John Lieser's April 24 Column -- St. Cloud Times

April 24, 2014 | 6 min.

        Baseball and golf have one thing in common.  They both use sticks that smash balls.  However, the main difference is that in one game the ball is moving at a fast pace and in the other the balls sits stationary.  So one would conclude hitting a baseball is harder to master than golf.  That is not always the case as one of the greats of baseball can attest to in the following quote.
         “It took me 17 years to get 3,000 hits.  I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.” Hank Aaron (b.1934).  That hyperbole was attributed to one of the greatest baseball players who ever played America’s pastime.  In Albany before its golf course opened in 1960, baseball, not golf was the sport that most high school athletes played. It also hooked teenager Norb Neuwirth.
         Neuwirth loved to play baseball as a youth.  Graduating from Albany High School in 1961, he continued to play amateur baseball in Avon and St. Joseph for town teams until a motorcycle accident in 1976 fractured his leg in five places and abruptly ended his baseball playing career.
         What sport do aging baseball players evolve into after their playing days are done? Many take up what Central Minnesota farmers referred to as pasture pool----golf?  Witness the popularity of the Stearns County League baseball players’ tournament when nearly 200 former players will flock to Rich Spring G.C. on the last Friday this June to compete in the league’s annual golf gathering and nostalgia funfest!  
        As many baseball players had done, Neuwirth turned his passion to golf and was hired to coach the Cold Spring Rocori boys’ golf team; that gig lasted six years; he also directed the district’s community education program.  
        After giving community education golf lessons for many years he had an idea-----there were too many novices who wanted to learn the game for one person to teach.  His class sizes approached an unwieldy number.  After he retired from the community education position in 1997, he opted to make his epiphany real---------he would individualize instruction by building a separate facility to provide one-on-one instruction.
         The next year he built a 40 X 60 foot out building adjacent to his Avon country home so beginners and accomplished players could continue to learn, practice and refine their games during all types of weather.  
        A few weeks ago I ventured out to his practice facility for a peek.  As one enters the nondescript structure one can sense Neuwirth’s Central Minnesota ingenuity, passion and humor.   A large wood stove sticks out to supply heat and as Neuwirth told me, “I have lived on this five acre plot for 37 years and have used wood to heat my home and this building all that time.” A sign with a catchy double entendre read, “Only loose women and swingers allowed. The Management."
         This facility is ultra-low-tech but quite pragmatic.  The building has demarcated stations where one can practice any phase of the game.  For example, there are different sections where one can practice hitting woods, irons, sand play and putting.  
         What intrigued me was how Neuwirth used basic items such as old carpet strips as targets, cut-off water hoses as tees, and landscaped 6 X 6 wood blocks that are placed near the feet to stabilize the swing and ensure proper balance and weight shift, cut off hula hoops to simulate the correct swing plane and numerous other imaginative devices that were both inexpensive and functional.  
        His ingenuity also gave rise to a 26 X 26 foot putting green that has undulations----one can putt left to right and right to left putts.  Moreover, the sand in the simulated bunker is so good that most golf courses would envy the texture.
        As I looked around I spotted the three antiquated television sets that were stationed around the facility, mirrors that would impel players to see their swing in a reflection, and the VHS tapes and some DVD videos that a beginner or accomplished golfer can access.
        The garage is adorned with ancient golf memorabilia, time-honored pictures and quirky quotations which wax poetic on golf’s past and present.  He even has compiled a scrap book filled with eclectic lessons taken from all the best teachers which include what he calls his golf bible, “My Golden Lessons (2002)”, by Jack Nicklaus.
        Neuwirth, who also makes clubs and does club repair, told me this avocation has been a life-long labor of love.  He loves to teach the game one-on-one, see his beginners' progress, become passionate, and ultimately derive pleasure from playing golf.
        He concluded, “It’s been a fulfilling ride, I have met a lot of wonderful people and had a chance to work with good golfers, high school golf teams, but primarily beginners.   I try to keep the use of the facility inexpensive.  You pay $10 the first time and $5 for the rest of your visits.  You can use the facility as long you wish or as he humorously stated--- until I have to go to bed which for a 71-year old is 10 p.m.”
         Marlin Faber, a 70-year St. Joseph resident and golf beginner arrived as I departed.  He was present to start his journey and begin a passionate love affair with golf.
 
Golf Notes:
         A post mortem on this year’s Masters.  Wasn’t it fun to watch a televised golf tournament and not hear some nitwit holler, “Get in the hole?”   A reminder that if you want to go to the 2015 event and try to secure a practice round ticket, go to www.masters.com/tickets to create an account.  
         Former St. Cloud banker John Caldwell and his father Howard attended this year’s Masters on the Monday practice round preceding the event.  Unfortunately, rain wiped out the practice round.  However, the Masters tournament decided to refund all the money the patrons paid and said they could apply for ducats next year and they would be provided practice tickets for the 2015 event.  That is a classy gesture. Another couple who attended the Masters on Thursday’s first round was Bill and Beth Lammer.  Lammer, a non-golfer, had one word to summarize his day-------------“awesome.”
         1984 Apollo graduate Dan DeMuth has taught golf for many years in his Golden Valley facility.  His unique method of golf instruction called “Performance in Motion” was aired on WCCO radio on Sunday April 6 with host Steve Thompson.  DeMuth, who qualified for the MSHSL state tournament, his senior year, has written a book entitled, “Secrets of the Golf Whisperer: On & Off the Course.  If you want to check it out, the book is for sale on Amazon.com.
 
Jgl843@charter.net
 

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