Scott Jax
Gross Men’s Club Role:
2020 Master of Events (with the expertise of Mr. Mark Bryden)
Joined Club in 2016
Current Handicap Index: 18.0 (I reached my goal of a bogey golfer in 2019)
What prompted me to start? I was inspired by my grandfather who picked up the game in his late 70s/early 80s while wintering in Arizona, after farming for many years on the border of Iowa/Minnesota—where I also grew up. I later got his beginner set of clubs in 8th grade and quickly got acclimated playing the game well on the HS team. Here’s a picture of me back in 1987---I looked a bit different back then.
Golf Highlights (or low lights):
Never had an ace or eagle to this point
Finally broke into the 80s a few times this past year for the first time!
In HS, the local TV Station’s Sports Director established a weekly Sports Challenge series which earned him some national awards. The SD invited viewers to submit challenges from the silly to serious and our HS golf coach challenged him to a 18-hole put-off against one of his players. I won the competition comfortably among our team for the right to challenge the sports director on TV, only to putt miserably when the cameras were on. That’s my 15 minutes of fame.
A volunteer (Marshal on Hole 6) for the inaugural 3M Open Championship in Blaine.
Golf Heroes – a couple of my earliest memories of watching golf was when Jack Nicklaus won his last green jacket at the Masters, and Tom Watson was dominating at The British Open. I’ve also been a big fan of Phil Mickelson’s career. So far, I’ve attended a couple PGA Championships in MN and the US Open when it was in Wisconsin in 2017. I need to work on getting to the Masters and The Open someday.
Why did I join the Men’s Club? For many years I just played casually and didn’t really care about my score. Yet, I always felt if I could find a friendly but competitive environment where I could feel the pressure, I would be motivated to find ways I could improve. I found it with the Men’s Club.
Scott in 1987