Minnesota golfer's tee time in the snow turns into viral video

"I just figured my friends would get a good laugh, and then it escalated," said Jesse Roscoe, superintendent at the Ortonville Golf Course.

April 6, 2018 at 1:40PM
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(Jesse Roscoe/Jesse Roscoe)

As snow fell and the wind whipped, Jesse Roscoe stepped onto the western Minnesota golf course and made more news than he expected.

Never mind that 6 inches of snow kept the golf green well covered. Roscoe, dressed in shorts and a lime-green polo, teed up, and the one-minute video of it went viral.

"Tough conditions out here today in MN but it's Masters week so it'll take a lot more than a little snow to keep me from enjoying a few rounds," Roscoe wrote in his Facebook post.

"I just figured my friends would get a good laugh, and then it escalated," said Roscoe, who is the superintendent at Ortonville Golf Course near the South Dakota border.

The course has opened in March the past two years, and people are itching to get back on it. But with a half-foot of snow on the course and more possibly on the way, it could be weeks before that happens.

Roscoe, 26, of Ortonville, figured a funny video would help lighten people's mood.

The wind was blowing, snow was falling, but he forced himself to linger as if it were a beautiful spring day.

In reality, "I had to man up," he said, pointing out that the windchill made it feel like 8 below.

With no grass blades in sight, he grabbed a handful of snow and tossed it into the air to determine the wind's direction. He pulled out his 6 iron, practiced a couple of swings and then launched the ball into a vast, white void.

The video ends with him trudging through the snow toward the next hole.

Some viewers questioned why and how he could golf 18 holes in a storm.

He didn't. He high-tailed it back to his truck and pushed his yearning to golf aside. It was time to plow and shovel.

"I just figured my friends would get a good laugh, and then it escalated," Jesse Roscoe, who is the superintendent at the Ortonville Golf Course, said of his video of golfing in the snow.
“I just figured my friends would get a good laugh, and then it escalated,” Jesse Roscoe, who is the superintendent at the Ortonville Golf Course, said of his video of golfing in the snow. (Vince Tuss/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
about the writer

about the writer

Mary Lynn Smith

Reporter

Mary Lynn Smith is a general assignment reporter for the Star Tribune. She previously covered St. Paul City Hall and Ramsey County. Before that, she worked in Duluth where she covered local and state government and business. She frequently has written about the outdoors.

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