MN Tour Championship @ The Wilds Recap

Prior Lake - It's hard to believe the season is nearly over but what a great season. In addition to the tournament there were lots of Order of Merit races at stake during Saturday's Tour championship and they were hard fought. The top 2 finishers in each flight automatically qualify for Nationals. While the wind made for a difficult day fortunately the storm held off just long enough.

The Snead flight was multiple championship winners Pete Rojas and Jeffrey McVay going head to head for all the marbles. Jeff made the turn 4 shots ahead of Pete but Pete rallied with 3 pars on the back nine to capture his third victory and also claim the Order of Merit.

4 players in the Jones flight featured all Champion and there was only 5 shots between them from top to bottom. Jeff Loeffler held a one stroke lead after nine holes over Vicki Burns but Vicki bettered Jeff by two shots on the back and claimed her third victory of the season qualifying for Nationals.

In Sr. Sarazen there were 5 players all vying for a spot at Nationals. Steven Holland used a 41 on the front to jump out to the early lead and followed that up with a 42 on the back to win by 5 shots and qualify for the Senior National Championship (SNC).

Tim Palya jumped out to an early lead in Sarazen making birdie on 2 of the first 3 holes gaining a one stroke advantage over Order of Merit leader Matt Harter. While Fredy Alvear won the back nine it wasn't enough to overcome Tim's front side flurry. Tim's first win on Tour comes at the best possible time qualifying him for Nationals. 

Anthony Hugelen had a strangle hold on the Order of Merit on the strength of 2 wins in the Hogan flight this season. Steve Buan came in to the day riding back to back victories in the last two events. Nate Plagge was looking to gain a spot at Nationals and Dan Barrett was playing his second round of the day after having shot a 79 in the morning at his club championship up in Forest Lake. So the stage was set for a shootout. Steve had a one shot lead over Dan and Anthony after nine holes due to a birdie on #4. Dan and Anthony matched each other on the back as well for a T-2 but Steve was once again one shot better to win his third in a row and qualify for Nationals. 

The Palmer flight had been the most hotly contested all season and the Tour Championship was no different. Jeff Gallagher was assured the Order of Merit but 5 of the other 6 players were vying for a spot at Nationals. Ben Savage made 3 birdies on the front side joined by Peter Heller and Jeff Gallagher at the top of the leaderboard with 42. Always in contention Mike Kelley found himself 4 shots back and really turned it up on the back nine shooting even par but fell short by two shots to finish in third. Jeff finished one shot better than Mike with a 39 on the back. Peter got off to a rough start on the back nine with bogies on 3 of the first 4 before steadying the ship with a birdie on the tough 14th hole to claim his 2nd win of the season and qualify for Nationals.

We were happy to meet Joe Pauldine of the West Palm Beach tour and Steve Hughes who played as a guest, both in Palmer flight. Steve went home after the event and joined the tour. Thanks to all who made them feel welcome.

Dean Sengstock won the 50/50 raffle for $115. The other half brings our total donation for the year to $980. THANK YOU so much for supporting this effort. I will be proud to present this to the Tours contribution to Feherty's Troops First Foundation which I'm confident will exceed $100,000.

We presented the following season ending awards at the completion of the tournament as well.

Order of Merit (trophy and $100 gift card)

Palmer - Jeff Gallagher
Sr. Palmer - John Juntilla
Hogan - Anthony Hugelen
Sr. Hogan - Dan Barrett Sr.
Sarazen - Matt Harter
Sr. Sarazen - Ed Favorite
Jones - Michael Miller
Snead - Pete Rojas

Player of the Year (trophy and Tour logo'd Club Glove Last Bag travel bag)
Jeff Gallagher, Palmer. Jeff was the top Order of Merit points leader and won 3 times this season including a major win at PGA West in the Western Masters. The always stiff competition in Palmer flight was also a part of the consideration. 

Honorable mention also goes to Fredy Alvear with 4 wins in 7 events.

Thanks to everyone who participated today to make this a special Tour Championship. 

Now it's on to Nationals at PGA West in Palm Springs. 32 MN Am Tour players have qualified.
(* denotes those registered)

National Championship
Fredy Alvear
Steve Buan*
Jeff Gallagher*
Matt Harter*
Peter Heller
Anthony Hugelen*
Mike Kelley*
Jeff Loeffler*
Jeffrey McVay*
Charles Miller
Matthew Miller
Tim Palya
Nate Plagge*
Ben Savage*
Dean Sengstock*

Senior National Championship
Bruce Addleman*
Paul Alexander*
Dan Barrett*
Douglas Bird*
Vicki Burns
Dean Dubreuil*
Ed Favorite*
Warren Ferber*
Robert Gardner
George Hardgrove*
Steven Holland*
Marc Redman
Pete Rojas
John Juntilla*
Todd Klocke*
Michael Miller*
Hobie VanValkenburg

I look forward to seeing all of these players out in Palm Springs next month. I will post updates on Nationals each night. You can also follow their progress online or with the Am Tour app on your phone.

Don't forget to save the date of Monday Oct. 12 for the start of the 2016 season and our Fall Championship at TPC Twin Cities. Registration will open next month.

Thank you for a great 2015 season. 

Bruce Addleman
Dir. - GOLF CHANNEL Am Tour - MN
612-386-2956