright.
I'm sure I'll catch the sequel in theaters. I might as well get used to the name change now. If the second movie is as good as the first, then I'll likely be called Stu for a while.

College hockey and idiots

My younger brother, Steve, attended the University of North Dakota from 2004-2010.  He is now a highly sought after teacher/coach/counselor.  He got a tremendous education at UND. He made some great friends, many of which I've met and became friends with as well.  Though his education was pricey and he did have a 'slack' year or two, Steve earned his way into the education department and got his degree. He can hold his head high for the hard work he put in and where he got his degree from.
Now, Steve did not play any college sports. Though I pushed him to play golf for UND (he's one of the best golfers I have ever played with), he didn't enjoy that kind of serious competition. Steve played high school golf and basketball and was amazing at both. He lacked the height and speed to play college basketball somewhere, but he could have easily made it onto the UND golf team. Since he wasn't playing college sports, he began to follow the UND hockey. How couldn't he? When you're a student at UND, you follow the hockey team. There is no excuse not to.
I went to two hockey games while he was attending college and I had a great time at both. The fans were a bit psychotic, but not in a threatening way. They clearly had a lot of time and money invested into Sioux hockey. Alumns, students, general fans, youth, parents .. they all had their white and green on and repeated "Hey Sioux Sioux" repeatedly..actually it was quite obnoxious.
At the second game I realized that this isn't just a fan base, it's a lifestyle. You sleep, eat, work, drink, talk, walk SIOUX HOCKEY. It's madness. But I understood it.
The Sioux just lost tonight in the 2011 Frozen Four to the University of Michigan. Michigan was the underdog in nearly every prediction column I read. Worse off, the Sioux got shut out.
I want people to understand that though Sioux fans are very adamant about their team succeeding, they're not 'Nazis'. There is a hatred and disgust for Sioux hockey that I just don't understand, and it bothers me that my brother has to be consider a 'Nazi' because he earned a degree at UND.
Everyone I know who doesn't like UND (which is a very large number) automatically associates the school with Hitler's army. And yes, I have heard the endless rumors of Englestad being a Nazi himself. But that doesn't make it a school of Nazis. It doesn't make it a fan base of the Fuhrer.They're not teaching all of their students to be anti-Semites. It's a fan base of a hockey team that has a well documented history of success.
My brother didn't bat an eye when the Sioux lost, but I know many Sioux fans shed tears of disappointment and disbelief tonight. And yet, people are on Facebook and Twitter slamming the Sioux in such a way that it makes me so uncomfortable that I had to log off of both for the evening. I don't understand what these people are thinking.
Professional and college sports are not the same thing. College sports involves student athletes doing what few can do: Be talented on field and be talented in the classroom. All that hard work has paid off for what? Being called a fag? Being called a bitch? Being called a neo-Nazi? People who didn't even attend a rival school .. people who didn't attend ANY school are going on social networks typing about how much they hate the Sioux. Well where is YOUR team? Where are your trophies? Where the hell is your dignity?
You want to bad mouth and demean the Sioux?? Go right ahead.. Head to downtown Grand Forks saying the things you've typed out loud. See what happens.
Morons need to shut up. It's one thing to dislike a team, but calling my brother and his classmates Nazis is one step too far.

What's in my bag...

I don't know if about, say, 10 years ago, your Average Joe could get their hands on the type of equipment that the pros played with at the time. It just seems like back then you could get clubs that were close to what professional golfers had, but never the same. Just replicas and/or knockoffs.
Nowadays, any Joe Schmoe can get their hands on every piece of equipment, apparel, shoe, glove and bag that the pros have. I wonder if this has created a greater following in the game of golf.. when someone can say "Hey, this is the exact same driver that Tiger uses", that makes them feel pretty damn good. Now obviously a lot of pros have specialized prototypes that club companies make exclusively (ie. Els, Tiger, Phil, Watney, Fowler), but there are still a large number of professionals that have equipment that you have available to buy off the rack right now.
You should never buy a piece of equipment just because you saw a pro on TV use it, though. You will never be able to hit a 8.5* driver with an X-stiff shaft 300+ yards when you've got a club head speed of 88mph and you hit the ball knee high. Everyone should be properly fit for every club in their bag. If you really want to be like a pro golfer, take the time to call up your head professional and set up a fitting for driver, fairway woods, hybrids (all amateurs should have at least 1 hybrid in their bag), irons, wedges and even a putter.
As for me, I like to read reviews, try-out the equipment on the range AND on the golf course. On occasion, I'll take a chance and make a purchase without demoing it first. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. Live and learn.
So ... what's in MY bag right now?
Driver: Ping G15 9* - Project X 6.5 69-gram stiff
Fairway: Ping G15 4-Wood 17* - Ping TFC149 75-gram stock stiff
Hyrbid: Tour Edge XCG3 Exotics 3-hybrid 18* - Fujikara Motore Exotics 80-gram stiff
Irons: Ping i10 4-iron - Ping AWT stiff
          Ping S57 5-PW - Project X 6.0 (D4 swing weight) stiff
Wedges: Ping Tour-S Chrome 52*-12, 56*-12, 60*-10 - Project X 6.0 wedge stiff
Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport 2 34"
           Rife Barbados Limited Series 34"
Please, for your sake, before you buy any club, go get fitted and get the exact right match of club for you. Call your head professional today! Okay, well not today because it's 10pm, but do it tomorrow sometime. But not during the Masters because this is a Holy week. So don't do it tomorrow. How about next week? Sure, you've got time next week.

American Idol

Of the whatever-number of seasons American Idol has been on, this is the 2nd season I've ever watched. I understand it's appeal: reality tv, talented youth, attractive people, songs that almost everyone knows, Jennifer Lopez, the list goes on ...
But here's my problem: Why the hell do we have to crown people on how well they cover someone else's music?  American Idol should have their contestants write and perform music that they've created. Stop being lazy piles that use other people's work! Contestants treat the music like it's their own. No, you're covering what an incredibly more talented person did. You are not special. You are a contestant, not an artist, BIG DIFFERENCE.
Music is about creativity, art, ability and individualism. American Idol relies solely on the fact they can use other people's work to make their contestants look like rock stars. And what is really sad is America can't handle all of a 3+ minute song, so Idol cuts down the music to a manageable/measly 2 minutes or less, so viewers don't lose their attention on the song. Come on people, performers should PERFORM entire pieces of music.
I know that the viewership likely wouldn't watch the show if it was full of music they didn't recognize/sing along to, but the 'karaoke' feel is the reason I don't (normally) watch the show. Sorry American Idol, but you just don't do it for me. I'm sure you've got many seasons ahead of you, but I won't be watching.

Par 3 Challenge

Watch the Par 3 Challenge at The Masters on ESPN today 2 pm (central). It's always fun and you get to see the pro's with their families in a relaxed, casual atmosphere. Don't think there won't be any sense of competition though. It will get dicey. Thanks.

New

I'm mainly just trying this out to get a feel for it before the all-new Moccasin Creek CC website goes live. I will be promoting the heck out of it. Moccasin Creek is one of the best Clubs in the region. Actually, more than just the region .. in the state! Our membership, dining, golf course and professional staff are second to none.
I will be updating this as much as possible. I appreciate anyone and everyone that reads this; and I'll try to have something important to say.