OPINION: Rubado: There's nothing like the Birchmont... or is there?

Aug. 4—Admittedly, it took me longer than expected to make it out to the Bemidji Town and Country Club for the first time.

For some reason, the cards never lined up for me to cover any of the high school or collegiate golf teams at BTCC this spring.

My first trip down Birchmont Beach Road was for the Galen Nagle Memorial Golf Tournament, an event for Bemidji State men's hockey alumni that gave me an opportunity to interview Stanley Cup champion Zach Whitecloud. Before the festivities kicked off, I met with Micah Friez, the former sports editor at the Pioneer.

Micah showed me around the clubhouse area and pointed to the cart path leading up to the 10th tee box. He said, "Right up there overlooks the clubhouse, and you'll find the best view of Lake Bemidji in the whole town."

I didn't have time to check it out that day, but that comment stuck with me as I walked up to the clubhouse on Monday, July 24 — the first day of the 99th Birchmont Golf Tournament.

I was there to chat with four players who were warming up for their 30th qualifying round together. After talking with Rick Passolt, Pete Passolt, Curt Howard and Tim Gruidl, I had about 20 minutes to kill before my next assignment. I walked up the cart path to the 10th tee box and checked out the view.

To absolutely no one's surprise, Micah was right. It really is the best view of the lake. But I think that moment hit a little harder for me because I've felt that exact same feeling twice before.

The first time was in August of 2019 at the Alexandria Golf Club. It was a blistering Saturday at the Resorters Golf Tournament, my first time covering the event. For those who don't know, the Birchmont and Resorters are two legs of a three-week stretch of match-play tournaments in northern Minnesota. Unofficially dubbed the Resort Tour, some players are eager enough to participate in all three.

My first Resorters was a beast. At the Alexandria Echo Press newspaper, we churned out daily issues for our readers. Late nights and even earlier mornings made our four-person staff for the week a little hysterical. But by championship Saturday, the hard part was in the rearview mirror, and I got to enjoy the beauty of high-level golf.

There's a hole at AGC that looks over a hole on the back nine, and behind the tee box is a bench. Exhausted from the week, I sat and watched the two women's division golfers play what ended up being the final hole of the match. A horde of people followed them as they walked from the tee box to the green, but I stayed behind. I just took it in — all of it.

Three summers later, I was at the Detroit Lakes Country Club covering the Pine to Palm Golf Tournament — the third event of the Resort Tour. My rigorous experience covering Resorters had me over-prepared for the solo responsibility of covering the 90th Pine to Palm.

I remember sitting in a golf cart near the ninth green, waiting on a men's player for a sidebar story. I took in a view overlooking the entire fairway that stretches up the road leading to the clubhouse. It stuck with me the same way the view in Alexandria did, as did the one in Bemidji a year later.

Moments like those can put a lot of things into perspective. For me, those visuals taught me the importance of the Resort Tour. No words I can write will do justice to those who relish those weeks. It's not just about family or friends, winning or losing, good or bad shots. Those weeks are about the communal essence of sports.

Seeing people reunite, play through the struggles of a hole or exhale after a week-long gauntlet of golf gives you an understanding of how much people value these tournaments. These events raise kids, graduating them through their stages of life until they bring their own kids to play in the tournaments themselves.

Following this year's Pine to Palm, which begins on Monday, Aug. 7, there will have been 291 iterations of Resort Tour tournaments. I've covered five of them, and there's a good chance I'm the only person who's covered all three versions. From a media perspective, these weeks are a beast, but it's a welcomed challenge that routinely leaves me proud of the work we accomplish.

I've thought about that view from the bench behind the tee box at AGC — who I was at the time and who I've become. I'm proud of the things I've accomplished that have gotten me to this point. But what does it for me is seeing the success of the people around me.

Whether it's my coworkers, the brilliant reporting from Christian Babcock and Dennis Doeden that was matched by the incredible photography from Madelyn Haasken, Annalise Braught and Maggi Fellerman, or the countless hours of coverage devoted by the sports departments I've been a part of in Alexandria or Detroit Lakes, these weeks are rewarding.

These tournaments don't happen without hundreds of dedicated workers and even more golfers that give us their time. We appreciate the people who share their stories and allow us to tell them.