32nd Annual Bob Maas Golf on Ice Tournament

DULUTH, Minn. — Typically, golf is a sport you play during the summer, but it’s become something you can do year round thanks to one clever Minnesota man who began a tradition over 30 years ago that people still part of today.

“Oh it’s a blast especially since February was so cold, you can see I’m not wearing a hat even,” Don Bergholm, Golfer and Resident on Fish Lake said.

The threat of nasty winter weather Saturday didn’t stop over 20 teams from coming out to fish lake for the 32nd Bob Maas Golf on Ice Tournament.

“Yeah it’s awesome, we have a good time, we have friends that come from all over the place to come hang with us for this weekend,” Ted Anderson, Golfer and another Resident on Fish Lake said.

Over 3 decades ago, Bob Maas took his auger and drilled holes into the lake to shoot tennis balls into, which he called golfing on ice.

The tradition stuck, as now teams tried their luck on 18 holes across the frozen Fish Lake.

“We’re golfers so it’s fun to do something like this with the tennis ball on the ice and just getting out and enjoy a winter day, get out and have a couple of beers and laughs,” Bergholm said.

For some golfers it was their first time swinging a driver on solid ice, while others hoped to continue success from years prior.

“Yeah it’s awesome I mean, it’s a big tradition for us and we are the defending champs so we’re coming back to defend our title and we’re just here to have fun,” Anderson added.

Don’t expect your usual golfer’s weapon of choice out here, a club, tennis racquet, or hockey stick to shoot the ball, and of course, plenty of team work.

“I golf a couple times a year, so I usually use the driver and then I pull out the hockey stick cause I’m a former hockey player and I do a little bit better with that,” Anderson said.

It may seem odd, but it shows how Fish Lake can accommodate anything, and everything, year-round.

“Oh it’s great, I mean just a little while ago we had a classic snowmobile run up here and there’s always something fun going on,” Bergholm said.

The tournament only lasts this one day but they’re looking forward to continuing it for years to come.