Bob Schneider named “Iron Man” by Twin Cities Golf

Waseca native Bob Schneider, a 1977 graduate of Waseca High School, recently achieved an “Iron Man” title from Twin Cities Golf for a Golf Quest of playing 204 different public golf courses in only 121 days. 

 

The courses are located in Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota; Bob began his journey on April 12 and finished the final course on August 10. When asked in a Facebook video what advice he might have for someone trying to accomplish the same goal, his response was, “Don’t do it,” followed by the advice that a 200-day time frame would be more reasonable. 

 

“Managing the logistics was the biggest challenge,” Schneider told the Pioneer, explaining he did not want to use up a lot of time backtracking or returning to a certain area. That meant he would schedule 2 or 3, and even sometimes 4 rounds in a day.

 

Schneider walked most of the courses; with up to four rounds of golf on some days, he achieved a record of 31 miles walked in a single day, and 27 miles on each of two other days. For about 50 of the rounds, Schneider says he was accompanied by fellow 1977 WHS graduate Greg Koenigs, who first took up golfing last year.

 

Retired from a 31-year career with Cargill and a long-time baseball coach in the Twin Cities area, Bob now spends a few summer months in Minnesota and resides the rest of the year in Florida. 

 

He says he plays relatively little, about 40 rounds, of golf down south since the sandy soil there does not support “growing a good grass.” Instead he plays Pickleball, hitting the courts 5 to 6 days a week. His persistence apparently pays off, since he tells of having won the state senior games tournament a few years back, taking the men’s single, men’s double and mixed doubles championships in a single week. 

 

Perhaps surprisingly, Schneider began golfing first in 2007 after ending 27 years as a baseball coach. Although he will have finished roughly 275 rounds of golf by the end of 2026, he says 100 to 150 is a more typical number. On what he considers a fairly short list of championships, he includes the Montgomery National Golf Club Senior Championship and both the Minnesota and Florida Senior Games Championships, twice each. 

 

Schneider says he is pleased with the scores he achieved on his 121-day quest:  “My most surprising score was a 67 four days after my sixty-seventh birthday,” he recalls. “I followed that up with a 66 a couple of weeks later. 

 

“But those scores are rare and the exception. I typically play courses between 6,100 and 6,400 yards and my scores are mainly between 78 and 84: considering I’m playing different courses every round, that seems pretty good.” 

 

Schneider comments, “I enjoy a well manicured course more than anything. I appreciate the team that puts pride into keeping a course in great condition, from the tee box, fairway, rough, greens–all of it.”

 

It seems he should be in a position to evaluate, given that he has played golf all over the U.S. and in Canada, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. “I’ve been fortunate to play on some high end golf courses,” he enthuses, “sometimes through work and sometimes as part of a golf trip: Pebble Beach, Spy Glass, Spanish Bay, but the one I enjoyed most was playing the Olympic Club in San Francisco with a good friend who was a member. He has since passed, but what a treat to play.

 

“In Minnesota, I’d say a few of my favorite courses are Minnesota National, White Eagle, and The Wilds–but there are more than 100 great courses I could list.”

 

Asked what he likes about being a golfer, Schneider responds, “Golf is a lifelong sport anyone can play. You don’t have to be great. It’s great exercise, you meet great people, you can play alone or with a group.”

 

He also shares that “there is no such thing as ‘women’s’ or ‘senior’ tees. The red and gold tees are there for anyone; choose based on your skill set.”