Attending the 3M Open

 

Yesterday my wife, Amy, and I had the pleasure of going to the 3M Open, the PGA golf tournament that was held in Blaine. It’s pretty cool that the PGA has this tournament that is so close to where we live. I drive by the course almost every day on Radison Road. I haven’t had the chance to golf there, but our Rotary Club met in the Clubhouse of the TPC for many years. Every Wednesday when Rotary met I could look out the window of the Clubhouse at the 18^th green. 

This is the thirtieth year of the 3M Open. The tournament replaced the 3M Championship in 2019. The 3M championship was a senior golf event. Before the 3M Championship the tournament was known as the Coldwell Banker Burnet Classic and the Burnet Senior Classic. 

The 3M Open offers non-profits the opportunity to raise money by volunteering at different concession stands. Many folks from our church from Chain of Lakes were there. I was scheduled to volunteer on Friday, but our stand was double-booked. 

Going with Amy on Sunday was a spectator opportunity. We’ve gone almost every year. We waited until early afternoon to arrive. Getting there was easy. We drove to the soccer fields by the National Sports Center, got on an air-conditioned bus and arrived at the gate. 

Mapping out a schedule is the biggest challenge of watching golf. Being able to look at my phone and knowing which golfer is on which hole is very helpful. We eventually landed at the 12^th green and watched the golfers aim for the pin. The 12^th is a par 5 which is reachable in two shots. Most of the golfers were near the green in two shots. Lee Hodges showed why he won the tournament by hitting a 258 shot within three feet of the pin for an eventual eagle. For me that was the shot of the tournament. 

The 3M Open has struggled to attract the top golfers to the tournament. With the tournament being a week after the British Open, many of the best golfers don’t attend. This year Tony Finau and Justin Thomas  were the biggest names to come to the tournament. Finau won the tournament last year and Thomas was trying to get additional Fed Ex points. 

One added highlight was the addition of Caleb VanArragon to the field. He graduated from Blaine High School the same year as my daughter, Hannah. He has been on an incredible streak of golf lately as he won the Minnesota State Open by nine strokes and then the MGA State Amateur Championship by twelve strokes. He was wisely given a sponsor exemption. I followed his round on Thursday from the comfort of my phone. 

After spending some time sitting near the 12^th green yesterday, Amy wanted to go shopping. So I found Finau’s group and followed him for three holes. He was golfing with Aaron Baddeley. Watching each of them hit drives of over 325 yards and then hit the green is amazing. I gained a new appreciation for the quality of these golfers. 

Amy and I hung out at the 18^th green for a while and watched many of the golfers try to go over the water and hit the green in two. Sitting in the stands on the 18^th hole would be a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. Most of the golfers were not laying up, so each shot into the green had its own drama. 

When it became apparent that Hodges was going to win the tournament, Amy and I decided to leave. We wanted to beat the line to the bus and the traffic out of the parking lot. We were successful at that. I would guess it took twenty minutes to arrive home after climbing on the bus. I even had the opportunity to watch some of the closing interviews on CBS. 

To do well at golf is financially lucrative. The total purse for the 3M Open was 7.8 million. Hodges won 1.4 million for winning the event. The last place contestant won $15,600. 

Hodges led the entire tournament—the first wire-to-wire victory on the PGA Tour since 2019. His margin of victory was the largest of the season. Patrick Reusse wrote an excellent article about him in the Strib and predicted that he would win many more tournaments. 

The dates for next year’s tournament have already been set. I put them in my calendar. I’ll be there, and hope that many top-ten golfers will attend.