Single in the city

Mike Manahan

By Megan Malugani

From the time he was 12 years old, Mike Manahan could be found on the golf course from sunup to sundown every day during golf season. Not much has changed now that he is an adult, except that Mike now spends the majority of his time on the course working rather than playing. Mike, the head golf professional at Maple Valley Golf Course, left his hometown of Rochester after graduating from John Marshall High School to live in Colorado, Arizona, and Alaska before returning to the area four years ago to take his current job.

Age: 29.

Occupation: Head Golf Professional, Maple Valley Golf Course.

Going Pro: Non-golfers are sometimes confused by Mike’s job title of “golf pro.” “How I explain it is that there are PGA tour pros, who are the guys on TV, and then head golf professionals, who manage local facilities,” says Mike, noting that he is one of the latter. “I’m not quite as good as Tiger and the boys, although we all pretend like we could be.”

Teachable Moments: Mike’s favorite part of his job is giving golf lessons. “I keep a few secrets to myself so [students will] never get better than me,” Mike says. “There are a few that I started teaching three or four years ago who are starting to scare me, though.”

All In The Family: Mike’s dad, Jake Manahan, is the pro manager at Northern Hills Golf Course. His mom and sister both work at St. Marys. Mike also has a cat, Lively, who doesn’t live up to his name. “He just lays there and is really lazy.”

The Off-Season: Mike works 200 hours every two weeks during golf season. Then, from about the middle of November to March, he takes time off and uses it to get caught up around his apartment and to camp (he loves the Temperance River just north of Duluth), to snowboard, to go to concerts (Widespread Panic and  Phish are among his faves), and to travel (he tries to take one trip out of the country and one trip to Phoenix to play—what else?—golf every winter).

Rochester Hangouts: East Park for Frisbee golf. Quarry Hill for hiking. Nelson Cheese for the Hot Hero. Kathy’s. Söntés.

Tee Up: A woman doesn’t have to know how to play golf to date Mike, but “everybody I’ve dated eventually picks up on it. They want to play.” Ditto for his friends. “Once I got this job, all my friends who didn’t play golf are now into golf. They’re all getting new clubs and shoes and wanting to get memberships.”
On the Rochester singles scene: Mike recently re-entered the dating scene after a long-term relationship ended. “From what I’m hearing, the dating scene is kind of stagnant.” Downtown revitalization and some new hot spots for younger people, like Chester’s and Sushi Itto, are positive additions for daters, he says.

Date Night: Mike’s ideal date is “as simple as a good, solid dinner with a bottle of wine, in a quaint setting, with good conversation the whole time.” And on a less-than-ideal date, Mike has a way of turning lemons into lemonade. “I have no horror stories about any dates. I make the best out of them. Some could have gone horribly wrong, but we saved them. I think I’m just too nice.”