I ran cross country on the SDSU course in the 1950's. We did most of our training there and had a race or two. I remember a dual meet with the University of Minnesota in 1958.
Great story. The last year of the State Cross Country meet being held at the North course was 1975. I ran that year as a sophomore at Lincoln High School. The distance was 2.2 miles. The next year, with distance going metric to 5000 meters, the location was moved to Edgebrook.
magine running a 5 mile cross country race on that course! That was the SDSU home course until 1976. We ran our CC workouts on the course and one afternoon a thunder/hail storm came in out of nowhere. Most of the team - coach Jay Dirksen included - huddles under the one lone tree at the far north end of the course. The hail was intense and to run back to the club house through it wasn't an option. So 10-15 of us took our chances that the tree wouldn't be struck by lighting and kill us all!! Those sand greens where a trip! I was a HPER major and our golf skill block was taught by Sam Milanovich. Sam was a super guy. He taught and coached at Lennox High School when I was there and then at SDSU when I was there. During our golf lesson on the old north course, he dropped a couple golf balls and went through a in-depth explanation on the proper way to hit a 5 iron from 100+ yards out. After his narration he hit one of the balls to within 1-2 feet of one of the sand green holes. Without hesitation he reached down and picked up the other ball saying "if you think I'm going to hit this one, you're nuts!" When I moved to Dickinson, ND in 1989 - yep, there was Sam coaching at Dickinson State University. His nickname for me was "the Lennox Flash". I loved it. He always had a fun nickname for people.
I think golf has always had a white collar feel but the real transition from affordable to all vs. affordable to some can really be traced back to the incoporation of all grass greens. The maintenance required for grass greens is really what changes the green fee prices from cheap to some what expensive. Now, I think there is enough disparity in quality that golf is pretty affordable to everyone (at least in the Midwest) but a smattering of sand green courses would make it even more affordable and accessible.
I ran cross country on the SDSU course in the 1950's. We did most of our training there and had a race or two. I remember a dual meet with the University of Minnesota in 1958.
Great story. The last year of the State Cross Country meet being held at the North course was 1975. I ran that year as a sophomore at Lincoln High School. The distance was 2.2 miles. The next year, with distance going metric to 5000 meters, the location was moved to Edgebrook.
Thanks for letting me know! I knew the state meet changed over to Edgebrook at some point in the 70s but I wasn't sure the exact year.
magine running a 5 mile cross country race on that course! That was the SDSU home course until 1976. We ran our CC workouts on the course and one afternoon a thunder/hail storm came in out of nowhere. Most of the team - coach Jay Dirksen included - huddles under the one lone tree at the far north end of the course. The hail was intense and to run back to the club house through it wasn't an option. So 10-15 of us took our chances that the tree wouldn't be struck by lighting and kill us all!! Those sand greens where a trip! I was a HPER major and our golf skill block was taught by Sam Milanovich. Sam was a super guy. He taught and coached at Lennox High School when I was there and then at SDSU when I was there. During our golf lesson on the old north course, he dropped a couple golf balls and went through a in-depth explanation on the proper way to hit a 5 iron from 100+ yards out. After his narration he hit one of the balls to within 1-2 feet of one of the sand green holes. Without hesitation he reached down and picked up the other ball saying "if you think I'm going to hit this one, you're nuts!" When I moved to Dickinson, ND in 1989 - yep, there was Sam coaching at Dickinson State University. His nickname for me was "the Lennox Flash". I loved it. He always had a fun nickname for people.
Great story, thanks for sharing!
Per your ending I would be really curious to know more about golfs transition from affordable weekend hobby to white collar standard.
I think golf has always had a white collar feel but the real transition from affordable to all vs. affordable to some can really be traced back to the incoporation of all grass greens. The maintenance required for grass greens is really what changes the green fee prices from cheap to some what expensive. Now, I think there is enough disparity in quality that golf is pretty affordable to everyone (at least in the Midwest) but a smattering of sand green courses would make it even more affordable and accessible.