Perfecting Your Golf Swing In Dead Of Winter
HAM LAKE (WCCO) -- It may be the cheapest round of golf in the state. For $5, visitors get a ball, a club and nine holes of golf. Coffee and hot chocolate cost extra because it's the "Frozen Tundra" of Majestic Oaks in Ham Lake, where they are trying to get creative during the offseason.
"There are a lot of golf courses that have cross-country skiing, a lot of them have sledding and those kinds of things," said Majestic Oaks General Manager Dan Jacott. "What's something they don't do? And we just thought, hey, snow golf."
So, they carved out a course about a week ago. The nine holes range from 30 to 150 yards long, and they cover about half of Majestic's Executive Nine. So far, they have booked about 40 rounds, but they have much larger goals.
"We've been doing a ton of things," said promotions director Peter Tamala. "We're looking into billboards and radio, and I'm sure that we'll be blowing it up in the weeks to come, but start small and hopefully snowball, so to speak."
The fairway is well groomed down the middle, but just about everything else counts as a hazard. The hole is six inches wide, the flag frozen in place, and the course as challenging as you like.
"The really good golfers take it as golf," said Jacott. "They're trying to hole out shots. They're doing skins games against each other, and that type of thing. Whereas the other people who aren't avid golfers, they're just enjoying being outside."
Their goal is to book big groups, birthday parties and corporate events, but they'll take twosomes and foursomes, too. They're open for snow golf Tuesday through Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. They play with tennis balls, 5- and 6-irons, and you are allowed to move your ball as much as one foot to get a better lie, as long as you don't move it closer to the hole.
Anyone who is interested can visit the Majestic Oaks website.
WCCO-TV's Frank Vascellaro Reports
