Hidden Greens - July2010

Hidden Greens in Hastings, Minnesota has long had a reputation of being one of the most beautiful, yet also most difficult, courses in all of Minnesota. For years, I had heard the same things over and over from people who had just played at Hidden Greens: “Man, that’s a hard course!” or “There are trees everywhere!” or “I lost all of my golf balls in those woods!” I was even told once that there didn’t seem to be an open shot at any of the greens – all of them had trees growing up directly in front of them! That last one seemed a little far-fetched to me. I mean, why would a golf course purposefully have trees guarding the fronts of every green? Golf course owners usually want their customers to have a good time, don’t they? And maybe even enjoy themselves so much that they come back again and again? I found it difficult to believe that the superintendent at Hidden Greens would be so maniacal as to guard each and every green with groves of trees. Still, it is called “Hidden” Greens…maybe the stories were all true. I guess I had no other option but to go down to Hastings and find out for myself.
Hastings is a fun and historical river town right on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River. It is also very near the Mississippi’s confluence with the St. Croix River, and has the lovely little Vermillion River, an up-and-coming trout stream, running right through town. Although the historic downtown area along Main Street has helped Hastings keep its small-town charm, the city is always expanding outwards, and is now home to an estimated 22,000+ people. Hidden Greens is located a few miles south of downtown Hastings, just off of Highway 61. As I made my way down to Hidden Greens for the first time, I noticed that a majority of the area along Highway 61, south of town, is made up of agricultural land, with not many trees to be seen. I wondered if all of the rumors of endless trees on the course were blatant lies. Had everyone that I had ever talked to about Hidden Greens been in on a giant plot to deceive me? I highly doubted it. When I made the turn off of the highway, I could tell that the stories about trees were at least mostly true: Hidden Greens backs up to a very wooded state game refuge, with big stately trees looming in every direction. Whether or not there were actually trees guarding every green on the course was still to be determined, though.
    Looking down the fairway of the 1st hole at Hidden Greens, there did seem to be an abnormal number of trees around. And although the fairway seemed to be quite wide in most places, down in the landing area of this dogleg-right, 390-yard hole, two great big trees seemed to have broken away from the rest of the forest, and found their way to either side of the narrow elbow where the hole turned to the right. Visually, it made it look like the fairway just stopped about 250 yards in front of me. Luckily I had been paired with three regulars at Hidden Greens, and they assured me that the hole actually did continue past the mirage of trees at the bend, and they told me that there actually is quite an opening to the green once we reached that point in the fairway. I hit a pretty big hook off the tee, and thought I would find my ball deep in the woods, if I found it at all. But, lo and behold, the trees did open up quite a bit down there, I had a decent shot at the green from the left rough, and, no, there weren’t trees guarding the front of the green. In fact, it was wide open in front of the green, and a player could even play a bump-and-run to this green if he chose to do so. I also noticed that, even though there are a lot of trees on this course, the fairways are quite wide and forgiving, the trees are a good distance from the fairways, even though they might be visually deceiving some times, and even if you do hit into the trees, the underbrush has been removed in most cases, and you should at least be able to find your ball and punch back out into the fairway most of the time.
    The 3rd hole is a beautiful par-5, playing to almost 540 yards from the tips. The landing area for the tee shot is very wide and forgiving, but from there a player must be more accurate, and should try to get their second shot to the right side of the fairway, which will give them the best angle to go at the green, which is long and skinny, and guarded by a couple of big oak trees in the front left. I guess if you find yourself in the left rough after your second shot, then these two big trees will seem to be directly in front of the green on your approach shot. But, really they aren’t, and if you position yourself anywhere in the right 2/3 of the fairway, these trees shouldn’t come into play at all.
    After a couple of par-4s and another par-5, you will come to the lovely par-3 7th hole. Teeing off from a well-manicured, elevated tee box, players are forced to hit their tee shot downhill to a green that is situated inside the bend of a meandering creek, meaning that the creek must be carried on the tee shot, but it also grabs errant shots that are hit over the green. You must select your club carefully on this hole, which also has two bunkers in front waiting to torment you. At least this hole isn’t all that long, playing to 152 yards from the back tee box. A wonderfully devious little hole that has the ability to drive anyone crazy. Awesome!
      That same creek comes into play again on the tantalizing 8th hole, a short dogleg left par-4 that maxes out at 291 yards. Cutting across the fairway from the right, the creek makes players hit their tee shots at least 185 yards to reach the landing area in the fairway, which is heavily canted from right to left. Don’t hit your tee shot too far, though, since the tilted fairway will send your ball down in to the creek, which now has turned right, snaking its way along the left edge of the fairway, crossing directly in front of the tiny green. A short wedge shot is all that is needed, if you were fortunate enough to find the fairway with your tee shot, but make sure you take enough club to get over the water, which has gobbled up thousands of shots that weren’t hit with enough gusto. I have forever had a love-hate relationship with short par-4s, and although I truly admire the design of this short 8th hole at Hidden Greens, I left this hole with a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, since I ruined a wonderful tee shot with a hideous chip, and ended up with a double bogey. Ah, but that only gives me more reason to go back and try it again soon!
    The back nine at Hidden Greens starts with a short par-5 of less than 500 yards. The fairway angles to the left about 280 yards from the tee box, so if you’re a big hitter, be wary of driving your ball through the fairway. Even if you do, you should be able to punch out to the fairway, and leave yourself a short iron on your approach, since this hole is not very long. Try to take advantage of this hole with a birdie, and start your back nine on a high note.
    The signature hole at Hidden Greens is the 413-yard par-4 16th hole. One of the lengthier par-4s at Hidden Greens, the real trouble isn’t necessarily caused by the length, but instead by the hazards and trees that are so prevalent. From the tee box, it isn’t obvious that there is a large pond looming directly in front of you, about 280 yards away, but be forewarned: there is. The fairway heads straight at this impoundment, but then heads to the right just at the last minute, and curves back around to the green sitting on the far bank. A smart tee shot would be a slight fade for a right-hander, which should follow the fairway around the hazard. Or you could go straight at the pond, and hope that your ball doesn’t roll into the water, but if you do that, you won’t be guaranteed to avoid the grove of trees growing up by the water’s edge. Yes, this is the one hole where a nice straight tee shot might still end up blocked out by trees. But, you can’t have everything, and this 16th hole is a very picturesque hole that will be sure to elicit some deep discussions amongst your foursome.  Personally, I like this hole, but if my tee shot ends up behind the trees the next time I play it, and I don’t have a clear shot at the green because of it, my feelings may change. That’s probably the way it is with most people who play this hole.
    Hidden Greens is a beautifully conditioned course that is lined from tee to green with mature hardwood trees, but the forest is not so thick that it will cause an endless amount of lost balls. You should be able to find most any shot that strays off the fairway, and a manageable punch out should always be an option. I think you will really enjoy playing at Hidden Greens. The course is a beautiful layout, the conditions are superb, and it really is a nice challenge. Next time you’re in the Hastings area, check it out!

Siren National - July2010

You may remember hearing about the small town of Siren, Wisconsin, because of the severe tornado that leveled a large part of the town and killed three people in 2001. More than 175 buildings were destroyed in that tornado, and countless trees were uprooted in the surrounding forests. This town of less than 1,000 people was forever changed by that storm. But now, more than nine years later, the townspeople have pretty much eradicated any signs of the damage, and Siren is once again a sleepy little tourist town.
    Although there are lots of outdoorsy things to do in and around Siren, including hiking the Gandy Dancer Trail, fishing in one of the area lakes, or even getting married (Siren touts itself as being a wonderful wedding destination), I think the best thing to do is play a round of golf at the fascinating Siren National Golf Course. Located just a couple miles west of downtown, Siren National should be on everyone’s list of must-plays. Siren is an easy hour-and-a-half drive northeast from the Twin Cities, so if you are reading this in the Twin Cities, or if you’re already in the northwestern part of Wisconsin, and you are looking for a fun course with an interesting layout, I wouldn’t hesitate to advise you to check out Siren National. Let’s take a quick tour of this neat course.
    Siren National starts out with a par-5 that looks menacing from the tee box, but turns out to be not too tough. From the tee, golfers are required to hit their tee shot over a small gulch that is filled with trees and shrubs, to the fairway that heads up a hill and around a corner to the right. The fairway is quite wide, and once you reach it, you’ll notice that the trees and shrubs disappear, and there really isn’t much in the way of hazards for the rest of the hole. Like I said, this 1st hole at Siren National isn’t all that tough.
    Things get a little tougher, or at least there is more potential for danger, on the par-4 2nd hole. Measuring 363 yards from the back, the length of this hole isn’t too frightening, but there are two ponds in the fairway lurking like thieves. Be especially wary of the pond on the right side, since it is mostly hidden from the tee box, even though it is the more sizeable of the two ponds. It juts out about halfway into the fairway, so it might be prudent to play a lay-up shot off the tee. I’ve never been known to be prudent, so that’s just a guess on my part. From the landing area, the fairway heads up slightly to an elevated green that’s not very deep. If you go over this green, there’s a lot of room to maneuver, so you should have a pretty easy chip shot.
    Earlier in this article, I called Siren National a “fascinating” golf course, and one of the most fascinating holes is the harrowing 3rd hole. The 3rd is a long par-3 that measures 206 yards from the back, and you better make sure you use enough club to get your ball to the green in the air, because running your ball up to the green is definitely not an option. First of all, right in front of the tee box sits a mid-sized pond, but that’s probably going to be the least of your worries. That’s because the green is fronted by a steep rock wall that will knock a golf ball in unforeseen directions. There is some green grass at the bottom of the wall, but you’ll have a tough chip shot up to the green, which sits almost 20 feet up. This is a visually stunning hole that is bound to cause fits for a lot of golfers. I love unique holes like this.
    The 7th hole is the longest at Siren National, measuring almost 590 yards. This is a long, undulating dogleg-right that seems to snake up and down about a dozen small hills on its way to the green. That is a bit of an exaggeration, but it does go up and down several times before reaching the elevated green. The water on the left is quite a distance from the fairway, so it’s possible to hit a big, nasty hook on your second shot, like me, and still not go far enough left to reach the water. For that reason, alone, I would consider this a good golf hole.
    The 9th hole is another of what I would call a “fascinating” hole. On the scorecard, this looks like it should be an easy par-5. After all, it measures only 456 yards, and that’s from the tips. Once you play it, you won’t think it’s all that easy any more. The difficulty arrives at about 300 yards out in the fairway, or to be more accurate, the marshy bog arrives when you get about 300 yards out in the fairway. That’s right, the fairway abruptly ends just passed the 150 yard markers, and a bog takes its place. The fairway starts up again on the other side of the bog, about 50 yards away, and then heads way up to a very elevated green that’s tucked in the hillside. It seems to me that there are two good ways to play this hole: hit your drive exactly 300 yards right down the middle, so you can go at the green from behind the bog; or play two 150-yard shots, then go at the green from just behind the bog. There are thick woods framing the fairway from the bog on up to the green, so you better have a good angle when you are aiming for the putting surface. Now that I know exactly how this hole is laid out, I think I know which strategy I will use next time I play it. That doesn’t mean I will play it well, but at least I’ll have a strategy.
    I really like both the 11th and the 13th holes at Siren National, both of which are medium-length par-4s. They also share the characteristic of having a creek crossing through the fairway, although the 389-yard 11th has its creek directly in front of the tee box, and the 375-yard 13th has its creek dissecting the hole immediately in front of the green. The 11th is a sweeping dogleg up and to the right that you can try to cut the corner on, and the 13th is a rare find at Siren National because it does not have an elevated green. If you aim your tee shot on this 13th hole at the lonely oak tree that sits just off the right side of the fairway, you should have an excellent angle to attack the pin from. Actually the best angle would occur if you pushed your drive a few yards into the rough. If you’re comfortable doing that, I say go for it.
    Siren National is a really neat layout, is not very spendy, and is in immaculate condition. And for most people on the eastern side of Minnesota and western Wisconsin, it’s not a long drive at all. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun new place to play. You could even hang out in Siren for a few days and do some hiking or some fishing, or heck, maybe you’ll even get married!

A Bit of Humor About Bert the Ball-Finder - May2010

My friend Bert is a notorious ball-finder. You would think that he is part bloodhound, the way he can sniff out lost golf balls. Next time you lose your ball in some tall, thick rough, or deep in the middle of a hardwood forest, you will wish you were playing with Bert. Bert would find your ball for you, no doubt about it. One time, I hit my tee shot so far into the woods on a par-4, I figured I would need a battalion of Green Berets to help me bushwhack in far enough to find it. I gave up without even looking for it, and was ready to take a drop, when out from the forest trudged Bert, not only with the ball I just hit in there, but an armful of other formerly-lost balls, as well. Bert is also a notorious ball-seller-backer, and he instantly came over and tried to sell me back the ball I just lost for the not-so-cheap price of $3. Can you believe he would try sell me back my golf ball for $3? What a jerk! I told him to take a hike, which he did, right back into the woods where he found another couple dozen lost balls. Once, I actually had to pay Bert the ransom that he wanted for my lost ball, since I didn’t have any other balls in my bag. But I have since learned better, so now before I play with Bert I make sure to shovel enough golf balls in my bag to last several lifetimes. I will never give him the satisfaction of making me pay for my own golf ball again!
    One time, Bert’s zeal for finding lost golf balls almost cost him dearly. We were playing in a charity tournament at a ritzy resort course high up in the Adirondacks. Several holes seemed to be perched on the side of sheer cliffs – we could look out from several vantage points on the course and seem to be looking face-to-face with fluffy white clouds and pointy treetops. Bert spent much of the day scrambling up and down the jagged mountainsides, gathering up golf balls that others had hit, but were too scared to climb down and retrieve. Bert wasn’t going to let a little thing like gravity get between him and somebody else’s lost golf ball, that’s for sure. He took great pride in going where no others dared to tread in search of lost balls.
    One particular hole placement was especially precarious, with the green situated a mere foot or two from the side of the cliff. On his way up the fairway on that hole, Bert had found a veritable mother lode of  hiding places for lost balls: a huge, scraggly bush that was planted right on the edge of the cliff, presumably to catch golf balls before they plummeted over the edge to their death. This bush must have been 50 feet in diameter, with thorny branches reaching in all directions. Dozens of golf balls were visible deep within the scraggly bush’s inner diameter. Obviously this bush was doing a wonderful job of catching golf balls before they flew into oblivion, but the thorns and incessant tangles of branches had kept most golfers from retrieving their ball. Bert merely looked at this as an interesting challenge. He had never let a bush beat him before, and he wasn’t going to start now. Ten minutes, and a couple hundred thorny puncture wounds later, Bert had extricated at least 30 or 40 golf balls from this lone bush. Since I was tired of watching him search for other people’s lost golf balls, I had taken our golf cart and moved towards the green. Without a cart around to dump his newfound golf ball treasure, Bert decided to stuff them all in the pockets on his cargo shorts for the time being.
    We got up to the green, and Bert’s own golf ball sat about 75 feet from the pin, in the miniscule amount of rough that sat between the green and the cliff. Between Bert’s ball and the cup sat four or five large mounds, meaning once Bert’s ball started rolling on the green, it would break right and then left and then back to the right so many times we would lose count. It would be a miracle if he was able to get the ball to rest within 15 feet of the hole. Bert took out his trusty 6-iron, his chipping club of choice, lined up his shot, took a few practice swings, and made a smooth swing on the ball, which flew about 15 feet in the air, bounced sideways off of one of the mounds, started rolling left, then right, then back to the left again as it maneuvered around the other mounds, and plopped directly in to the hole for a birdie 3. Bert started jumping around and whooping and hollering out of pure joy, but he forgot all of the golf balls packed into his pockets. One of his back pockets, which held about 20 golf balls itself, contained so much weight that when Bert started jumping around, the mass of golf balls got moving so quickly from side to side that it created a sort of fulcrum effect that pulled Bert and his weighted-down shorts right over the edge of the cliff. I would love to be able to put into words how I felt when I saw my old friend go from a look of utter elation after making that chip shot, to a look of total panic as he went sailing over the edge of the cliff. It’s hard to remember exactly how to describe something, though, when you’re watching it with tears in your eyes – tears from laughing so hard you almost got sick. Needless to say, Bert was fine, except maybe for his pride, which was slightly bruised. He only fell about 5 feet before he landed in the branches of a small pine tree. He was able to climb back up to safety, and I think he only dropped two or three golf balls in the process. You’d think an episode like this would have taught Bert a lesson, but no, he’s still up to his old tricks, and he even tries to sell me my own golf ball every once in a while. Hmmm, maybe I should take him back out to the Adirondacks again some time….