Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2022 - Cover3

BACKSPIN
Feeding the Beast
Minnesota's most avid golfer says the game is an
addiction-requiring no intervention.
D
an Thompson posted 338 rounds in 2021 and somehow
had no clue he's the reigning ironman among
82,000 members of the Minnesota Golf Association.
" All I know is people at Rush Creek say they've never seen
anybody like me, " said the 45-year-old realtor from Plymouth.
Amen, said Rush Creek head professional Tom Wall.
" If the weather's bad and we're not open, Dan will fly to Florida
if he has to, " Wall said. " And I'm not kidding. "
" What can I say? " Thompson said. " Golf is an addiction. "
Thompson was 24 when he started playing. He played once
or twice a year for the next 18 years. " I was terrible; a 36-handicap;
Shot a 144 at Golden Valley, " he said.
Tiger Woods changed that in 2019.
" I went to the Masters and was like, 'I've got to start taking
this game way more seriously,' " Thompson said.
Dan missed the intergalactic golf boom brought on by Tiger's
first green jacket in 1997. Tiger's fifth green jacket was a different
story.
" I came home, took lessons and fell in love, " Thompson said.
" I started playing. "
He couldn't stop. He posted 100 rounds into the World
Handicap System at Hollydale in Plymouth in 2019. He joined
Rush Creek and logged 300 rounds in 2020. When Minnesota's
golf season (April 1-October 31) ended last year, Thompson
joined a club in Palm Springs, Calif., after playing it one time
on vacation.
Add it up and Thompson became a 6-handicap while leading
five MGA members in surpassing 300 rounds last year. Jaime
Frischmann of Olympic Hills finished second with 334 followed
by Keenan Frank of Grand View (332), MGA Hall of Famer
Leigh Klasse (329) and Larry Olson of Medina (315).
Klasse logged her 329 the year after a hip replacement. At age 61.
Retired since 2015 and wintering in Arizona, where she plays
most of her rounds, Klasse said 329 is a " little high " for her, but,
" I'm now trying to make it normal. "
" The key: Stay healthy, " she said. " And have good weather. "
Believe it or not, Thompson still works at RE/MAX, where he
met and married a non-golfing saint named Kristi. They have
three children: Bryn, 11; Tova, 9; and Rhys, 7.
Did we mention Kristi is a saint?
" She even encouraged me to take a side job, " Dan said. " I was
at my gym and I met the head golf coach [Perry Long] at Maranatha
Christian Academy. "
40
* BY MARK CRAIG *
Dan Thompson
They talked. Dan's 638 rounds the past two years came up.
" The guy texted me that night, " Dan said. " I became the JV coach. "
Thompson plays 36 holes a day on weekdays and 18 a day
on weekends. He once played 90 holes in one day in Las Vegas.
" I'm lucky, " he said. " Some people say they're wiped out after
18 holes. But I get up every day at 4 a.m., go to the gym and then
can't wait to go play golf. "
It helps that Thompson has made some fruitful financial investments.
And that his first round every day is spent with other
realtors all working their phones. And that he does most of his
work after 5. And that, oh yeah, he eats " nothing but fast food "
and hasn't added a pound to the 5-8, 160-pound frame he took
with him to college.
Believe it or not, Thompson's 339 rounds weren't even halfway
to the state record held by the late John Furin, who led the
nation in most rounds posted four straight years from 2003-06.
Playing every round at Mesaba Country Club in Hibbing, Furin
tallied 679 rounds in 2006 while in his mid-60s.
" 679?!, " said Thompson, who hadn't heard of Furin. " How is
that even possible?! "
It helped that John would tee off at 3 a.m. under the lights on
his golf cart.
" I'm surprised his course let him do that, " Thompson said.
" That's insane. But, hey, golf really is an addiction. "
Mark Craig is the NFL/Vikings columnist and a golf writer for the
Star Tribune.
MINNESOTAGOLFER Summer 2022
mngolf.org
PHOTO: DAN THOMPSON
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2022
