Tradition Cup @ Willingers Recap

Northfield, MN - a patch of fog to start the morning but then a most glorious day appeared. A bit muggy but clearly a sign that the weather curse is broken. 39 players in 7 flights ventured into the beautiful confines of Willingers Golf Club.

Here are 2 pictures you might have missed today.  

There are no words I can find to describe these.

Jim Stinson in the Sr. Sarazen flight earned his first tour victory by holding off George Hardgrove, who won at White Eagle, and Steven Holland after all 3 shot 44 on the front nine. Jim stumbled on the 11th hole but then kept a pretty clean card. George had smaller hiccups but more of them although he closed with a birdie on 18. Jim matched matched George's birdie to claim victory by one stroke. Jim claimed a dozen golf balls for his win with a Srixon ball. 

Batting 1.000. That's what Craig Harris has done in the Jones flight. He is a perfect 3 for 3 this season but it wasn't a cake walk as Mike Miller matched his 41 on the front side. Craig's round included 3 birdies. Mike struggled after the turn which gave Craig a nice cushion but Mike showed the heart of a champion as he birdied 16 & 18 coming home. Craig is now qualified for Sr. Nationals. He also won a dozen golf balls for playing with Srixon. 

In the Snead flight, Todd Klocke returned to the winners circle with a 3 shot win over Jeffrey McVay. Todd had a 5 shot lead over Pete Rojas at the turn while Jeffrey struggled. Jeff wrestled back some control of his game while Todd and Pete limped to the house but it wasn't quite enough to overcome the lead Todd held on the front. Todd is on the Journey to Better winning a dozen balls for playing Srixon. 

Scott Sahli of Ipswich, SD lapped the Sarazen field with an 8 shot victory over Matt Harter and fellow South Dakotan Matthew Miller. Matthew had the early lead after a 41 on the front over Scott, Matt and newcomer Chris Stanley. While Scott didn't make a single par on the back his 3 birdies led to a 39. Scott also took home a dozen golf balls from Srixon. 

Meredith Turner jumped into the fray in her first event on Tour. The newcomer from Sioux Falls left the rest of guys in the dust when she carded 2 birdies on the front nine to hold a 4 shot lead over Anthony Hugelin who had a disaster on #6. Meredith's back nine was a different story as she managed only one par. Meanwhile Anthony recovered with 3 pars and a birdie to tie Meredith. Anthony grabbed the victory on the first playoff by chipping in for birdie. He too grabbed a dozen Srixon golf balls. 

John Juntilla scratched out a win in Sr. Palmer over Joe Swierczek. Joe held a 2 shot lead after nine with only 3 bogies on his card. He added a birdie on 10 while John made bogey to double his lead but then Joe took a ride on the bogey train nearly to the end of the line while John found his old friend par. His 39 to Joe's 42 was just enough. It was very nice to have these two tour veterans back with us for a tournament. 

The Palmer flight looked like a birdie fest on the front nine. Ben Savage grabbed 4, including 3 in a row on 3-5, to turn at 1 under for a 4 shot lead. Peter Heller had 2 birdies while Mike Kelley and Nate Plagge each had 1. Mike Kelley added 2 more birdies to lead the back nine but it wasn't enough to overcome 3 doubles on the day. Ben suffered doubles on 10 and 16 while Peter had his troubles on 13 with a triple. In the end Ben and Peter finished equal 79. Peter went on to claim his first victory on Tour with a par on the 1st playoff hole. 

John Juntilla and Keith Mavity won the closest-to-the-pin contests and a $25 Golfsmith gift card. 

Jim Stinson also was the lucky winner of the 50/50 raffle. Jim took home $125 and the other $125 goes to Feherty's Troops First Foundation bringing our total donations so far to $370. Thank you for your support. 

Our next event is The Jewel in Lake City on the 28th. Registration deadline is next Saturday night. We hope to see you there. Thanks to all who participated today and special thanks to Mary, Deb and Val who make my job easy. 

Bruce Addleman
Tour Dir. - MN 
612-386-2956