Territory Recap

St. Cloud - another day where we danced in some rain. Enough to make a nuisance but not dampen the scoring. Once again Palmer flight went lower than Championship and two flights needed extra holes because of 3-way ties.

The low round of the day was Steve Schubert at 1 over 73 in Palmer. Not much else to say there. Dean Sengstock had the lead after an opening birdie while Sean Hazen opened with 3 pars. Steve had bogey on 2 but then made back-to-back birdies on 4 & 5. Peter Heller had a run of 6 pars to get to the turn in 39 while Mike Kelley, on his home course, made 2 birdies to go out in 38 to Steve's even par 36. Steve made birdie on 10 and it was pretty much over at that point. 2 bogies coming in may have given him some heartburn but he had plenty of room for a 6 shot victory. This is Steve's 2nd win of the season.

Tyler VanHecke of Championship flight went out in 1 under with a birdie on 9 and a 3 shot lead over new member Chad Onstot. Jason Rhoades must not be getting much sleep as a new dad as he had 3 bogies on the front. Tyler added another birdie on 10 to stretch his lead to 4 but then Chad had back-to-back birdies on 14 & 15 while Tyler gave back all of his lead and then some with a 6 shot swing due to a bogey & triple. Chad stumbled on 17 & 18 to let Tyler back in. Meanwhile Jason quietly shot even par on the back side with 2 birdies and 2 bogies to get into a 3-way playoff. They went right back out to the first hole where Jason made birdie to put a quick end to the playoff. This 3rd victory qualifies Jason for Nationals.

Another 3-way playoff was needed to settle Sarazen flight. Veteran player Fredy Alvear made 2 birdies on the front side to reach the turn at 41, 1 shot clear of usual contender Joe Christy (birdie on 9) and another veteran Steve Buan. David Slininger, Barry Wadsworth, Doug Bird and Tim Palya were lurking at 43. Barry, Steve and Doug made pars on 10 while Fredy and Joe made bogies to tighten things up. Joe bounced back with a par on 11 and birdie on 12 followed by 4 more pars to get in at 81. David overcame a bogey/bogey start by finishing with 7 straight pars to put his name in the hat at 81. Fredy's double on 13 looked like it was over for him but 3 pars and a birdie gave him a seat at the playoff table. David claimed the trophy on the first playoff hole. Joe and Fredy continued on for 3 more holes before Fredy's par on #4 gave him the runner up prize. This is David's first win of the season.

Warren Ferber made it 2 in a row in Sr. Sarazen flight. His 81 was good for a 4 shot win over Ed Favorite and Steven Holland. Warren led both by 4 after 9 which was all he needed as the 3 of them matched scores on the back side. Mike Miller, must have thawed out on the back nine after returning from an Alaskan adventure. His 39 was most assuredly due to Cindy's caddie skills.

Hogan flight is always one of our best contests but an even par 36 on the front from Rob Gardner along with a 38 from Jon Sanz made it crazy competitive. Rob made birdie on 4 and bogey on 5 while Jon made his birdie on 5 to go with 3 bogies. Rob & Jon both had more normal scoring back nines to give the rest of the field a little hope. Larry Caldwell with 40 for 83 and Norm Williams with 41 for 82 just ran out of holes. Rob's 43 on the back for a 79 gives him his 2nd win of the season.

If you look up Journeyman in the dictionary there must be a picture of long time member George Hardgrove. The Sr. Jones flight was just 3 players but it was still very competitive. Orlando Tour member Paul Smallwood (lives here in MN part time) led George by one at the turn after 4 pars. Paul Alexander matched George's 51 on the back while Paul Smallwood shot 53 to card a 99 giving George his 1st victory of the season.

The Snead flight was the one the patrons came to see with hometown thoroughbred Todd Klocke in the marquis group. Colorado Springs Tour visitor Bryan Bunting stole some of the limelight jumping out of the gate with 3 pars and adding a birdie on 6 and 2 more pars for a front side 40 and 3 ahead of Todd. The favorite broke out of the pack with a birdie on 12 and went straight to the rail for the stretch run (not sure why I'm talking horse racing now but just go with it). Todd didn't spare the whip with a run of 3 pars to finish 3 lengths (strokes) ahead of Bryan. Todd's first win of the season on his home track was almost a sure thing at 5/3 odds (Ok it's off the rails now).

Mr. Klocke also took home the Net award with a net 60!

Closest to the pin awards went to Jon Sanz and Bryan Bunting.

Rob Gardner had something else to smile about as he took home $185 from the 50/50 raffle in support of Feherty's Troops first foundation. Our season total is now $1050. Thanks for your continued support.   

Welcome to new MN Tour member Andrew Dammen who was so impressed with our Tour he switched from the St. Louis Tour before even teeing off on Sunday. He took a new job in Plymouth so we should be seeing him on a regular basis in the Hogan flight.

Hard to imagine the spring/summer season is half over. There are 4 more events before our MN Tour Championship at The Wilds on Aug. 17-18. Our next stop is White Eagle in Hudson. Please register before you head out of town for the weekend. Deadline is this Saturday night. While your doing that please consider joining us for the KC vs MN Challenge event at Tournament Club of Iowa on Saturday July 13th in Polk City (near Des Moines). It's a regular tour event with the added attraction of a team competition. The series stands at one win for each Tour. We currently hold the trophy and would very much like to hang on to it. Won't you help us bring it back home?

Thanks to Deb and Val for doing extra duty while Mary was bonding with our new granddaughter.