Allison - Flight Zone Toptracer Driving Range

Running Scared Zombie 5K

A couple of weeks ago, we hosted a 5K at our golf course to raise money for Shoes that Fit. We were super excited to be able to present them a check for $1,200. All of the money will stay right here in our area to provide shoes to low income children. All I have to say, is WOW! That was so much fun. For several years, I have wanted to do some sort of an event to showcase our beautiful property that has been naturalized by my dad, Tom. The Human Squirrel. He has planted thousands of trees by seed and over the last 15 years, he has created a beautiful sanctuary for birds, wildlife and native grasses. After attending a golf conference last January, I ran into a friend who had competed in a zombie 5K. Something just clicked for me. Originally, I thought it’d be fun to hold a zombie run and raise money for the Blood Center of Iowa. Then, I remembered my sweet friend, Leslie. She and her boss, Bob, help to run the Shoes that Fit Organization here in Des Moines. I set up a meeting with them and explained that I wanted to hold a fundraiser for them. They were so excited about the idea. The plan was on. It was so fun to see all the hard work come together on Race Day. Runners begin checking in on the driving range. They received a runner’s packet that had a drink ticket, ticket to the after party, bib number, and flag football belts that would serve as health. While the runners stretched on the driving range, our zombies were busy getting transformed in our zombification zone. The race started on our driving range tee box. They ran up the hill and into the first of several forested areas on our property. They made their way into the forest. All runners had flag football belts around their waists. These represented their health. Would they survive the brain eating zombies? We had prom queen zombie. Then, we had zombie Luigi, Minnie Mouse, and Captain America. Our runners did their best to avoid the zombies. It proved to be more challenging than even I had anticipated. While I watched, I noticed hardly anyone had their flags, so I set out to find new flags for the runners to wear! My brother and I had full time jobs of keeping runners supplied with water. Up until race day, it had been fairly mild temperatures. Race day was pretty hot. We went through a lot of water! We had several health flag stations set up out on the course, but I definitely didn’t provide enough. Who knew how accurate those zombies would be at eating brains?! We had tall grasses for zombies to hide amongst. This caught many unsuspecting runners by surprise. Look at them. Laughing. Ha. Ha. We made it up that horrible hill with our flags attached!Then, the cheerleader pounced on her prey. We had some zombies who crawled. Most were chasers. The course weaved through trees and up and down hills. The final destination ended by running around the pond and near the minigolf until the runners finished by our conference center. Triumph for ending the race with health flags in place! Runners received two types of shirts. One for the dead and one for the survivors.Next up was the Apocalypse Party that followed! The room was lit with blacklights to add some fun to the evening. We had a best zombie contest. Our cheerleader zombie was the favorite! It was so much fun. I truly enjoyed watching others who were having a great time. It made all the hard work worth the effort! I have organized many events before, but this was my first stab at running a 5K. I definitely learned a lot and met many great people along the way. CLICK HERE for a massive gallery of photos from the evening. Please feel free to use them for your own personal use! Thanks again for coming out to enjoy the day! It happened to coincide with the second longest day of the year. The moon came out shortly before 10 p.m. How about you? Are you prepared to survive the zombie apocalypse?

Tadpole Junior Golf Tournament

Golf Course

It simply wouldn’t be a sport if you didn’t have some sort of finishing tournament followed up by a trophy presentation. We had our annual Tadpole Junior Golf Tournament last Thursday. I have found one thing over the years. The kids may forget their swing, stance or grip from year to year, but they absolutely do NOT forget what style of trophy is presented. I made the mistake one year of having the same trophy with a different colored back drop from the previous year. Yep. I heard a kid say, “Oh. It’s like last year’s only it’s blue.” I tried handing out medals last year and they simply didn’t have the same appeal as a full fledged personalized trophy. I was on a hunt this year for something fun for the kids. Then. I found these. That’s right. Those would be bobblehead trophies. I. Was. In. Love. Having three kids myself, I knew these would be a huge hit. They definitely were, too. There was plenty of head shaking going on once the trophies had been handed out. We could also name this tournament, the yearly event where Allison has lost her mind. I’m quite certain that when other golfers glance over at what’s happening, they are immediately concerned. It isn’t every day that you see 10 carts that make up a foursome of golfers! We have parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles come to watch the little ones show off their skills on the golf course. The golf carts are their traveling bleachers. I always say that these kids will grow up to be rock star golfers because they are completely not phased by hitting the ball in front of 20+ people’s eyes. Moms and dads help out to make sure everything runs smoothly. Our oldest group of kids come early and play for two hours before quitting. Next group play for 1.5 hours, while the small ones play for an hour and our 8 and under age group only play one hole from 150 yards out. In case you were wondering, playing one hole takes about 45 minutes. Yikes! Luckily, that is why this all takes place after 7:30 at night. It also conveniently coincides with the longest day of the year, so we don’t run out of sunlight! I truly love watching all these young kids learn the great game of golf. It’s so heartwarming to see their parents instruct and teach the next generation of golfers. Many kids couldn’t make the tournament. Summer time is very demanding with camps and other activities. Here are pictures of each of our age groups. Here are our 8 and unders that were taught by Lance. Our second young 8 and under age group that was taught by the girls high school golf team. Next up was Bruce’s group which were 9 and 10 year olds. Followed up by the 11 and 12 year olds that were taught by Mark. Troy taught all the kids over 13 years of age. Many of them have been with us for several years. It was another great year! Thanks to all those parents who are training up their kids to be fabulous golfers. It’s a lifelong sport and can bring so much joy to their lives.

Rally for a Cure

Golf Course

Every year, our Women’s Club holds a Rally for the Cure. This is a Two Gal Best Shot tournament that raises money for breast cancer. We work with the Komen Foundation here in Des Moines. The proceeds to this event go to helping to pay for breast cancer screenings. It’s a great opportunity to honor those members of our Women’s Club who are survivors as well as those who are no longer with us. It is truly amazing how breast cancer affects so many people. Every year, Komen provides us with a Rally hole. This is on number nine. The ladies make a donation which gives them a magazine, sleeve of balls, and an opportunity to win a driver. All of the ladies come dressed in pink and ready to have a great day on the golf course. We were really fortunate to have an absolutely beautiful day this year. It’s fun to see the crowd. Many are cancer survivors as well as mother/daughter teams. Most of them are simply friends who enjoy spending time together and playing a little golf while they are at it.Our friend, Trisha Trixie, made an appearance for the day. She was selling adorable earrings that were pink golf tees. The ladies enjoy donuts and coffee in the morning.The room is set up with linens donated by Ameripride, plus there are enough prizes that every single golfer walks away with a nice prize! We are very blessed to have such an amazing group of ladies who make up our board for our Women’s club as well as a great community who helps to support this event. Once all the golfers are done with their round, they are treated to one of our favorite meals! Crunchy chicken salad. It’s always a big hit with all the golfers. If you’d like to participate next year, simply sign up to be a part of our Birthday Club and you’ll get our emails with all the information about what is going on at the golf course! This is a great event for a wonderful cause and is held every year on the third Thursday in June. Our Women’s Club president this year is a breast cancer survivor! Go Jean!

Let the Playing Commence!

Project List

Menards sent us a rebate check, so you know us. We couldn’t let it burn a hole in our pocket. The show must go on, so we decided to add a play set to the miniature golf course. If you recall, on a rainy day in May, our boys had dug up some sod and had placed woodchips down to prepare for the play set area. We have wanted to provide some more fun activities for families to use in conjunction with our weekly Tuesday Night Burger Night. Doug and Dick got to work one day by looking into the playset box just to see what fun project I had purchased for them. The excitement was building. If we are anything, we are resourceful. They had their own makeshift saw horses. Of course, they never stray too far away from their golf clubs. Once the dinner bell rang, they had to leave for the day for their daily tee time. The finished play set would have to wait another day. They made all of their cuts and the beginnings of a play set had started to form. From this picture, you might be thinking that I probably should have spent my rebate money from Menards on a ladder. Ladders are clearly not quite as fun. We do have a ladder. It just wasn’t as easily accessible at the time. Luckily, no one was hurt in the making of this play set! Once it was constructed, they needed to find out if it would be strong enough to hold multiple children. Here the boys are discussing what they could possibly do to determine if their carpentry skills would hold up to lots of kids! They took one look at Ron and decided that if he could hang from the play set without it collapsing, they’d be in luck! Ron hung from the bar and everything stayed in place. Yep. It was deemed safe for kids. Ron was too quick for the camera, so here is the after shot of his hanging from the play set. This play set is a great addition to the miniature golf course. It is located right next to number 18, so it makes a nice stop for the finish. We’re pretty excited about it and we were thrilled when we saw several kids playing on it that evening. What a great way to spend time as a family or even a day care stop. Nothing beats a good swing! Here is the finished product. Have you played on our new play set yet? It has two swings, a slide, climbing wall and small clubhouse landing area.

Tribute to Dan O’Donnell, Sr.

Golf Course

Back in 1994, we hosted a golf outing for the O’Donnell family. It was the first one which served as a family reunion of sorts. About 40 golfers were present. The family which included Dan & Dee O’Donnell, their 10 children, spouses and grandchildren had a great time and plans were made for another family reunion the following year. In 1995, the O’Donnell family hosted their second annual golf outing and decided to raise some money for their grandchildren’s cheerleading squad at Lincoln High School in Des Moines. They brought in about $1,500 for the Lincoln Railsplitters and the family was bitten by the fundraising bug. Since then, they have raised over $800,000 for local charities in the twenty years they have been coming to our golf course. They are one of the most amazing families that I have ever met. Meet Dan and Dee O’Donnell. This picture was taken last year. Dan O’Donnell, Sr. had just turned 80 years old. They made it their goal to earn $80,000 in his honor. That’s exactly what they did! They presented a check to the Iowa Parkinson’s Foundation for $80,000! In November 2012, Dan O’Donnell, Sr. passed away from his long battle with cancer. In his honor, the family came out last week and presented the golf course with a bench in his memory. We placed it along the cart path along number one, so if you’re waiting in line to tee off please be sure to take a peek at it. The family came out to the golf course last Thursday to place the bench and have it blessed. It was an emotional day because the next day they would host their 20th Annual O’Donnell Open and Friends tournament. The first one without their leader and patriarch. They came inside after and discussed all the many things their dad had done to make their golf outing such a great success over the years. When you’re sitting on Dan’s bench, you should know that you’re sitting on a bench commemorating one of the greats. A giving and selfless man with a tremendous legacy. Dan O’Donnell, Sr. How about you? Has your family given something to the golf course to remember a loved one? It is such an honor to us when our business plays such a role in someone’s life.

Sold! To the Man in the Back!

Project List

When we first started doing events about 6 years ago, we were really surprised at all the different types of events there are out there in the world. Our most unusual, to us, event request is auctions. They are also our favorite as we think it is fun and exciting to hear them rattle off the numbers. Farmers National Company came out to our place to host an auction for land that they were selling down the street from our property. They set up in our Golfer’s Lounge with seating for about 30 – 40 people. We saw some of our neighbors who attended the auction out of curiosity as to who would be purchasing this farmland. We are host to about 5 auctions a year. Each one is run by different auction company from around the area. It’s a fascinating business if you ask me. They get hired to sell land or estates. Mostly we are host to auctions for land. There have been several here that the product wasn’t purchased because it didn’t meet the low bid requirement. How about you? Have you ever purchased anything at an auction?

Marshmallow Long Drive Contest

Golf Course

We teach about 75 – 100 kids every summer the great game of golf. Since they are our little toads, we call it our Tadpole Junior Golf program. We try our best to be clever and possibly a little corny, too. It’s a curse and a blessing! Needless to say, we start the kids young. As in, 5 years old kind of young, which is really unusual in the golf world. It is our goal to get them addicted to golf at a young age, so that we help to turn them into the next Tiger Woods and help their parents to retire early. Tiger minus all the women and affairs part, that is. When you have a bunch of five through eight year olds and often their younger siblings on the golf course, you can only hold their attention for so long and then it stops. In order to keep their interests peaked at the golf course, we have something fun that we do with them after each lesson. We have putting contests, a water balloon toss, a long drive contest and more. When we first started doing the long drive contest, we used real golf balls and I stood in the middle of the driving range and made the assumption that they were eight years old and surely their ball speed wouldn’t hurt too badly if I did, in fact, get hit by one of their long, ahem, drives. Then, I went to a golf conference and I overheard someone mentioning the idea of using marshmallows for their long drive contest. That was all I needed to hear. Brilliant. My first stab at a marshmallow contest happened last year. The kids decorated their marshmallows and we hit them and then I left them on the driving range tee and our ball picker hated me for several weeks because they were a gooey mess and made the other range balls get stuck in the ball picker. I aim to keep a happy work environment. “It was for the kids!” I kept saying as he scraped the melted marshmallows from the ball machine. This year, we got bigger marshmallows and I put someone else in charge. Who said I don’t learn from my mistakes? I had my helper just write each kid’s name on his/her marshmallow. Here’s Lance with all the kids. They needed to spread out along the driving range. Then, they got lined up! As with all things that are fun in golf, Lance taught them the art of talking smack and had them raise their hand if they thought they would be the winner. Me! Me! I’m going to hit it the farthest! Ready. Aim. FIRE! The Marshmallows started flying! Lance spotted the marshmallow that had gone the farthest and picked it up to declare the winner! He declared the winner who received a free round of golf at the miniature golf course. Victory at its finest. Then Lance did something that made my ball picker very happy. He had all of the kids pick up their marshmallows. He’s a smart fellow, that Lance. When the kids asked if they could eat the marshmallows that had been hit, written on with a marker and had ants crawling on them, he did his second smart thing for the evening. He told the kids to ask their parents. Yep. Those contests make each night fun and exciting! How about you? Have you ever eaten a marshmallow covered in grass and ants? It probably adds some protein giving the marshmallow some nutritional value.

Running Scared Zombie Run’s Course

Family Matters

I thought I would offer a glimpse at the running course for the race that is taking place this Saturday, June 22. We have lots of beautiful areas in which to run. Check this out! Doesn’t this look like a Robert Frost poem? A nice fork in the road. When my kids were younger, they actually thought there was a literal fork stuck in the road. Kids are so funny. Most of these paths are in our 100 acres that we have naturalized north of number one. My dad, the tree man, planted all of these trees from seed nearly 15 years ago. In order to access these trees, my dad mowed in many trails. As the trees have grown, the trails have gotten to be a little oasis out in the middle of what feels like no where. We decided that it would be fun to have a 5K on these trails. Since our family is theatrical and a little odd, we thought we needed to include zombies with the running. After all, I only run if I’m being chased. So, zombies will hide in and among the trails and do their best to grab the runners health flags that are belted around their waists. Are you signed up to run? Will you get your brains eaten by zombies? Are you going to be a zombie? Be sure to check out our website for all the details. We will have an apocalypse party after, so even if you don’t run, you can still come dressed as a zombie.

Tuesday Night Burger Night

What's Cooking

I have lived on the golf course my whole life. For the vast majority of it, we haven’t really had many options to dine nearby. It has been nice that Pleasant Hill and Altoona have provided some more options in recent years, but it is still a 10+ minute drive. When we were visiting a golf course out in California, they mentioned they had a designated Burger Night that was really successful, so we thought we would give it a try. After all, we have a kitchen, make great food, and have a beautiful setting where you can enjoy the outdoor beauty. Couple that with the miniature golf and it could easily be a great option for families. We have now had two Tuesday Night Burger Nights. Each one has attracted new guests. The idea behind it is that you can choose which Burger you’d like, then you hit up the fixin’ bar to doctor up your sandwich any way you see fit! We have your standard lettuce, tomato, and onion, but you can also go a little crazy with jalepenos, cole slaw and sauteed bacon and onions. Last week, we had a KIOA radio station out here promoting the Burger Night. They have a traveling car that they give away. People have to guess how many keys are in the box to qualify to win. They keep the box blocked off, so there aren’t any cheaters who count keys. Not that we could have any cheaters attend Burger Night. We had a lot of fun with the crowd and look forward to increasing the trend for Tuesday Night Burger Night. The burgers are amazing. In fact, one person last week said that we could probably win a contest for best tasting burger. Check out this burger that traveled through the fixin’ bar! We also prepare orders to go, so if you’re in the area, just give us a call and we’ll have your order ready for you to pick up! Stop out for our Tuesday Night Burger Night! We serve from 5 to 8 p.m. every Tuesday from now through the last Tuesday in August. How about you? Are you a fan of a good burger?

Ka-Boom! Drip. Drip. Drop.

Golf Course

We’ve been having lots of fun storms this spring or whatever you might call it. Without fail, we will get several inches of rain and as soon as it stops raining, our phones start to ring asking if we are open and ready to play golf, of course, with carts. Most times, we are up and ready to roll. Sometimes, the rain is just too heavy and we have to wait for it to recede before letting golfers back on the course. Lately, we had several doozie storms. Here’s a look at number one near the green right after we had 2 inches of rain. Golfers are oddly dedicated to finishing their round. Everyone always likes to push the storm as long as possible. It makes for a fun memorable round when you have to come in while the rain is beating on your head. Here’s a reason why you should always come inside when you see lightning. Golf courses aren’t the best place to be in a lightning storm. Since we are located in the valley, we get all of the run off from the hill. For years, we have tried to tell engineers that we need bigger culverts under our driveway. Apparently they can’t see it on the paper with the math calculations. Here’s a fine example of what happens to our driveway after a major storm. Here is a look over number one ladies tee box. This is what happens when the pond on eighteen overflows. We get all of the run off from the farmer’s land south of number 11. That is what makes number 11 and 18 a mushy mess after a strong rain storm. The good news is that our golf course has over 10 miles of drain tile that helps it to dry up quickly, so we are able to reopen once everything recedes. The water is always pouring through the culvert between ponds. I love that sound. It’s kind of ironic that all of these areas were bone dry just last year. Iowa sure know how to keep things interesting, huh? Luckily, we are also fortunate to have the beauty of a storm. The grass is always bright green from lightning strikes and there is a calming peace when the storm stops. This is a picture of the silos that you can see when you play number 11. I bet you could store a whole lot more gold in a silo at the end of a rainbow than you could a bucket! How about you? Are you a fan of storms?

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