Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2020 - 40

BACKSPIN
* BY MARK CRAIG *
Provisional Play
Local golfers hit the course this spring to find new
guidelines, but also an old and familiar feeling.
F
ull disclosure: I did grab the flagstick on hole No. 3 at
Fox Hollow Golf Club at roughly 10 a.m. on April 22.
It happened inadvertently. My mind was somewhere
else. I was enjoying the old normalcy of the moment and
briefly forgot the new expectation to follow social distancing
guidelines.
It was just good to be outside. Good to finally have a long
car ride with gas costing $1.39 per gallon. Good to see a friend
from six feet away, play golf for the first time in six months
and live a little amid the draining sadness of a global pandemic.
These
feelings were not unique to me,
of course. Five days earlier, Minnesota
Gov. Tim Walz re-opened the golf season,
ruling correctly that golf is just as essential
and presumably safe as a walk in the park.
" The biggest thing I'll remember from
this week, " says Fox Hollow golf pro Eric
Larson, " is everybody is just smiling. That
tells the story right there. "
My day started with my alarm going off
at 6 a.m. It felt just like the iconic moment
when Bill Murray wakes up, doesn't hear
Sonny and Cher's " I Got You, Babe " and
realizes Groundhog Day is finally over. At
least for one day.
It was chilly on the first tee-and a lit " Mobility,
stability, " Lynn tells her clients-or told them
before the pandemic shut her down. " That's your key foundation
for being an athlete and a human being. "
To activate all muscles, she suggests getting in good golf
posture, crossing your arms on your chest and rotating only
your upper body and then only your hips. She also challenges
you to get in good golf posture and then see how long you can
hold it with one foot off the ground.
" It's unsexy stuff, " she says. " But it's helpful. "
Agreed. But don't worry, Advil. You'll always be the 15th
club in my bag.
My buddy Joe and I were paired with
" After the
governor
made his
tle awkward. You don't realize how many
times you shake hands on a golf course
until you're not allowed to do it, knowing
it might end up infecting the two of you,
your families and even a stranger five counties away.
This would be my first tee ball as a qualifying " senior, " acannouncement,
there
was this
crazy 24-hour
ramp up that we
won't forget. "
-Eric Larson
cording to Fox Hollow's 55-year-old cutoff. I warmed up for
it with my usual routine: three Advils, one Big Gulp and half
a practice swing.
Lynn Anderson, the personal trainer who founded Totally
Driven, a golf fitness facility in Edina, suggests I may need a
new game plan. Especially if I prefer not to hit weak slices off
the first tee.
Jacob and Nate, friendly kids who showed
their youthfulness by playing the blues
without the corresponding ability to do
so. We enjoyed their company, which was
good because the tee sheets weren't sending
anything out but foursomes from 9
a.m. to 6 p.m.
" After the governor made his announcement,
there was this crazy 24-hour rampup
that we won't forget, " Larson says. " We
had just opened the tee sheet on Friday
and had given no word to the public that
we would be open. We had no one answering
the phones yet. And we had 200 golfers
booked in 20 minutes online. "
Social distancing wasn't a problem. Yes,
I did grab that flagstick. But when Joe
barked at me for it, I recoiled as though I
had just touched a hot stove.
When I got home, Caleigh, my extremely bored 15-year-old
daughter, was talking to me about being in the outside world.
" Dad, " said the soccer player who hits a mean worm burner
in between whiffs at The Summit's par-3 course in Cannon
Falls. " Let's play golf. "
Yes, dear. Let's do that. Let's play golf.
Mark Craig is the NFL/Vikings columnist and a golf writer for
the Star Tribune.
40
MINNESOTAGOLFER Summer 2020
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Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2020

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