[MinnSkinny]

Well guys, I just spent two days there, and I'm impressed beyond description. Having played the game since I was 7 years old, I finally got the chance to see it for real. Walked the course entirely from 1 to 18 on Thursday, following fellow Iowan Zach Johnson, and sat with some Members (accidentally) at 16 for most of the afternoon Friday.
My Impressions: 1. The tee shot on #11 is right out of the scariest movie you have ever seen. 2. The "patrons" know more about golf than most of the guys I play with. 3. The pitch, roll, and slope of the greens can't be described, and certainly are much more dramatic than TV shows you. 4. My calves still hurt from Thursday's stroll. 5. It has it's own brand of cool: You can strike up a conversation with a total stranger and become great friends in 5 minutes. 6. They don't want your money, ridiculously cheap food & beverage (and that's my line of work), they just want you to enjoy. 6. The gift shop is another story, you can burn $600 in ten minutes, but that's your call (guilty). 7. Cigars are still cool there. 8. Pin placements both days looked like Sunday's. Go for a flag, and unless you hit your career best shot, suffer the consequences. Crenshaw said "triple tough" and thats the best description I heard. 9. The beauty of the place: perfect turf, but hard as a brick. The flowers are too numerous to recognize individually, it's just a blur of color. The speed of the greens, 14.5 on Thursday, lag putts all day, then leave the uphillers short. 10. They haven't missed a thing in runnning a tournament, there's a volunteer for everything.
Ya gotta go if ever you can, especially if you love the game like I do.
And I have no clue who's gonna win this thing, but he'll have some magic working to do it.