Another Disc Golf Season At Waukee Centennial Park

March 17, 2018 by admin

Hole 6 Basket (Pictured above)

As the weather is getting nicer and warmer, like Thomas Wiggins and TJ Hendricks, make sure to stop by the Centennial Park in Waukee for some disc golf. The park contains its city’s popular 9 hole course located on the east side. Tee boxes are the round markings and the baskets are indicated by the arrows. The Waukee’s Centennial Park is located on the corner of Ashworth Dr. & SE Universite Ave across from the Waukee High School. This is a great opportunity for anyone to get out into the fresh air and throw some discs!

Thomas Wiggins (Pictured below)

TJ Hendricks (Pictured below)

Hole 4 Overview (Pictured below)

Hole 4 Basket (Pictured below)

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Faces Of Waukee: Matthew Klein

May 8, 2017 by admin

Tell us a little about your family.

Family is everything to me. My wife Angie is a dental hygienist, and we have two children. Our son Will is 13 years old and a 7th grader at South Middle school in Waukee, and our daughter Charlotte is 4 years old. They tolerate my quirkiness and they’re incredibly supportive!

Tell us about your career.

I graduated from the University of Iowa in 2001 and started out in the mortgage industry in Iowa City. I had an opportunity in the banking industry to come to Des Moines in 2004 and took the chance. I’ve worked for a few community banks throughout the years and have been lucky to find exposure to different areas within the bank. I’ve had successes and failures along the way, but have also discovered my passion, which is relationship development and helping people make smarter financial decisions.

You’ve worked in the banking industry for some time now. What sets Central Bank apart from its peers?

Central Bank is a true community bank that cares about people and the communities it serves. I think the quality and genuineness of our employees set us apart. Our employees are committed to providing our customers with a better customer service experience. It also helps that we offer competitive solutions and pricing for our customers. I’ve been impressed with our common sense approach to banking and how quickly we can make decisions.

In this issue we talk about golf, and we’re told you have something of a passion for the game. Tell us about that.

That is definitely true. I grew up in an athletic, competitive family in the Quad Cities. My brothers always pushed me to succeed and work harder. I played golf in high school and worked as a bag boy in college. Unlike team sports, golf is an individual game. It’s a mental game and your score can often be determined by your mental toughness as opposed to skill. It can be a frustrating game at times, but I’ve tried to adopt an “even keel” attitude, which I’ve also been able to use in business. Golf is a great setting for getting to know a customer or prospect on a personal level. I’m often asked if I let customers win, and my answer is, absolutely not! I want to win every time!

Do you have a favorite course to play?

For a challenge, I enjoy playing The Harvester or Tournament Club of Iowa. My son and I enjoy playing many of the municipal courses, along with Beaver Creek, Jester Park and Otter Creek. As someone in the finance industry, I’m always looking for a “hot deal,” and sometimes where we play is dictated by that.

Up To Par: The Solheim Cup 2017

May 8, 2017 by admin

In the game of golf, patience is key. As golfer Gary Player once said, “A good golfer has the determination to win and the patience to wait for the breaks.” Well, the Des Moines Golf and Country Club has been a good player and patient enough to wait for a big break. After a long bidding and preparation process, it’s preparing to host the 2017 Solheim Cup August 14-20.

The Solheim Cup is a biennial competition between the best players of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and the best players of the Ladies European Tour (LET). The competition is hosted alternately by cities in Europe and in the U.S., and this year the event will be played on the courses of the Des Moines Golf and Country Club. They have the distinction of being the first 36-hole facility to host the international event, which means that both the Cup and the Junior Cup will be played on site.

According to Jim Cutter, General Manager and Chief Operating Officer, the bidding process began in the fall of 2011, when the club reached out to the LPGA. Members from the LPGA visited the course in 2012, and then the club submitted a formal proposal in September 2012.

“We worked with the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, as well as the Greater Des Moines Partnership, to put the proposal together,” said Cutter. “We had to submit details about everything from the size of their locker rooms, power availability, phones, acres of the course—everything you can imagine about the course and the area, including the clubhouse, hotel rooms, flights, access to airports, highways, and average temperatures over the last five years,” said Cutter.

They were in competition with eight other clubs across the country, and then it was pared down to three. They learned they would host the event in the summer of 2013, and they’ve been preparing ever since. “It started so long ago, and now we’re only 129 days away [at the time of the interview]. It’s kind of unbelievable,” said Cutter.

ITA Group, headquartered in Des Moines, played a big part in putting the proposal together. Since then, the LPGA has asked to use their proposal as a model going forward.

This isn’t the club’s first rodeo, however. In 1999, the club hosted the Men’s Senior Tour. “The crowd we attracted is still the record for that event,” said Cutter. With the Solheim Cup, they wanted to bring golf back to the forefront, and it was an opportunity to showcase not only the club, but all of Des Moines. “It’s one of the reasons we had buy-in and support from the Partnership and the Bureau,” said Cutter.

The preparations are well underway. The course has undergone renovations in the last four years; they were scheduled regardless of the tournament, but they enhance the course nonetheless. “We’ve renovated bunkers, tees and greens. The course was ready for the tournament as it was, but now it’s even better,” explained Cutter.

They’re now in the process of building out the bleachers and corporate pavilions. The buildout will eventually interfere with normal use of the course, but for now, the course is open to members and other players who want to play.

Hosting the Cup is no small feat, as they expect the event to draw 175,000 to 200,000 visitors to the Des Moines area over the week. Over half of those visitors will come from outside the state of Iowa, and at least 10,000 will come from Europe. The estimated local impact is $75 million, meaning Des Moines businesses will see the benefit of all of these visitors. According to Cutter, that figure includes restaurants, hotels, shopping, concessions, entertainment and everything that comes along with a visit to Des Moines.

The Club is not alone in its preparations. Major corporations around Des Moines will be sponsoring the event, including DuPont, Rolex, and of course, PING. “There are a myriad of other corporations that are helping put on the event,” said Cutter.

Far from the quiet golf competitions we see on TV, with narrators speaking in hushed tones, quietly awaiting the swing, the Solheim Cup is a little different. In fact, Michael Whan, the LPGA commissioner, commented about treating this game more like a football game than a golf game in a recent interview. They expect to see cheering, yelling, face paint and flags waving as fans cheer on their teams.

The reason? Unlike the tournament at Augusta, where they count every stroke, this is match play, where 12 of the best Americans and 12 of the best Europeans play matches,” explained Cutter. The first day, there are four matches in the morning and in the afternoon. Matches can end before the 18th hole. “Many matches don’t get to the 18th hole, so we want to make sure we start them off right at the tee,” said Cutter. “Fans are free to sing, yell, wave and support in any way they see fit.”

“Because we have 36 holes, we’re the first club to host the regular and the junior competition on the same property,” said Cutter. In years past, the Junior Cup was played at a different course. The junior competition will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday of the same week. The Junior Cup features some of the best players in the 13-18 age range from the U.S. and Europe.

If you’re thinking about attending the event, tickets can be purchased at solheimcupusa.com. There’s also the opportunity to volunteer, although that chance doesn’t come for free. However, for the fee and a few hours of their time, volunteers get a ticket to the event for the day, a uniform (which includes a shirt, slacks or shorts, a rain cover of some kind, and a hat) and a meal during their shift. Not to mention, you get behind-the-scenes exposure to the competition. More than 2,000 volunteers are needed to rake bunkers, carry scorecards, help in the media tent and a help with a wide variety of other tasks.

For more information about volunteering, visit dmgcc.org.

Broheim’s Indoor Golf & Pub: Brothers, Pints, & Golf

May 8, 2017 by admin

When the temperatures drop and Iowa’s unpredictable weather rolls in, metro golf enthusiasts now have a place to practice their swing at Broheim’s Indoor Golf and Pub in Waukee.

“The golf off-season is our season,” said Jon Goes, co-owner of Broheim’s with his twin brother, Justin.

The NE Carefree Lane establishment opened its doors on Feb. 3.

In addition to a full bar stocked with domestic and craft beers, Broheim’s has five PGA-sponsored golf simulators where single players or groups can play up to 66 different courses. Each simulator is 16 x 16 feet, and is surrounded by lounge chairs and couches. Each simulator can be rented for $45 an hour.

There’s also miniature golf, skee-ball and a big screen gaming system available for customers.

Hours are 10 a.m. to – 2 a.m. daily. The latest tee time is 10 p.m.

Goes said his passion for golf began in 2004 when he relocated to Urbandale from Lincoln, Neb., to help run the family business, Renaissance Granite and Quartz.

He continues to serve as general manager at Renaissance during the day and heads to Broheim’s every evening and weekend, where his brother—a musician by trade —manages the bar and carries out the day-to-day operations.

“He’s the hipster; I’m the golfer,” Goes joked.

His wife, Lacey, a consultative dietician, also helps with marketing for Broheim by managing its social media pages.

Goes credits his friends for getting him into the sport.

Once he and his friends moved away after going to college together in Nebraska, they used golf as a way to get together to do something they all enjoyed.

“You’re outside. You’re with your friends. You’ve having fun. You’re getting away. You’re clearing the mechanism. You don’t have to think about anything except what you’re doing on the golf course. All the stress and pressures of the day just fade away,” he said with a smile.

Part of their “buddy weekends” involved creating fake tournaments. Whoever won the tournament trophy got to take it home, with bragging rights included, until they got together again.

They all took turns creating tournaments. Goes called his the ABC Classic for “Anheuser-Busch Classic,” which he also says is their best-selling beer at Broheim.

But when the weather got cold, the men had nowhere to go. That was until Goes’ friend said there was a pub with golf simulators in Nebraska, and they should have a winter tournament there.

He recalls walking into the business and saying, “I could do this, and I could do it way better.”

His wife, however, wasn’t keen on the idea right away. “It took about six years of convincing her,” he said.

The Des Moines market was prime for it. The catalyst was when the Longview Golf Centre—the Urbandale driving range under a giant dome—closed its doors for business.

“That’s when my wife agreed there was a void in the market, and we should start our own golf and pub business,” Goes said.

The name for Broheim’s Indoor Golf and Pub is a play off the Solheim Cup. Goes and his friends are hyper-competitive and sometimes wouldn’t speak to one another after their tournaments. After one tournament dispute in particular, the Solheim Cup was on TV. They got the idea to call their next tournament the Broheim Cup in the spirit of brotherly love.

And the name of the future golf and pub was born.

Goes also decided they needed to do Broheim right.

“The simulators in my bar are all top-of-the-line. They’re the same ones on Golf Fix on the Golf Channel. Famous golfers play on these,” he explained.

Area golf pros like Wade Pettit and Eric Peyton also help improve the games of young gulf enthusiasts during private lessons taught on the simulators at Broheim.

While food isn’t yet sold at Broheim Golf and Pub, customers can order food into the bar. Goes said surrounding restaurants like Saints Pu —about 20 feet away from his golf pub—will deliver.

In time, Broheim will have snacks, a popcorn machine and a hot dog roller— similar to what you’d see on a golf course.

When deciding on a location, Goes said Waukee was a no-brainer. “Waukee made sense, because it’s the fastest growing city in the state,” he said.

As part of his role as general manager at Renaissance Granite and Quartz, Goes looks at housing starts to see where the market is growing, so he knows where their product is most likely to sell. Knowing that families in Waukee typically have some disposable income was another determining factor.

Goes said while Broheim Golf and Pub is a family establishment for parents who want to let their kids test out the simulators, minors do need to be out by 9 p.m.

“I’ve had a couple parents come in and take advantage of the screen-on-screen on the simulators, so their kids can watch TV while they’re playing. A few dads even loaded their Netflix account,” he said.

Goes has been proactive about ensuring Broheim shows support for social and community causes. They’ve donated gift cards to Waukee Teacher Approval and have allowed auctions to be held at the pub to raise funds for the Veteran’s Memorial in the Waukee Triangle as well as events for private charities for families fighting cancer.

With the Solheim Cup coming to West Des Moines in August, Goes is hoping to find a way to partner with the women’s professional golf tournament.

“In the golf world, the Solheim Cup is huge,” Goes said. “I don’t know if the city of Des Moines recognizes the economic boost that’s going to occur. It’s the biggest tournament to ever come here.”

Goes plans to take full advantage of having his key demographic down the street by advertising Broheim’s around lodging and restaurants in the area.

“After (spectators) are done watching golf, they can come in to play a round and have some drinks,” he said.

And Goes plans to be among those watching. “Oh, I’m absolutely going,” he laughed.

For more information on Broheim Indoor Golf and Pub, visit broheimsgolf.com.

Broheim’s is running a special on drinks through myWaukee Deals! Click here to sign-up for our FREE local offers mailing-list to access the Broheim’s deal, along with many other local business offers around the city of Waukee.