Upcoming Events: Memorial Tournament

The summer is beginning to wind down, and that means golf season is as well. With the season’s end on the way, it means that the social time of golfers will become harder to find, but we have a solution to help you make the most of what remaining time is left! On August 14th, Blueberry Pines will host a 4-person scramble tournament. The scramble is a 1:30 pm shotgun at the always beautiful Blueberry Pines Golf Course.

A day on the course can make anyone more than a bit hungry. Luckily, we’ve got you covered. A Barbecue will be held during the tournament, providing some savory BBQ ribs and chicken, along with baked beans, cole slaw, and chips. Refuel yourself before you finish the tournament, you’re going to need the extra energy to take first place.

All you need to decide is who you are going to pick for your teammates. You could go with siblings, children, or parents and enjoy a wonderful family day, or you could go around the office and seek out the best golfers and have a competitive team! Or maybe you will use this as an opportunity for the last big Summer “hurrah” with your buddies and enjoy a wonderful day of golfing with your friends, eating some fantastic food. Whichever you choose, come make some memories at Blueberry Pines’ Memorial Tournament!

Why You Should Spend More Time at the Driving Range

As Minnesotan golfers, we don’t have the luxury of all-year round golfing.  When the warm weather hits, we try to hit the course as much as possible while there is no snow on the ground. Indoor driving ranges are an excellent way to keep loose and maintain your swing during the long winter months. So, if the indoor driving ranges are so crucial to keeping an effective golf game during the off-season, why don’t we utilize the outdoor driving range while the season is in full swing? Here’s a few reasons why we believe it would be beneficial for you to spend more time on the range:

Save Yourself a Few Strokes

Most of us know that usually the first hole is one of the worst of the entire round. Hitting a driver when you are not warmed up (especially if everyone around the proshop watching your group tee off) is a disaster in the making. Instead of showing up 15 minutes before your tee time, show up 40 minutes early and hit a bucket of range balls to shake off the cobwebs and be ready to impress.

Keep Your Game Fresh

Life is busy- there can be times when you cannot make it to the range for weeks at a time, which ultimately may cause your golf game to suffer. The perfect solution is to hit up the driving range. You may not have time in the day for a four-hour round of golf, but you may have the time to hit the range for 20-30 minutes.

“Practice Makes Perfect”

This is a quote we have all heard a few thousand times in our lives, but in regards to golf it is very relevant. Use the range to fix the biggest and smallest flaws in your game. What sounds better- having to aim 70 yards to the left of the hole so you can play your nasty slice, or being able to aim down the middle of the fairway and have a better chance with your putt?

Additional Workout

We golf because we love the sport, but it is a small bonus that we can get exercise from it as well. Take advantage of the range to stay active, help gain more flexibility and athleticism, and burn more calories.

Don’t overlook the driving range because it may hold the key to unlocking your golfing game to new heights. For additional help at the range and with your game, Blueberry Pines offers group and private lessons that can be booked online or by calling the Golf Shop at (800) 652 -4940 or (218)-564-4653.

Blueberry Pines Golf Course Ground Conditions

With the golf season finally underway, one may be wondering about the conditions of our golf course after the winter. The answer is simple-  very well!

 

The greens are still in the thawing stage, but the frost is just about gone. We have been busily watering the greens with a tank to add some much-needed moisture into the topsoil, which is very dry from lack of precipitation during the winter. We will continue to do this until we can turn on the irrigation system, which will hopefully be in just a couple of weeks. This lack of water also means that we cannot yet mow the greens yet. We will be mowing them as soon as the weather permits. The lack of snow this winter helped our course to quickly get ready for golfers to start hitting the links. Thanks to our lack of snow and our sandy, dry soil, the golf course was able to open this year on the earliest opening date in Blueberry Pines history! (March 13, 2015)

As for the rest of our course, it came through the winter exceptionally well, considering it was exposed to the elements through most of it. Despite our mild winter, our grounds crew is and will be continually cleaning up. We are still unfortunately seeing the after effects of the fire two years ago, due to the fact that bark beetles have moved into some of the damaged trees. We had to remove some of these trees, and are keeping up with cutting down other dead trees. However, that should not compromise the beauty of the course. It remains to be seen how our mild winter and lack of snowfall will affect the trees.

We are looking forward to another wonderful season, and hope to see you out here golfing all summer long!

The Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Golf

Beloved by people of all ages and personalities, golf is a constantly exciting game. It provides many benefits to your health, your athletic ability, and your social group. Whether you are looking to start playing for the first time or looking to return to the game, below are ten good reasons why you should play the game of golf.

1. Improve Your Physical Health
While Mark Twain call golf “a good walk spoiled,” regularly playing golf can benefit your health in many ways. Brisk walking provides light cardiovascular exercise and excellent circulation for your body. Golf helps to lower the risk of injury and aching bones, and in return will revitalize muscular flexibility. Also, carrying your own equipment—a weight-bearing exercise—will help improve your bone health and increase your metabolism.

2. Improve Your Mental Health
Golf is a therapeutic and stress-relieving sport that requires concentration. A temporary reprieve from the hectic schedule of life will improve your mental health significantly, allowing you to center and refocus after. The social aspect of golf and sharing a common interest with others can increase self-esteem and happiness while lifting depression and improving your outlook on life.

3. It is a Brain Exercise
No matter the outcome, you are sure to employ a number of strategies in your game that will exercise different areas of your brain. Problem-solving through the use of geometry and spatial reasoning to strategize your aim will provide a great workout for the left hemisphere of your brain, while the visualization techniques you use to imagine your swing will exercise the right hemisphere of your brain. This creative workout will stimulate the tracking functions in your brain as well.

4. Sharpen Your Focus and Coordination
By concentrating on your swing and imagining where the aim of your ball will travel, you are training your brain to focus on a target. Playing golf repeatedly will train you to focus on tasks and control your thought processing. Golf exercises your coordination as well, as you utilize precision strokes and balance to play.

5. Surround Yourself with Nature
Golfing gives you the opportunity to breathe in fresh air. With hundreds of beautiful golf courses around the country, it is not hard to embrace nature’s beautiful and winding views of oceans, forests, mountains, and more. Being on the course will help you soak up some extra sunrays. The Vitamin D provided by the sun will help increase your energy levels, improve your attitude, generate healthy cell growth, and aid in your calcium absorption. Plus, all the added health benefits will help you sleep soundly.

6. A Challenge for Every Athlete
No matter how competitive you are in sports, every different game of golf presents a new challenge -- a new personal best to beat or a new terrain to conquer. Golf is an excellent game for those who seek competition, and it is among only a handful of sports that has tournaments readily available for non-professional athletes around the world.

7. Learn Etiquette and Good Social Habits

Because there are no referees in the game, unspoken etiquette rules are how players govern both themselves and fellow competitors. Etiquette rules prove useful on and off the course. It allows you to practice personal responsibility and self-regulate your temper. It emphasizes respect and consideration for your peers and for the space in which you play.

8. A Game for Everybody
Simply put, anybody can play golf, regardless of age, gender or previous athletic ability. It’s a sport that can bond generations, heal disagreements and spark friendships regardless of whether you are a novice or a master of the game. A perfect union of socializing and exercising, it’s not hard to understand why people consider golf to be a life-long sport.

9. Network Your Way Through the Course

The nature of golf provides a relaxed atmosphere where you can socialize with peers and where you can easily make innumerable contacts. A round of golf can shed light on the integrity, personality, and habits of a playing partner. Being proficient at golf may help you make business deals and provide great opportunities for your professional life and personal connections.

10. New Trends

While the game itself can be traced back to 15th century Scotland, new trends always emerge in golf that keeps it relevant today. These trends address broadening the game further for a younger, more diverse group of people, and accommodating a generation where instant gratification trumps the rewarding game of golf.

These top ten reasons are only the tip of the iceberg for why golf is such a great sport to play. To discover why you should golf, visit Blueberry Pines Golf, Dining & Event Center located in beautiful Northern Minnesota near Park Rapids and Menahga, Minnesota. This beautiful championship 18-hole golf course features ‘towering trees, rolling hills, and a spring-fed streams’ plus offers individual golf outings as well as golf events and tournaments throughout out the year. Don’t wait to figure out why golf is the game for you!

How to Keep your Golf Game in the Winter

When the sun is shining and the thermometer mercury stays around a comfortable 70 degrees, your golf game stays strong, but when the winter rolls around, some of us can fall out of the groove. To keep yourself on your toes and prepared for the spring, take a look at these helpful tips:

 

 

Indoor Driving Range

An indoor golf range would definitely be a great idea to utilize it in the wintertime to take your game back to the basics. Indoor golf training centers also typically include golf simulators to help golfers work on every aspect of their game.

Practice in your Garage

If an indoor driving range isn’t an option in your area, swing a weighted golf club in your garage to improve strength in your arms and wrists. Over time, it will increase your rate of speed when you swing your club.

Get Some Exercise

Whether starting a membership at your local gym, or playing a round of racquetball every Tuesday and Thursday night, the more exercise you get in will help your golf game. Improving your personal condition through strength and flexibility will help you avoid injury and play better once the season begins again.

Grip and Swing

It may sound tedious, but practice your grip and swing, even if you don’t have a ball to hit. These are small improvements that can make a big impact on your golf game come spring.

Lift Weights

Lifting weights regularly can add strength and power to your swing to really increase your drive on the ball.

Look in the Mirror

It is easy to notice when someone else is holding their driver a little funny or taking the club in too far on the backswing, but sometimes when you are holding the club wrong, it is hard to notice. If it is easier, you could even video yourself and see if their are any improvements to be made; you may actually be surprised at what you come across.

Practice Putting

In our opinion, whether it is summer or winter, you can never get enough practice putting! You can practice easily on your living room carpet, or on your own green, if you have one.

Once spring hits, our staff at Blueberry Pines hopes to see you on our course with your new-found winter golf improvements. For more information about Blueberry Pines Golf, Dining or Event center visit our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn or Google+ pages!