Fred Boos: Hall of Famer

Freddy Boos, a long time friend and a man I admire a great deal, was inducted into the Minnesota Golf Association Hall of Fame on this past Monday. The organization made a great choice. Freddy deserved it for lots of reasons.
by Charlie Leck

Fred Boos is a golfer. I guess he is lots of wonderful things. I know he’s a remarkable father, grandfather and husband. I have plenty of evidence that he is a generous and kind man to people in need. And, more importantly to me, he’s as loyal a friend as a man could have.

But first and foremost – above all else – Freddy is a golfer. He is passionate about the game. He understands the game. And, as well, he admires people who treat the game properly.

Fred Boos has used the game to make money for organizations that serve and help people. Sometime ago, Fred discovered that people really like to play in charity tournaments that support organizations that serve people in need. Fred plays in a bundle of them and he puts on a few of them himself.

On Monday, I got to play in a small golf event that honored Fred himself. It was an event that Grandview Lodge (Nisswa, Minnesota) sponsored, along with the Minnesota Golf Association and the Minnesota Professional Golf Association, on a day when Fred Boos would be inducted into the Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame. I was honored last week when Fred called me and said that it would mean a lot to him if I’d come up to Nisswa and play in the event. He also invited me to spend the night before the event in his home. Happily, I accepted and told him I’d be there. However, when I showed up at his home late Sunday afternoon, he looked at me wide eyed and curiously.

“What the…” he said as he opened the door to me. “What are you doing here?”

“Fred,” I said in great confusion, “you invited me to come up and spend the night.”

“I did?”

I told him about his phone call and the invitation to play in the event and to be up here for his induction.

“I guess I must have then,” he said with his mouth still hanging open a bit. “I just plain forgot.”

Things like this happen at our age. I was embarrassed, but I understood. Fred opened the door wide and promised there was plenty of space and that he was happy to have me there. His wife, Mary, had listened to our little conversation at the doorway and she came running to try to put an end to my embarrassment with a big hug for me. Everything worked out. Fred squeezed me into a room normally reserved for a granddaughter and he managed to plug me into the golf event as well. The bed was small, but I knew I’d manage it. I accidentally locked myself in the bathroom when I cleaned up for dinner. I couldn’t get the door open for all my trying. Luckily I had my cell phone and I called Fred’s number and told him of my fix. Shaking his head in disbelief, he found me and got the door opened so I could get out. He gave me a bit of a lecture about how to handle the doors in that bathroom.

We went off to the big Grandview Lodge for a wonderful dinner.

What I cared most about, however, was being on hand for the grand induction. Fred and Mary both promised there was plenty of room for me to be there also.

After the golf event on Monday morning, many of Fred’s good friends and golfing companions joined together to listen to speeches by the Minnesota Professional Golf Association (PGA) and the Minnesota Golf Association (MGA) praising Fred for his unwavering commitment to the game of golf. Fred was the moving force behind renewing resort golf in the Minnesota lake region. Now, because of Fred’s encouragement there are a number of magnificent resort golf courses spread all across lake country. They attract thousands of vacationing visitors each year and have renewed the vigor of tourism in that part of our state. Fred Boos is thought of as the father of “lake country golf.”

I’ve played golf with Fred at least a hundred times and it was always fun – every single time! Fred knows how to have fun at golf and can’t understand why people get frustrated over the game.

“Hit the ball and then go and hit it again,” Fred says with a full laugh. “If you can’t have fun playing golf, something is wrong with you.”

That’s what we did on Monday on the beautiful Pines Golf Course at Grandview Lodge. Fred was the moving force behind the construction of the course. It wasn’t cheap and Fred had to push hard to get the lodge’s board of directors to go along with his idea. It was so successful that the lodge had to create more golfing holes and take over the management of another newly constructed course to meet the demand. Business grew for the lodge. Many other resorts in the area and across northern Minnesota took up Fred’s idea as well. Now, some of the most beautiful resort courses in America will be found across central and northern Minnesota. It has meant more jobs for people in the area and a general boost for the lake region’s economy.

It is for this reason that Fred was inducted into the golf hall of fame. An additional reason is because of his vast, unswerving love and loyalty to the game of golf. No man has ever loved and cherished the game more and no man has ever given more of himself to it.

Congratulations, Fred. I’m so happy I was there for the great honor that golf has given you. They owed it to you, my friend. I’m really proud of you!

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