Three weeks after the PGA Tour stopped in Minnesota for the 3M Open, the Land of 10,000 Lakes is again making news within the golfing world.
Minnesota golf course video goes viral after being decimated by softball size hail storm
Oakdale Golf Club in Minnesota experienced a once-in-a-lifetime hail storm that did some serious damage.
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
Unfortunately, it is not for good reason.
Oakdale Golf Club in Minnesota, located 80 miles west of downtown Minneapolis, experienced a traumatic hail storm this past weekend.
In a video submitted to the NUCLR Golf Twitter account, softball-sized hail blanketed the course and, unfortunately, destroyed many of the greens.
Imagine having hundreds of unfixed ball marks, the size of a softball, puncture every putting surface.
That is what happened at Oakdale.
This catastrophic weather event is detrimental to Oakdale’s business as a public golf course.
Not only will they lose greens fees, but the course will have to invest substantial capital into repairing the greens—often the most expensive asset a public course has.
The hail storm really is a double-whammy.
This is such an unfortunate circumstance because Oakdale is a great course to play for a solid price. For under $40, anyone can play 18 holes with a cart from Monday through Thursday. On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, golfers can play 18 at Oakdale with a cart for $46.
Not bad for anyone living, working, or visiting the area west of the Twin Cities.
At the very least, Oakdale does have a driving range for players to practice and improve. Hopefully, the practice area did not encounter too much damage, or else the course could really be in trouble.
With that said, let’s hope golfers return to the course at Oakdale soon.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
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