"THE IVY"
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.....Goes Silver
Prerequisite: Prattle #12 - "The Ivy Open Golf Weekend - 2010" must be read in order to understand the information that I will provide in this prattle.
INTRODUCTION
The Ivy Open, now officially re-branded as "The Ivy" celebrated its 25th anniversary during the weekend of June 9 -12, 2011 (yes, an extended weekend). As one of the co-founders of this yearly event I am very proud of the fact that my group of friends have been able to keep "The Ivy" alive and well for all these years.
On a personal and selfish note, my attendance at "The Ivy" for the 25th year in a row just makes my list of cherished "streaks" that much better (see Prattle #10 - Streaks). Please keep in mind that I do understand my obsession with streaks is not healthy....that's a good thing, right?....isn't recognizing that you are sick the first step to recovery?....there's still hope for me....maybe.
It's hard to believe that a weekend golf outing that took place with a few Concordia College (Cobbers) friends back in 1987 has now "gone silver". The longevity of this annual event can probably be attributed to the Scandinavian blood that my Cobber friends and I have running through our veins.
As a member of a full blooded Norwegian family I was always taught the importance of developing and maintaining rituals and traditions throughout my life. It was also ingrained in me that trying to change things or do something different was not "The Peterson Way." My group of Cobber friends obviously had the same sort of up bringing because we took a simple round of golf we played together 25 years ago and turned it into an annual event that is loaded with traditions and rituals.
The down side of this very ritualistic behavior is that as my Cobber group looks back over the years it's very difficult to differentiate one "Ivy" from the next. When things are done exactly the same way every year the details of each individual "Ivy" all run together in our memory banks. (being in our mid to late 50's probably doesn't help matters).
The biggest regret of "The Ivy" crew is that there is no documentation of what specifically happened at each year's event. In an effort to make up for this omission, I decided to write a review of "The Ivy" held last year (2010) and post it as a prattle on my blog (see prerequisite).
My recap of last year's event also included a short history lesson on the "The Ivy". This background information provides an explaination of how this annual gathering got started and why it has stood the test of time.
Seeing that there is no end in site for "The Ivy" I feel I need to continue writing my recaps of this yearly tradition. Who knows?...we could maybe do another 25 years of "The Ivy". With that thought in mind this new prattle will serve as my official Ivy report for 2011. In this 5 chapter recap I have also taken the liberty to refer to myself in the third person for the following reasons:
1. Makes the story read more like a news report
2. Because I've always wanted to do it
3. Because I can...
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CHAPTER 1 - THE PLAYERS
The attendance at this year's "Ivy" was unfortunately lower than normal due to weddings, family trips and previous commitments. The lower number of participants did not however put a damper on the silver anniversary festivities. We still had a core group of guys who were absolutely giddy about being there to celebrate "The Ivy's" silver anniversary.
Starting Line Up
Mark Anderson - Andy
Brad Atchison - Face
Kris Gulsvig -Tiffer
Darrell Olson - Oly
Paul Peterson - Palmer
Perry Reinertson - Rhino
Craig Samuelson - Sammy
Dan Storrusten - Stork
Regulars - Missing
Jon Johnson - Jonny
Dave Karlstrom - Kulla
Part Timers - Missing
Steve Hinrichs - City Stork
Joe Sullivan - Joe
Kevin Shipley - Ships
Kent Stadum - Stade
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| Oly, Andy, Stork, Sammy |
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| Face, Oly, Rhino, Andy |
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| Andy, Face, Oly |
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| Tiffer |
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| The Original 4 - Palmer, Face, Andy, Oly |
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CHAPTER 2 - THE GOLF .....oh did we golf
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| The golf marathon is about to begin..... |
Thursday
-Wildflower Golf Course - Detroit Lakes, MN
-2:30 tee time - 18 holes played
-Players - Andy, Face, Tiffer, Stork, Sammy, Palmer ( 2 groups)
-Weather: Partly cloudy, calm, 60's, dry - very pleasant
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| Andy - Host...Co-founder...Director of Logistics |
Friday
-Hawley Golf and Country Club - Hawley, MN
-7:30 tee time - Round #1 - 18 holes played
-11:45 tee time - Round #2 - 18 holes played
-Players - Andy, Face, Stork, Sammy, Oly, Palmer (2 groups)
-Weather: Partly cloudy, calm, 70's, dry - very pleasant
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| Face - core member....the skins leader....helped give the event its name |
Saturday
-Wildflower Golf Club - Detroit Lakes, MN
-8:30 tee time - Round #1 - 18 holes played
-2:30 tee time - Round #2 - 18 holes played
-7:00 tee time - Round #3 - 9 holes played
-Players - Andy, Face, Sammy, Oly, Palmer, Rhino (Round #1)
-Players - Andy, Face, Oly, Palmer, Rhino (Round #2)
-Players - Andy, Face, Palmer, Rhino (Round #3)
-Weather: Sunny, calm, 70's, dry - very pleasant
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| Sammy - long ball hitter....Friday medalist....agitator |
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| Rhino - adopted Cobber....Saturday medalist....lives for scrambles |
Sunday
-Greystone Golf Club - Sauk Center, MN
-11:10 tee time - Round #1 - 18 holes played
-Players - Andy, Face, Oly, Palmer
-Weather: Cloudy, windy, 50's, off and on drizzle
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| Oly - core member......silky swing....his pockets are full of golf balls |
Do the math...... that's 117 holes of golf in 73 hours.....do you think our hands hurt?
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| Palmer's hand on Friday night |
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| Palmer's hands on Saturday night |
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| Palmer during the golf round on Sunday |
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CHAPTER 3 - THE BANQUET
One of the many traditions of "The Ivy" is to hold the annual banquet in the parking lot of the Hawley Golf and County Club.
This very informal affair takes place after the Ivy participants have played 36 holes of golf.
The banquet only requires lawn chairs, coolers, beverages and a good sense of humor. Many of "The Ivy" patrons consider this parking lot gathering to be the highlight of the entire weekend.
The banquet's agenda had a new twist added this year when Palmer brought a special gift for everyone. In honor of our 25th year anniversary Palmer presented each participant with an engraved silver mug.
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| THE SILVER ANNIVERSARY MUG |
Terry, the manager of the Hawley Golf Club, was also presented with a silver mug by Palmer. Terry has taken good care of "The Ivy" group for most of this 25 year run and she definitely deserved to be recognized as an important member of our team.
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| Palmer gives Terry her silver anniversary mug |
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| Face gives the opening remarks |
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| Oly is still laughing about his ball snafu on the 17th hole |
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| Stork explains how his sweet golf swing will hold up into his 70's |
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| Face wants to know how many brands of golf balls Oly carries in his pockets |
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| Stork has no interest in hearing about how Sammy shot a 74 |
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| Andy is already making tee times for next year's Ivy |
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CHAPTER 4 - THE FRIENDSHIPS
Palmer was reunited with some old friends and made some new friends during the weekend.
Old Friends
-Copter Crowd - one member of this group sells helicopters for a living
-Hawley Gang - people we have met at the Hawley golf course
New Friends
-Leister Fest Golfers - participants in a memorial golf tournament
-New members of the Copter Crowd
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| This is Barb....yes, she really sells helicopters |
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| The Desert Rose Band wrote a song about Palmer's new friend |
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| "The Hawley Girls"....Amber, Luann and Heidi |
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| Leister Fest golfers sporting their "Sunday Best" |
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| Palmer's team of caddies |
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| Palmer's posse...Jamie, Luann, Amber, Heidi |
The annual Hawley rodeo along with several other related festivities were also going on during Ivy weekend. Palmer unfortunately had to turn down the offer he received to ride with his posse in the big Hawley parade that was held on Saturday (couldn't leave my Ivy buddies).
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CHAPTER 5 - THE MISCELLANEOUS MEMORIES
Oly provided the shot of the weekend:
-First tee at Wildflower
-Tee ball is pulled dead right of the tee box (Oly's a lefty)
-Ball landed on the roof of the clubhouse and went over the building
-A guys yells from a clubhouse window: "it landed in the garbage can"
-Oly and I ran over to the garbage can and there was his ball
-An amazing shot....as they say, "you can't make it up"
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| At least Oly had a good lie |
The delicious banquet meal that Jon Johnson cooks every year was of course missing due to Jon's absence. However, the organizers of the Leister Fest saved the day when they invited all of "The Ivy" crew to the pig roast that was being held in conjunction with the memorial golf event. In order to show our gratitude plans are already being made for "The Ivy" to sponsor a hole in next year's Leister Fest golf scramble.
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| The first drive through pig roast |
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| Stop worrying about the destination..... enjoy the journey |
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| Sammy still says...."The Ivy" is dead |
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| Tiffer intently watches the Twins game......(he hates Micheal Cuddyer) |
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| I wonder if I should coach two more years and get my 600th career win? |
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| Does being a bad golfer make me a bad person? |
As reported last year the "Cash and Dash" store is now officially closed. This was the store in Pelican Rapids where Andy and Palmer stopped to buy groceries for the first 23 years of "The Ivy". Even though the store is closed the annual tradition of stopping there just couldn't end for Andy and Palmer. They still stopped there this year to pay their respects to the old "Cash and Dash" building.
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| What?......the "Cash and Dash" is now a Pawn Shop? |
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| Looks like the pawn shop business isn't so good in Pelican Rapids |
Palmer also stumbled into meeting two relatives of his life long friends from Zumbrota. Palmer's buddy Sammy knew two guys who are cousins of Mike and Jeff Ripley. One cousin was playing behind Palmer on the golf course and the other cousin was in a lake side bar.....how about that?...it truly is a small small world.
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| All of this for 25 years.....Amazing! |
"The Ivy".....saving lives for 25 years!
