Old scorecard evokes memories of the old clubhouse

I saved scorecards from time to time when I was younger. Sometimes I’d save a good round or a card from course that I played for the first time. I probably thought I would eventually have quite an impressive collection if I kept at it, but it was pretty random and not really an archive of any kind. This morning I stumbled on an envelope containing of couple of dozen of these scorecards in a box of old maps. A few of the cards had scores and dates, some just scores, and most were blank, such as the one from Gross Golf Course. By the looks of it, I think it might be from the 1970s — possibly even the early ‘70s. I didn’t play Gross much in those days, but it was in a clump of cards from that era.

One of the nostalgia triggers on the card is the sketch of the previous clubhouse. I always liked its understated, unpretentious look, and I’ve never really been in love with the design of the present one. I didn’t play Gross a lot during the ‘70s -‘90s, but I always appreciate its character, history, and charm. I always thought of it as the best Minneapolis course. I still do.

Here are scans of the other parts of the scorecard. It’s interesting how the yardage measurements on just about every hole are slightly different than the middle tees on our new card. You’ll also notice that there is only one set of tees on the old card. Was there only one set of tees? Finally, they they must have had a problem in those days of golfers showing up and paying green fees but only having two or three clubs and no bag. (U of M players possibly?) Gotta keep the riff-raff out, right?

Do you have any thoughts about the scorecard or memories of the previous clubhouse? Do you have any photos of the old clubhouse?

And while my rememberer is hot, whatever happened to the Gross Invitational tournament? That was a big deal for quite a while, I think.

More trees removed on several holes

From Steve Date:

Those of us who have played Gross for a while know that trees have been disappearing with some regularity in recent years.  I received a note from Gross Men’s Club member Tim Faust a few days ago saying that he’d driven past the course and noticed that some additional trees have been removed or trimmed since the season ended. He decided to stop, walk the course, and take some notes. I thought his detailed account of the changes he saw would be of interest to GMC members so I asked Tim if I could put it here on the NEWS & INFO page.  He recommended that I first check with the management and ask for comment about the changes. I emailed Gross Manager Dave Bratland and asked him to tell us the what and why of the recent work.

Here’s what Dave wrote back to me, followed by Tim’s description of what he noticed while walking the course.

From Dave Bratland:

Yes, we are doing some course “renovations”.  With the very limited budget we have, it’s a process that’s going to take several years. The USGA visited our course several years ago. They really liked the course, but the one comment they made was that we have too many trees.

By what we’re doing, we hope to accomplish the following:

• Create better turf conditions by removing some trees and trimming trees around greens and trees that overhang the fairways.  Too many of our trees block the sunlight needed to have the turf conditions that we all want to have.

• “thinning” out areas of the course where there is a high concentration of trees, therefore Improving the “playability” of the golf course.  We want the golfer to be able to advance the ball toward the green as much as possible.

• Removing trees that are in front of bunkers

• Remove the trees that are in poor condition.

From Tim Faust:

I drove past the course recently and noticed that they took out more trees so I walked the course to check things out. Here is the full report:

#2 - They removed a few trees on the right side 175 yards from the green and closer. That really opens up that side if you run it through the fairway.

#3 - They trimmed the low hanging branches on the oak just to the left of the blue tee.

#4 - The two trees that framed the drives at the knoll have been removed. They also removed a number of trees on the left and right side inside of 100 yards.

#5 - They removed the big maple that hung out into the fairway on the left side about 125 yards from the green.

#6 - They removed the big cottonwood short of the green side bunker on the right.

#9 - They removed some oaks on the left between 150 and 250 yards from the green. Inexplicably, they drove right by the big cottonwood on the left that hangs across half of the fairway. They didn't touch it.

#15 - They removed the big tree on the left side of the fairway that catches a lot of drives. They also removed the big tree short of the fairway bunker on the right. At about 100 yards from the green on the left, they removed that lone tall tree that was near the rough line.

#16 - They removed several maples that guarded the dogleg on the right. You still need to get past the one tall tree before the hole starts to dogleg but if you get past that you should be okay.

They also trimmed the lower branches on some trees and removed a handful that weren't in play.

Latest info about implementation of the World Handicap System from the USGA

Mark Bryden forwarded an email he got from the USGA this morning. From Mark - “Just got this. I was expecting it, as I tried to post a couple scores on my GHIN app. It was down. I called the MGA and was told it was coming back soon, but that I would have to download a new version of the app before I could use it.”

To the right is a screenshot of the pertinent information.

Here’s a link to the USGA’s web pages that explain the whole thing. https://www.usga.org/handicapping/roh/2020-rules-of-handicapping.html

(Editorial comment: I think the bigger thing to keep in mind is that Mark was frustrated because he was playing golf in January and trying to post a score from PEBBLE BEACH. It’s a reminder and a lesson to all of us that sometimes life kicks you in the teeth, and you just have to get up, dust yourself off, and make the best of it going forward.)

How decisions by City of St. Paul and Armour & Co. gave us our golf course

(I’m not sure where this was first published and I don’t know who Rob Levine is, but it’s an interesting read. I’m guessing it was was written in about 1997, because he mentions “73 years ago”, referring to the events that resulted in the course’s beginning. Maybe one of our members knows more about this article? Let me know if you can tell us more about it. - Steve Date)

Gross Profits
Thanks to St. Paul, what might have been a feedlot is now a fine public golf course

by Rob Levine

Thank you, St. Paul.
If it weren’t for the city of St. Paul enticing a business away from Minneapolis, instead of teeing up our Top Flight’s on the first tee at Francis A. Gross Golf Course in Northeast Minneapolis, today there would be sweet aromas wafting from a packing plant and stockyard that were planned for the site. Thank you City of St. Paul.

Let me explain. In 1924 Armour & Company of Chicago (the hot dog guys) wanted to build a packing house and stockyard on 800 acres of land they owned east of Stinson Boulevard in Northeast Minneapolis. The City of St. Paul, in an action that we will always regard with great respect, convinced the Armour company to build in South St. Paul instead. Left with 800 acres of land, Armour agreed to sell 154.3 acres to the Minneapolis Park Board at $1000/acre . Armour advanced the board $55,000 to complete and buy the course, with the city making payments to Armour out of net earnings.

Thus in June 1925 did open the first Minneapolis Public Course with grass greens and tees (the two existing courses, Glenwood [later renamed Theodore Wirth] and Columbia, both had sand greens and tees). The course gets its name from Francis A. Gross, who was president of the Board of Commissioners and instrumental in setting up re-financing of the course’s debt (finally paid in full in 1977) to Armour in 1947.

Feel the wood
Today the course is familiar to local golfers who like the feel of a mature public course, with lots of big older trees that don’t hide your balls when you hit into them. Like other courses around the state, Gross planted many Elm seedlings in the ‘20s and ‘30s. Then, about 25 years ago, they began dying from Dutch Elm Disease in great numbers. Fred Herrmann, Gross course manager from 1930-1978, had the presence to begin planting new trees of various species when the Elms began dying. Today we reap the results of that foresight, golfing among the many Elm, Oak, Spruce, and other species of trees.

Gross is also a predominantly flat course, compared to other city courses such as Theodore "Billy-Goat" Wirth or Columbia. That, and the course’s age and ease of access may account for its popularity with the senior set. This fact reminds me that a decision to play Gross must be honestly weighed against the length of the average round. I’ve played Gross in four hours; I’ve also played it in five and a half hours. Course management has taken steps to speed play, including banning five-somes, a tradition some long-time players apparently were NOT happy to see end.

Short, narrow par fours
Of the 10 par fours on the course, only one (#4, 405 yds.) is over 400 yards. For the straight hitter, these are good scoring opportunities. However, if you miss just about any of these fairways, you’re faced with at least one additional stroke pitching out (if you’re smart). Gross has only three par fives. One, the 491-yard number 10 is reachable, but only with two straight, long woods. The other two par fives, the 566-yard number 12 (a really great golf hole) and 520-yard number 9 are not reachable in two by mere mortals.

What are really vexing at Gross are the par threes, all of which are legitimately difficult holes. Number three (179 yards from the white tees) is a particularly scary hole. Playing uphill to a domed/sloped green, there’s a bunker in the front-right, and pine trees to the immediate left. Miss the green anywhere but short, and you could easily be looking at a triple bogey. The second and third par threes (#’s 7 & 11) are 198 and 186 yards, respectively. Only does the 17th hole, at 159 yards, appear birdiable.

Calling St. Paul
Seventy three years ago St. Paul bailed out Minneapolis by taking a smelly, messy business away, and giving us a golf course in return. I think that’s a pretty good deal. I wonder if Norm Coleman would be interested in this little garbage burner next to Stu Dio’s office?

Special appreciation goes out to Steve Walters, Gross course manager, who supplied the research for this story.

Gross Golf Course
St. Anthony Blvd.
22nd Ave NE
Mpls, MN 55418
(612) 789-2542

Green fee: $20; w/patron card: $16. Senior or junior: $10.
Location: Hwy 35W & St. Anthony Blvd, Mpls
Difficulty: Moderate to easy
Par: 71
Recommendation: Recommended

New name, new tee markers, new combo course & new logo

Francis A. Gross returns this year as the namesake of our golf course. But it turns out that he never really left us after all. When asked about the upcoming changes, course manager Dave Bratland wrote back, “ The golf course never officially became ‘Gross National’.  Some employees years ago, began answering the phones ‘Gross National’ wanting it to sound similar to ‘Augusta National’ and over time it just kind of stuck. We are going back to referring it to the actual name of the golf course.  It was named ‘Francis A. Gross’ in 1947.  To be honest, it’s a more appealing name when having to answer the phones knowing that we’re using the word/name ‘Gross’ as a person’s name instead of a term.  We are making some changes with tee signs, markers, combo tees and it seems to be the right time to go back to it. Hoping to re-brand the course after a really poor year of number of rounds and turf conditions.”

As Dave mentioned, the tee marker colors are changing this year as well. Blue now = BLACK, White now = BLUE, and Red AND Gold now = WHITE. So there will now only be three sets of tees instead of four. There will be no more red or gold tees — and yes, our Red/White/ Blue event will now need to have a new name.

The powers-that-be have also come up with a Blue/White “Combo Course” as an option for those of us who are noticing that playing all the middle tees is getting more difficult than we’d like it to be. This course will include 10 “short” tees and 8 “middle” tees for a total yardage of 5,550. To the right is a mock-up of the new scorecard, including the combo course.

Finally, here’s the new logo for the born-again Francis A. Gross Golf Course. And here’s to good weather and good turf in 2020!

The World Handicap System is in effect this year

The World Handicap System, designed to bring golf “under a single set of Rules for handicapping and provide a more consistent measure of players’ ability between different regions of the world”, will begin this year.

There are many articles out there about the new World Handicap System. Here are links to several of them:

https://www.usga.org/handicapping/roh/2020-rules-of-handicapping.html

https://www.whs.com/

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/handicapping/world-handicap-system/WHS-resources.html

New Year - New Website

Hello and Happy New Year!

I’m Steve Date. You might not know me, but I’ve been a Gross Men’s Club member for a few years. I’m also the guy who’s putting together this new website.

Last summer many of us noticed that our website was not doing what we needed it to do. I approached some of the board members to offer my services to spruce it up and get it running again. They agreed to let me give it a shot. I’m not a professional web designer, but I have done a few websites.

I’ve been listening to what other members have said about what they want on the website  and have tried to build a site that’s user-friendly, visually interesting and most importantly, meets our needs. 

January 1st is always a good day to start something new, so here’s the new website design. This is also the first post in our News & Info section. I will try to keep this section current with information, updates and announcements. Let me know if you’d like to submit something to NEWS & INFO.

Let me know what you think of the website so far.  I want your feedback and your contributions. I’ve started it, but let’s keep making it better. Some pages are still under construction, but they’ll be filled out when information becomes available to me. You can send me an email or comment on this post.

Today is New Year’s Day and it’s a day for optimism. So l’ll go first and wish us all a great year of golf. Right now I can honestly say that I haven’t hit a bad shot all year. In the words of Carl Spackler, “So I got that going for me . . . which is nice.”

Steve Date

steven.date@yahoo.com