Hook & Slice on Ice
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CARLTON - Replace bent grass fairways and greens with snow and ice and you have one of the most unique golfing experiences Minnesota has to offer.
"It's golfing out on the ice. We've created 18 different holes and we've got 600 trees that are put into the course," said Julie Rothmeier, president of the Cloquet Rotary Club.
The 12th annual "Hook & Slice on Ice" is a one–of–a–kind charity golf tournament played on an unusual course groomed atop the ice of Chub Lake in Carlton.
"A lot of people think I'm crazy. I have a couple of relatives I was texting down in Houston, Texas right now and they're going you're on a lake? Yes, it's frozen, but that's why I brought my paddle though," said Jan Bloom, of Duluth.
When you check in, each competitor is given a tennis ball, with the goal being to get the ball down the ice and into the hole any way you can.
"The rule of the game is that there are no rules. So, they can play however they choose to," said Rothmeier.
That means a lot of thought and creativity goes into selecting a weapon of choice on the challenging course.
"Well, I've seen 'A to Z', actually somebody with a pogo stick, tennis rackets, golf clubs of course," said Bloom.
Chris Erickson, of Carlton said, "I use a hockey stick. I saw a kayak paddle, a golf club, a tennis racket and I shot something from the National Guard, like a ball out of a cannon thing."
The event is not really about seeing who has the lowest score, rather a chance to have fun with family and friends, with all the proceeds going to local causes.
Rothmeier said, "We go into Cloquet, Esko and Carlton schools and we give out dictionaries to all the third graders. So, we give out over 400 dictionaries a year to these students.
"If you can have this much fun in a day and then you're donating money it's a bonus on top of it all. So, it's a win–win for everybody," said Erickson.
The Cloquet Rotary Club says they average close to $20,000 raised a year, with the majority of the proceeds going towards scholarships for students from Cloquet, Esko and Carlton schools.
