A rewarding day of golf

On a frigid and windy winter morning, an Ice Golf Tournament was held at the Boathouse Bar & Grill in Waseca. The event was a benefit for Logan Nesset as all proceeds would go toward the purchase of a medically equipped truck which will allow Nesset to drive himself. The Waseca County resident suffered a spinal injury and became a quadriplegic on July 17, 2022, after a diving accident. The ice golf tournament featured 43 teams despite the cold weather, much of the neighboring community joined the Nesset family in support. 

Kristi Nelson and Del Olivas organized the event. Nelson explained, “We knew we wanted to do whatever we could to help Logan and his family. Logan's fiancé, Jadyn, is our brother-in-law's daughter, so we thought this would be the perfect time to start up [the tournament] again and hopefully bring in some donations for Logan and his family.” 

The ice golf tournament had been on hold for several years according to Olivas for a variety of reasons, “Covid was one of them, but I think the general interest just waned. We once had over 100 teams, but we felt this was the right moment to bring it back.” The golf course itself was an excellent example of Minnesota ingenuity as sheets of ice and snow were carefully scraped, shoveled, and cleaned to form the “greens” while popcorn buckets, Tupperware, and even old gutters served as obstacles for the contestants. The hole on each golf course was created by an ice fishing auger. 

Olivas explained how he prepared the space for the event, “I had a friend of mine who had a backhoe trailer with a blade attached so it wasn’t too hard creating the lanes because the snow was still soft. Took about an hour and a half to do everything.” Both Olivas and Nelson were thrilled with the turnout for the event;  both floors of the Boathouse were filled with patrons while dozens of teams were out on the course. “I think the turnout is a bit bigger than the last few times we’ve done this because it’s for a really good cause. We’re happy people are here supporting Logan and his family.”

In addition to the ice golf tournament, a silent auction featured a variety of goods, including  a Nespresso coffee maker, a 28-inch fire pit, Taylor Made golf bags, a basketball signed by Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, a baseball signed by Twins legend Harmon Killebrew, and a Golden Boy Henry .22 long rifle. Of the silent auction, Nelson said, “We all thought it would be a good idea to get local businesses involved and bring some more donations for the Nesset family.” 

One of the first teams out on the course were four young men who named their team Pole in Your Won, although one of the members noted that this “was actually a typo. It was supposed to be ‘Pole in One.’  I think they misheard us, but we went with it.” Members of the young team were first to try out the course; despite a rough start, the team finished strong and set the bar for the rest of the day. 

After their round, group members agreed there were “rough patches during the start of it but I think overall as a team, we did pretty good.” When asked what they would do if they came away among the top three teams and won a prize, the group members said the day wasn’t about winning but “just having fun out there and giving back to our community to help Logan out.” 

Logan Nesset and his fiancé Jadyn watched the tournament unfold from a winter ATV. When asked about how he felt about the turnout for the benefit, Nesset stated, “It looks great today; a lot of people out here despite the cold weather.” Regarding the vehicle the family is hoping to purchase, he said, “We’re looking to buy a truck with seats that come out so I can hop over the seat and ride or drive whenever I want.” Nesset’s pursuit of independence in spite of his condition is inspiring; but there were low points for him as he dealt with the long recovery period from his injuries. “Yeah, definitely some low points.  I was in the ICU for almost four weeks trying to recover from surgery then inpatient rehab for almost 7 weeks.” Nesset hopes to retain some semblance of his independence with the purchase of the truck but knows he and his family’s life is forever altered. “It's a huge change to our lives. It's very challenging. I try to stay positive and find new ways to do the things I used to be able to do.”

For anyone who would like to donate, the Nesset family has set up an account in Logan's name at Keen Bank for monetary donations to him and his family or through Venmo @loganstrongbenefit.