Prior Lake - The culmination of another season played out at The Wilds this past weekend. 43 players left it all on the course trying to win, qualify or just post a good score. We dodged the rain on Sunday afternoon as the storm split in two and went around us. After the round we celebrated with season ending awards as well. In total there was more than $4500 in gift cards, trophies and prizes.
Low round of the tournament was posted by Ben Grant of Palmer flight with a 72 on Sunday giving him his 3rd win of the season. He led by 3 over Jon Huinker after a first round 79 and Peter Heller was 8 shots back. On Sunday Ben and Peter went toe-to-toe carding matching 35s on the front side, each with 2 birdies. Of course that meant Peter was still 8 back with 9 to play. Ben's birdies on 15 and 17 put an end to Peter's challenge.
A pair of 75s in Championship flight on Saturday set the stage for a Sunday showdown between Steve Schubert and Zach Johnson. Steve gained a one shot lead after 9. Both players made bogey on 10 and par on 11 but Steve added 2 more birdies on 12 and 14 to finish even par on the back to post 73 and take the trophy. This win makes 5 for 2018.
Anthony Hugelen has been the player to beat in Hogan all year and he made a statement with the opening round 77 on Saturday. Tim Mart however was up for the challenge trying to secure his spot at Nationals. His 81 kept him in shouting distance. Anthony wasn't fazed as he carded an even par front side on Sunday. Tim's 38 was terrific but still lost 2 more shots to the leader. Tim kept up the pressure on the back side while Anthony hopped on a double bogey train ride but it ended the way it began with Anthony winning by 3. His 6th win of the season. Anthony has also earned a performance promotion to Palmer flight for Nationals.
Sr. Hogan was one of the highlight contests of the weekend with several 3 time winners going after the prize. Gary Braun led after 9 by one over Dan Barrett and 3 over Robert Gardner who got off to a double bogey, bogey start. All three bogeyed the 10th and then Robert got out of his own way and posted 2 birdies against one more bogey to post even par on the back for an 80, 5 shots better than Gary and Dan. Gary and Robert stumbled out of the gate on Sunday with a bogey on the first hole while Dan was tripped up with doubles on 1 & 3. Gary and Robert were one over through 4 while Dan rebounded to just 2 over for the day with a chip in eagle on #4. Dan pulled even with the others for the day with par on 5. Robert went even par for the last 4 on the front while Dan was 3 over and Gary 4. Extending Roberts' lead to 9 with 9 to play. Robert made 2 birdies on the back to put a lock on the win. He may have been feeling it a bit as there were triples on 16 and 18 which didn't matter as he still had a 16 shot lead.
Tim Palya led Jon Sanz in the Sarazen Flight Championship race by a mere 15 points to start the weekend. Jon played the front side 1 over 37 to jump out to an early 3 shot lead over David Slininger and 4 over Tim. By the end of the day his lead was 4 over Fredy Alvear, 5 over David and 6 over Tim. On Sunday, Jon got off to a rough start posting a triple and 4 bogeys with one birdie while David went out in even par with 3 birdies to take a 3 shot lead. Jon clawed back to within 1 through 14. He finished the last 4 holes 2 over while David suffered a couple of bad holes to finish 5 back of Jon. This was his second win of the season and it propelled him to the Flight Championship title.
Ed Favorite already had the Sr. Sarazen Flight Championship wrapped up before the weekend but that didn't deter Steve Springer from giving him a run for his money. Steve overcame a triple to start by rebounding with back to back birdies on 2 & 3. He led Ed by 2 at the turn. Then Ed played even par over 6 holes to overtake Steve by 6 and sleep on a 4 shot lead. Steve got one back through 9 holes on Sunday but Ed's 39 on the back shut him out.
Mike Miller had 6 wins in Sr. Snead before earning a performance promotion to Sr. Jones. He finished 2nd in his next 2 starts and everybody knew it was only a matter of time before he would show his winning form again. New Jones member Joe Christy didn't show any nerves in his first appearance posting an 86 and taking the lead by one over Mike after round 1. Mike took the lead back in the first 4 holes on Sunday with a birdie on 4 and stretched that lead to 3 after 9 holes. Mike limited the back nine damage to 2 doubles offset by a stretch of 3 pars to double his lead for his 7th win of the season.
Sr. Snead had it's share of fireworks. Pete Rojas made his mark on day 1 with a birdie on 4 and an eagle on 9 from 178 yards uphill with a hybrid. His 44 led the flight by 2 over Jeff McVay and 4 over Steve Oborn. Steve had the best back nine to end the day with a 2 shot cushion over Jeff. Pete once again had the better front nine on Sunday and the 3 were separated by one shot after 27 holes. Jeff took a page from Steve's book and shot a 43 on the back to Steve's 45 for the one shot victory. Jeff also won Low Net.
After the round we celebrated the season long accomplishments by awarding our local Flight Championship trophies. Points from our local tournaments were accumulated to determine the winners in each flight. Each winner received a trophy and an embroidered golf bag.
Championship flight - Steve Schubert - 11 events, 2 wins
Palmer flight - Bob Murphy - 9 events, 3 wins
Hogan flight - Anthony Hugelen - 11 events, 6 wins
Sarazen - Jon Sanz - 10 events, 2 wins
Sr. Hogan - Robert Gardner - 7 events, 3 wins
Sr. Sarazen - Ed Favorite - 10 events, 5 wins
Jones - Jeff Loeffler - 11 events, 2 wins
Sr. Snead - Paul Alexander - 10 events, 1 win
The Player of the Year will be awarded at Crystal Lake in October after Nationals. There are 750 points possible at Nationals so there is a chance for big changes in this race.
- Mike Miller - 1355
- Anthony Hugelen - 1295
- Ed Favorite - 910
- Matt Harter - 855
- Robert Gardner - 830
- Steve Schubert - 815
- Jason Rhoades - 805
- Jon Sanz - 765
- Paul Alexander - 745
- Jeff Loeffler - 700
Steve Springer and Jason Rhoades won the 50/50 Raffles. Jason was extremely gracious and donated all of his $200 back to the Troops First Foundation. Our total for the year is $2,040. I am humbled by your continuing support of this worthy cause. Thank You.
I would not be able to run this tour without the tremendous support I receive from my Tour wives. I hope you appreciate them as much as I do. Thank You Angels!
(L-R, Val Loeffler, Deb Alexander and Mary Addleman)
Now it's off to Rancho Mirage, CA and Mission Hills where 26 MN Tour players will be vying for the title of National Champion. I'll post daily updates on Facebook.
Our 2019 season will begin on October 14th at Crystal Lake GC in Lakeville. Registration will open late in September. I'll send notice as soon as it's available. I've also added Pioneer Creek on October 28th. The staff at TPC sends its regrets for not being able to host us this year due to the construction in progress in preparation for the PGA Tour 3M Open next summer. They have assured me we will be welcomed back next fall. If you have a suggestion for a course to consider for next year please drop me a text or e-mail. I will be working on the rest of the 2019 schedule in October.
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