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Spotlightvol. 63 no. 1 detroit lakes, minnesota thursday, august 13, 2009
Entering the Pine to Palm at the De-troit Country Club, Tom Hoge and Clin-ton Boutelle had one thing in common — they were the only two playing in the tournament as U.S. Amateur qualifiers. After Wednesday, they had another thing in common — sharing Pine to Palm medalist honors after each finished with a 10-under par 132. Hoge’s record-breaking nine-under par 62 first round qualifying score was a tough act to follow up on, as his one-
under 70 proved. But even after shooting a 39-31 — 70 for his second round of qualifying, Hoge still earned co-medalist laurels. “I guess I just wasn’t there mentally (Wednesday),” Hoge said. “It was hard to stay focused, it just felt I was out of my routine.” For his fellow co-medalist Clinton Boutelle of Cody, Wyo., his highly-com-petitive nature didn’t allow Hoge out of his sites, despite trailing him by five strokes entering Wednesday’s qualifying round. Boutelle fired a four-under par 67
Tuesday, then buckled down and made a push for the lead with a hard-charging start and finished with a seven-under par 65 to finish tied with Hoge. “I set out a goal to catch him,” Bou-telle said. “It’s just the way I play, I like playing for first. He left the door open and I was able to capitalize on it.” The day started off more than fine for the University of Wyoming golfer, after starting with an eagle and putting in a couple of birdies after that. It set a good tone for Boutelle — who was the Class 3A state champion in Wyo-ming in 2007. “I was putting very well, having 29 putts the first day and I was hitting more greens in regulation (Wednesday),” Bou-telle said. Hoge — who is also this year’s Min-nesota State Am champion — fell into trouble on hole six, where he hit two out of bounds. “Even through 10, I was still making mistakes,” Hoge said. “But I was able to regroup on 11 and used a lot of wedges and some good putting.” Hoge still used his putter to key his day after having only 23 putts on the day, along with his seven birdies. “My short game was still good, my main problem was my course manage-ment,” Hoge added. “I’m happy (being co-medalist) because there are a lot of good players here. “Tomorrow, I can start over (in match play).” Hoge had a familiar player in his group Wednesday, as well, in defending Pine to Palm champion Ben Freeman, who was prepping in his last practice round. The duo were teammates at Fargo South, where they won multiple state championships. Hoge is also coming off an All-American season at TCU this past year. “It was a relaxing day playing in the same group as Ben, but maybe it was a little too relaxing,” Hoge said.
Freeman said he is more than ready to defend his title after playing two prac-tice rounds Tuesday and Wednesday. “I just wanted to get out and hit a few balls and get a feel for the course again,” Freeman said. “It was fun playing with Tom again, we don’t get to play together a lot anymore. “I’m just treating this like another year. After winning it last year, I know I can do it, but I just have to forget about last year.” Hoge’s co-medalist position didn’t do him any favors, since he opens against the 2003 Pine to Palm champion and last year’s semifinalist Greg Melhus, who fin-ished with a qualifying score of six-over 148. Boutelle will face one of the two play-off survivors in Aaron Clausen for a 12:15 p.m. tee time. There were 13 golfers who had to vie for two spots in the play-off round after qualifying was finished. Freeman will get the other playoff winner in Tanner Jones, who also fin-ished second and third in the Long Drive Contest, which was held Tuesday eve-ning. Clausen and Jones each made it out of the 13 player scrum after both birdied the first hole and took par on number two. Another golfer who stormed out of nowhere Wednesday was Moorhead’s Nick Olsgaard, who fired a four-under par 67 to finish five-under 137 and tied for second along with Jon Delzer of Bis-marck, Wade Walters of St. Paul, Cam-eron White of Plymouth and Jeff Lamp of Fargo. Olsgaard’s 26 putts on the day, along with playing fairway golf led to his 33-34 — 67. He is also is familiar with Hoge’s game, after finishing second to him in Monday’s U.S. Amateur qualifier at the Fargo Country Club by nine strokes. “My putting and wedges were key (Wednesday),” Olsgaard said.
Hoge and Boutelle share medalist honors
BRIAN BASHAM/SPOTLIGHT
2008 Pine to Palm champion Ben Freeman watches his approach to the first green Tuesday.
MARK LARSON/SPOTLIGHT
Tom Hoge of Fargo and Clinton Boutelle of Cody, Wyo., each finished with a qualifying two-round total of 10-under par 132.
Clausen and Jones survive 13-player playoff to finalize field of 64
P2P to page 3
Thursday, August 13th, 20093
BRIAN BASHAM/SPOTLIGHT
Tanner Lane of Detroit Lakes hits out of a sand trap up to the 11th green Tuesday.
BRIAN BASHAM/SPOTLIGHT
The 2003 Pine to Palm champion Greg Melhus hits off the fair-way during qualifying play Wednesday.
Pine to Palm Medalists1931—Paul Cook, Bismarck, 691932—Paul Cook, Bismarck, 72-72—1451933—Pat Sawyer, Minneapolis, 66-70—1361934—Fritz Carman, Detroit Lakes, 71-70—1411935—Virgil Roby, Minneapolis, 67-72—1391936— Al Rindy, Grand Forks, and Ernotte
Hiller, Crookston, 1481937—Bobby Campbell, Duluth, 691938—Johnny Buck, Detroit Lakes, 691939—Palmer Kize, Redwood Falls, 671940—Don Peddie, Minneapolis, 711941—Al Rindy, Grand Forks, 691942-43—No tournament1944—Ed Cox, Bismarck, 721945—Chuck Betcher, Red Wing, 701946—Ben Dablow, St. Paul, 671947—Gordy Soderberg, Minneapolis, 701948—Paul O’Leary, Bismarck, 681949—Dr. O.C. Nord, Grand Forks, 701950—Bob Leonard, Fargo, 140
1951— R. J. Atkinson, Kansas City and Dick Spangler, Lincoln, NE, 142
1952—Neil Croonquist, Minneapolis, 1371953—Jack Webb, Spirit Lake, IA, 1371954—Jack Webb, Spirit Lake, IA, and John Olsen, Duluth, 1361955—Jerry Burns, Hastings, 1401956— Jim Moeller, Holdenville, OK, and
Eddie Langert, Mpls., 1391957—George Lee, Humboldt, IA, 1431958— Jack Rule, Waterloo, IA, 1321959— George Lee, Humboldt, IA, and
Chuck Courtney, LaJolla, CA, 1401960—Frank James, Grinnell, IA, 1381961— George Cram, Jr., Bismarck, Frank
136 & Mark Robinson, Cardington, Ohio, 67-69 — 136.
2009 — Tom Hoge, Fargo, and Clinton Boutelle, Cody, Wyo./132
The highest finisher out of the six former Pine to Palm champions was Rick Kuhn of Bismarck, who claimed titles in 1991 and 2005. Kuhn finished with a three-under par 139. “My first day was rough,” Kuhn said. “I struggled off the tee. Surprisingly enough, I was much better off the tee (Wednes-day), but struggled with my put-ting, despite shooting a 67.” The former Gopher and pro-fessional golfer drew Detroit Lakes junior Tanner Lane, who finished with a qualifying score of 148. Setting Pine to Palm history was Oxbow 17-year-old Amy Anderson, who becomes the first female to qualify for Cham-pionship match play after she stroked a two-over par 144. Anderson will be pitted against Peter Krier of Lake
Park, who finished with a score of five-over 146. Returning from a three-year hiatus is 2004 Pine to Palm champion Chris Braaten, who became the first Detroit Lakes native to win the prestigious tournament. Braaten qualified with a score of three-over 145 and will play Bryce Mattson of Oxbow, who had a qualifying score of 146. “I was able to make some good pars and have been hit-ting the ball well, even though I’m not making a whole lot of putts,” Braaten said of his game entering match play. “Now, I just want to hit a bunch of greens and have no more than a two putt (on them). “I’m feeling pretty good, though.” Championship tee times start at 12:15 p.m. and run through 2:30 p.m.
Ever since she entered her first competitive golf tourna-ment, Amy Anderson had her sights set on making her mark at the Pine to Palm Golf Tour-nament at the Detroit Country Club. Mission accomplished. Anderson made Pine to Palm history Wednesday as the first female to ever earn a berth in the field of 64 in Championship play. The 17-year-old Oxbow golf-ing prodigy carded a 71-73 for a final two-round score of two-over par 144, and now will meet Peter Krier of Lake Park at 1 p.m. Thursday. Her journey to Pine to Palm immortality started with the tournament’s junior sister tour-ney, which is played at Ironman Golf Course in Detroit Lakes the same week. “The Ironman Tournament was the first tournament I ever played in,” Anderson said. “And ever since then, I always was eyeing the Pine to Palm. It’s been one of the tournaments I always wanted to do well in for so many years.” Her success didn’t go unno-ticed during the first three days of the tournament, as well. Anderson was the buzz of the Pine to Palm leading up to Wednesday’s final qualifying round. “What a great story,” said Championship qualifier Nick Olsgaard, who tied for second place overall with a five-under par 137. “I don’t really want to see her in match play.” Two-time Pine to Palm cham-pion Rick Kuhn was also quite impressed with the history
maker from Oxbow. “It’s amazing,” Kuhn said. “She can make it in match play. She hits the ball well and she has a great short game. She’ll be tough to beat.” And it’s not like she didn’t al-ready have some major accom-plishments heading into the Pine to Palm. Anderson won the USGA Girls’ Junior Amateur Cham-pionship — as well as medalist laurels with a three-under 141 — July 25, at the New Course at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. Carding an even-par 71 Tues-day in the first round of quali-fying set the pace for Anderson to ink her name in the Pine to
Palm history books. She repeated her first-round performance Wednesday by carding a two-over par 73 to en-sure her berth in the field of 64. The secret to her success? She simply played her game and played it well. “I basically just hit the fair-ways and two-putted,” Ander-son said. “I went out of bounds on six, which was really my only (negative).” With odds on her making the final cut going up dramatically with her even-par score Tues-day, Anderson could play a bit more conservatively in her sec-ond round. “I just went for the greens, this course is a tight one, so you
have to hit the ball straight and stay out of trouble,” Anderson said. Which, incidentally, is An-derson’s strength. Entering Championship match play, Anderson may not have the long game that her male counterparts will have, but the DCC course does play shorter than normal, making an effective short game and put-ting a must. That will fit right into Ander-son’s strengths, which is play-ing fairway golf and staying out of trouble. Although there shouldn’t be any intimidation felt by Ander-son, she knows it will be a tough field starting Thursday.
“I do know I have to go lower than the first couple of days,” Anderson said. “But I can be more aggressive and go for the pins more than just the middle of the green.” Match play also shouldn’t be much of a hurdle for Anderson. She made a six-match swath through the U.S. Junior Ama-teur Tournament, ultimately beating Kimberly Kim of Hilo, Hawaii, by the wide margin of 6 and 5 for the title. “I love match play,” Anderson said. “I can go out and play my game. The key will be to try and stick it closer to the pins and try for more birdie putts.”
Anderson makes Pine to Palm historyBecomes first female golfer to earn berth in Championship match play
IN THE NUMBERS
23 12 77
33
968
77 Year History of the Pine to Palm
9 - Number of Chairmen of the Pine to Palm
11 - Number of Double Eagles
19 - Number of consecutive championship matches won by Jack Rule from 1958-1961
20 - Number of holes played in the championship match in 1954 when Jack Webb defeated Mayo Beske 1-up - longest match in Pine to Palm history
23 - Average age of the 76 Pine to Palm Champions
33 - Number of Hole in Ones
54 - Number of years Frank Winsor & Mark Erick-sen Sr. have played in the Pine to Palm
68 - Lowest 18 hole medalist score in the Senior Di-vision recorded by Robert Wernick in 1999
130 - Lowest 36 hole medalist score in the Cham-pionship flight shot by Jeff Lamp in 2003 and two day total of 63-67=130 & Cameron White in 2007 two day total of 65-65=130
336 - Number of yards driven by Carl Hunt in the Long Drive Contest in 2002
355 - Average number of entries in the 77 year his-tory of the tournament
540 - Largest number of tournament entrants in 1999
1977 - Last year a golfer won back to back champi-onship - Bill Israelson in 1976 & 1977
27,126 - Number of golfers who have played in the Pine to Palm over the 77 year history of the tour-nament
by MARK LARSON
BRIAN BASHAM/SPOTLIGHT
Oxbow’s 17-year-old Amy Anderson tees off during the Pine to Palm qualifying rounds at the Detroit Country Club. Anderson shot a 71-73 —144 to earn a spot in the field of 64. She becomes the first female to do so in the 77-year history of the Pine to Palm.
Otis Hesteness made a wise decision when Pine to Palm chairman Bob Gorden asked him to play in the first-ever Mid-Am Division for the Pine to Palm Golf Tournament. Instead of mowing the fair-ways on the back nine at the De-troit Country Club, Hesteness was mowing down the compe-tition during the first Mid-Am qualifier by stroking a 72-73 for a three-over par 145 to capture the medalist honors Tuesday. “I was on the practice putting green one day and (Pine to Palm chairman) Bob (Gorden) came up to me and asked if I’m finally going to play in the Pine to Palm since it added the Mid-Am Divi-sion,” Hesteness said. “It was a perfect fit for me and it worked
out well.” Hesteness credited his putter for holding strong through the two days of qualifying, but the key to his two rounds was being able to recover from a “disas-trous” sixth hole, where he had a triple bogey. Ironically, the only other time Hesteness played in the Pine to Palm was in 1973, where he just missed the cut after shooting an 81. But it was the sixth hole which sunk him after he shot a 12 on it. “I was one-under after five and my ball found a divot on the sixth hole,” Hesteness said. “I bladed it and ended up with a seven. But then I was able to birdie 10 and 12 and I was back in it.” After Hesteness’ 72 Monday, he had the opportunity to play
with the lead group of Jay Olaf-son, Todd Schaefer and Scott McNealy. “It was a great group to play with, they are some good golf-ers,” Hesteness added. The DCC maintenance work-er was actually three strokes down to McNealy at the turn, but Hesteness was able to stay out of trouble while the rest of his group found some roughs and higher scores on the back nine. “I guess the key was that I was able to hold it together after six,” Hesteness said. “It’s great (being the medalist) because there are a lot of great names playing in this division. It’s good to know that I have Wednesday off before (Thursday’s) match play. “Maybe I’ll go see if the wall-eyes are biting.” The field of 16 was set after 22
Mid-Am golfers tried their luck at qualifying. One Detroit Lakes’ golfer and longtime Pine to Palm com-petitor, Aaron Burnside, has been waiting for the addition of a Mid-Am Division for quite sometime. Now that’s it’s a fixture in the Pine to Palm, Burnside feels it will flourish in the future. “A lot of guys are just wait-ing to see how things work out, because there are a lot of un-knowns,” Burnside said, who made the cut tied for eighth with a 75-79 — 154. “But after they see the cut this year, I can see it growing. I think having a field of 16 is a huge attraction, Bob Gorden did it right.” Burnside added another at-traction is how the Mid-Am is being treated by the Pine to Palm committee.
“I saw the trophies and what we are playing for and it’s just the same type of (hardware) like Championship and Seniors,” he said. “I expect to see the Mid-Am double in its numbers. There should be no reason it can’t hit 40 to 50 golfers in the future.” Here are the pairings for Mid-Am match play, which starts Thursday morning: Hesteness vs. Mark Ericksen Jr. Craig Stein vs. Burnside. Todd Schaefer vs. Matthew Ericksen. Jay Olafson vs. Duane Gei-ger. Scott McNealy vs. Peter Bolo-gna. Randy Hanson vs. Thomas Solien. Kent Fronk vs. Scot Moores. Frank Campbell vs. Jim Da-vidson.
Hesteness wins inaugural Mid-Am medalist honors
Otis Hesteness
Scott McNealy
Mark Ericksen, Jr.
Peter Bologna
Craig Stein
Randy Hanson
Aaron Burnside
Thomas Solien
Todd Schaefer
Ken Fronk
Matthew Ericksen
Scot Moores
Jay Olafson
Frank Campbell
Duane Geiger
Jim Davidson
BRIAN BASHAM/SPOTLIGHT
Otis Hesteness watches his second shot to the par five first hole during qualifying for the Mid-Am division Tuesday.
As a first-year Pine to Palm Senior’s player in 1999, Detroit Lakes’ William Blake played all the way to the cham-pionship match, before losing to Bemi-dji’s Gerry Douglas 1-up. On his way through Senior’s bracket play, Blake defeated that year’s medal-ist Robert Wernick to stay alive. Now 10 years later, Blake will enter Senior’s championship play as the divi-sion’s medalist after he carded a one-over par 72 to secure a No. 2 seed for the 16-man field match play and hopes to take that one extra step he didn’t take in 1999. “It feels good to be medalist,” Blake said. “I’ve been playing well. It’s a good feeling to get your name up on the (Pine to Palm) board. I’ve really enjoyed meet-ing a lot of people here and it’s been a good time.” Blake made eight pars and had one hiccup with a double bogey on the front nine of his qualifying round Monday at the Detroit Country Club. He finished strong by recording birdies on seven and eight (he started his round on tee 10) after he hit a snag early on with a bogey on four. “I was hitting my fairways and greens and I wasn’t having any three putts,” Blake said of his round. His putting was strong, with only 28 in his 18 holes of qualifying. “I stayed out of trouble and really
had only one bad shot, which happened when I over-shot the green on 17,” Blake said. His summer didn’t start off all too well, though, in which he decided he needed some help. “Earlier in the year, my game was in the tank,” Blake included. “So I went to Oxbow had got a few lessons from (Golf Pro) John Dahl there. I was getting too ahead of the ball and was using my wrists too much.” The lessons cured his golf ailments, which eventually led to his Senior low score of 72 and medalist laurels to go along with it. Defending champion Joe Sauer of Sauk Rapids gained the automatic No. 1 seed, while 11 other Senior golfers earned their spots in the 16-man brack-
et. There will be a playoff of six golfers vying for four spots Thursday morning to complete the brackets. The 10 other golfers who qualified for championship play in Seniors, include Dan Elton (73), John Schwankl (73), Jeff Tweeton (73), Mike Stirling (73), Ron Vincelli (74), Tim Rubis (74), Rick Johnson (74), John Bartley (74), Chuck Renner (74) and Paudie O’Connor (74). The cut was 75, with six involved in Thursday morning’s playoff. They in-clude Tom Hanson, William Hawkins, T.L. Solien, Perry Clark, William Erick-sen and Steve Halverson.
1. Friday, July 26, 1935—Tom Hellander, Fargo, on the 215-yard 7th hole (club used not reported). He was playing Don Orman in a first flight consolation match and the ace was said to be “the first in several years” at the Detroit Country Club. 2. Wednesday, Aug. 14, 1946—Georgia Tainter Goff, Fargo, on the 161-yard 12th hole, using a 4-wood. The ace was made during qualifying and came in the final year the Pine to Palm Tournament had a women’s division. 3. Friday, Aug. 15, 1952—Bud Nolan, Minneapolis, on the 165-yard 16th hole, using a 5-iron. Nolan was playing in the Sallie Flight and won his match over Dick James, also of Minneapolis, in 20 holes. A member of the Meadowbrook Golf Course, it was the sec-ond hole-in-one of his career. 4. Wednesday, Aug. 6, 1958—Andy Lindvig, Fargo, on the 179-yard 8th hole, using a 4-iron. Witnesses to the shot were Bob Mc-Cart, Hank Langager and Bill Fillmore. 5. Tuesday, Aug. 7, 1962—Jack McCuistion, Lincoln, Nebr., on the 179-yard 8th hole, using a 6-iron. The hole-in-one came during a qualifying round. 6. Thursday, Aug. 9, 1962—George Cram, Bismarck, N.D., on the 179-yard 8th hole, using a 4-iron. Cram, the North Dakota State Amateur Golf Tournament champion in 1961 and 1962, went on to defeat Carl Liebovich of Rockford, Ill., during the match when he had the ace. 7. Friday, Aug. 10, 1962—Frank Winsor, St. Paul, on the 179-yard 8th hole, using a 3-wood. Winsor went on to defeat Gordon Christopherson of Richfield in the match when he had the hole-in-one. 8. Thursday, Aug. 14, 1969—David Tweeton, Moorhead, on the 223-yard 3rd hole, using a 3-iron. Tweeton, playing a Palm Flight match against Dick Thomas of St. Louis Park, eventually lost the match. Other witnesses to the shot were Dr. John Goff of Fargo and Roger Anderson of Windom. 9. Friday, Aug. 14, 1970—Richard P. Anderson, Bremerton, Wash., on the 151-yard 14th hole, using a 7-iron. A lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, Anderson went on to defeat Bruce Aamoth in the match when he had the ace. 10. Wednesday, Aug. 8, 1973—Stuart Trenda, Owatonna, on the 151-yard 14th hole, using a 7-iron. Witnesses to the shot were Chuck Hyslop, John Rasmussen and Steve Gillam. 11. Wednesday, Aug. 8, 1973—Tom Huber, Minneapolis, on the 174-yard 8th hole, using a 5-iron. Witnesses to the hole-in-one were Bill Von Wald (who won the first of his three straight champi-onships that year), Lyle Hornbacher and Jim Bergeson. 12. Friday, Aug. 12, 1977—Jay Paul Hornbacher, Walnut Creek, Calif., on the 174-yard 8th hole, using a 3-iron. He defeated Ken Crowell in the match, with other witnesses to the ace being Mark Farnam and Baldy Waldahl. 13. Monday, Aug. 7, 1978—John Wangberg, Moorhead, on the 151-yard 14th hole, using a 7-iron. The ace came during qualify-ing and was witnessed by Steve Bologna, Ted Hatlen and Thomas Ford. 14. Saturday, Aug. 11, 1979—Harold Haupt, Hopkins, on the 160-yard 17th hole, using a 4-iron. Haupt defeated Harold Swan-son of St. Paul in a Lida Flight match when he got the ace. 15. Friday, Aug. 13, 1982—Bill Akins, Roseville, on the 223-yard 3rd hole, using a 5-wood. Witnesses to the ace were Larry Wentz, Charles Stone and Bill Fercho. 16. Wednesday, Aug. 10, 1983—Jim Dolan Jr., South St. Paul, on the 151-yard 14th hole, using an 8-iron. Dolan shot a two-under-par 33 on the back nine as he qualified for championship flight play. Witnesses were Dave Olson, Dave Adams and Tom Coates. 17. Wednesday, Aug. 8, 1984—Curt Bradford, Hutchinson, on the 151-yard 14th hole, using a 5-iron. The ace enabled Bradford to qualify for the championship flight, since he had a 36-hole score of 152 in qualifying and there was a playoff at 153 for title flight con-testants. Witnesses to the hole-in-one were Greg Mattson, George Oftelie and Rob Polipnick. 18. Tuesday, Aug. 12, 1986—Trent Wilcox, Park Rapids, on the 223-yard 3rd hole, using a 2-iron. Witnesses were Gary Martinson, David Knutson and Steve Herron, along with ball spotter Tim Lar-son. 19. Friday, Aug. 15, 1986—Bruce Heysse, Wahpeton, N.D., on the 151-yard 14th hole, using an 8-iron. Witnesses included Don Neitzke, Steve Murdock and Joe Greenagel, along with ball spotter Tim Larson, who witnessed the Wilcox ace three days earlier. 20. Saturday, Aug. 13, 1988—Rudy Edwardson, Detroit Lakes, on the 174-yard 8th hole, using a 5-wood. The ace came in a match when Edwardson defeated Al Leighton of St. Cloud, a former owner of KDLM Radio in Detroit Lakes. 21. Tuesday, Aug. 8, 1989—Jeff Wilber, Miller, S.D., on the 223-yard 3rd hole, using a 2-iron. Witnesses to the ace included Joe Bofferding, John Sauer and Mark O’Brien. 22. Saturday, August 12, 1989—Rick Render, Bloomington, on the 151-yard 14th hole, using a 6-iron. Witnesses were Doug Elliott, Ron Gorg and Sean Gorg. 23. Saturday, Aug. 12, 1989—Ken Riesberg, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, on the 151-yard 14th hole, using a 6-iron. Witnesses were Dan Conley, Todd Hendricksen and Jeff Reinholdz. 24. Tuesday, Aug. 13, 1991—Steven Franke, LaCrosse, Wis., on the 160-yard 17th hole, using a 6-iron. Witnesses to the ace, which was made in qualifying play, were John Boerboon, Jeff Cool-ey and Tim King. 25. Tuesday, Aug. 13, 1996—Dan Johnson, Spring Lake Park, on the 174-yard 8th hole, using a 9-iron. Witnesses were Gregg Sorensen, Rick Kallhoff and Bill LeDoux. 26. Wednesday, Aug. 14, 1996—Jason Cordes, Perth, Austra-lia, on the 213-yard 3rd hole, using a 4-iron. Witnesses included Scott Linnerooth, Dave Conzemius Jr., Michael Bindas, Jennifer Volkerding and Matt Geeslin. 27. Sunday, Aug. 18, 1996—Myles Bosch, Fargo, on the 213-yard 3rd hole, using a 2-iron. Witnesses were Steve Houghton, Marty Gompf, Jeff Abrahams and David Olson. 28. Tuesday, Aug. 10, 1999—Tim Rubis, Fargo, on the 213-yard 3rd hole, using a 3-iron. 29. Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2000—Ben Greve, Annandale, on the 160-yard 17th hole, using a 7-iron. Witnesses were Mike Stirling, Mark Boyle and Jim Strandemo. 30. Tuesday, Aug 7, 2007 — Corey Schommer of Lakeville, Minnesota on hole #3, 222 yard shot using a 6 iron. Witnesses: Dustin Delmonico, Kevin Barr & Sean Ambrosie. 31. Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008 — Terry Barnard of Moorhead, on hole 14, a 147-yard shot, using a 7 iron. Witnesses: Dick McConn, Ron Smedshammer, Mel Gauslow and Vivian Wenzel. 32. Saturday, Aug. 16, 2008 — Eric Galt, Fargo, on the par 4, seventh hole using a driver. Witnesses: Abby Strauss, Jeff Skogmo, Rob Schultz, Jeff Thiege and Will Blasczyk.
Pine to Palm holes in one
MARK LARSON/SPOTLIGHT
Pine to Palm Hole in One No. 33: Bill Modrich of Fargo made an ace on hole 14, a 156-yard shot using an eight iron, during qualifying for the PIne to Palm Tournament at the Detroit Country Club. Witnessing the shot were John Bergquist, Chad Kosin and Ken Astrup.
BRIAN BASHAM/SPOTLIGHT
Richard Copeland blasts out of a greenside bunker on the first hole Tuesday.
Blasting out of the sand
Thursday, August 13th, 20099
By MARK LARSONThe Spotlight
Chad Cota of Moorhead won the 17th Annual Pine to Palm Long Drive Contest Tuesday with a drive of 335 yards, using a Ping G10 – 9 degree loft club. Cota also earned fourth-place honors with a drive of 317 yards. The contest was held on the 366-yard No. 11. Tanner Jones of Fargo captured both second and third place honors with drives of 328 and 324 yards. Jones was using a Ping Rapture – nine degree loft driver. Mark Dielke of Minneapolis took fifth with a drive of 315 yards. Each golfer was allowed to hit up to six balls in the event. A total of 41 golf-ers competed in the long drive contest. Pine to Palm committee members who helped run the contest included Head Pro Mark Holm, Bruce Woodland, Mox Gunderson (an employee of DCC), Jenna Schulte, along with Long Drive coordinator Mark Larson.
17 YEAR HISTORY OF LONG DRIVE CONTEST WINNERS1993.........Conrad Ray, Austin, Mn. 316 yds 1994.........Brian Benson, Jamestown, N.D. 315 yds 1995.........Lee Kinney, Red Wing 313 yds 1996.........Adam Dooley, Albany, Mn. 286 yds 1997.........Ben Strauman, Wayzata 303 yds 1998.........Mitch Buboltz, Detroit Lakes 320 yds
1999.........Ryan Vincelli, Spirit Lake, IA. 324 yds 2000.........Patrick Beste, Sauk Centre 298 yds 2001......... Jim Davidson, Calabassas, CA. 324 yds 2002........Carl Hunt, Crookston, RECORD 336 yds 2003.........Todd Schaefer, Grand Forks,N.D. 326 yds 2004.........Todd Schaefer, Grand Forks,N.D. 304 yds
2005.........Adam McArthur, Detroit Lakes 323 yds 2006......... Josh Persons, Fargo, N.D. 335 yds 2007......... Jay Bartley, Oxbow, N.D. 331 yds2008 ........Aaron Clausen, Spirit Lake, Iowa 321 yds2009 ........ Chad Cota, Moorhead, Mn. 335 yds
Cota wins the 2009 Long Drive Contest
chip shotschip shotsLarson’sLarson’s
The official registration total for the 77th Pine to Palm is 429, down only two players from last year. A breakdown of the divi-sions show 186 are in the Championship Flight up 28 players from last year. There are 144 players in the Numbered Flights, down 43. The Seniors Flight has 77 competitors, down 9. We again thank all of the players, caddies, committee members and fans for making the Pine to Palm the largest amateur or professional golf tourna-ment in the United States. n Our new division, the Mid Amateur, has 22 players forty years old and older. Bob Gorden, chairman of the Pine to Palm and the rest of the committee are very happy with the excellent turnout considering the state of the economy and the PGA Championship going on simultaneously with the Pine to Palm at Hazeltine Na-tional Golf Course. The all-time record for players in the tourna-ment is 540 in 1999. n Chuck Merry, former Pine to Palm chairman from 1980-1993 shot his age (74) at the Detroit Country Club on June 3rd. Way to go Chuck! n Dave Schultz, 2005 Pine to Palm Champion and now on the Nationwide Tour finished at 15 under and tied for second place last Sunday at the Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open in Wichita, Kansas. Schultz fired rounds of 66-69-67-67 (269), one stroke behind the winner Chris Tidland. n With the runner-up finish, Schultz collected $48,400 for the event and moved up to 24th place on the Tour’s money list this sea-son for season total of $114,804. The top 25 golfers at the end of the year qualify for next years PGA Tour. Schultz will play in the Price Cutter Charity Championship today thru Sunday in Spring-field, Missouri. There are eleven events left on this year’s sched-ule. n Frank Winsor, of the Twin Cities and summer resident of De-troit Lakes is not playing in the Pine To Palm this year. Winsor who has played in 54 Pine to Palms is joined by Mark Ericksen Sr., also in his 54th tournament. n New inductees into the 25 year club are: John Bartley, Larry Olin and Rick Johnson. Our apologizes to the three golfers not included in the 2009 “Tradition” magazine: Jim Winsor-28 years, Ron Smet-26 and Rick Johnson-25.
Schultz Sizzling on Nationwide Tour
BRIAN BASHAM/SPOTLIGHT
Taylor Cavanagh chips up to the par five first hole during Tuesday’s qualifying round.
Chippin’ on one
Long drive champion Chad Cota. Tanner Jones took second and third place.
Thursday, August 13th, 200910
By John J. McRae Pioneer Sports Writer
A familiar name won the 2009 Birch-mont executive division title. Rick Passolt, the 2003 and 2005 Birch-mont men’s championship winner, han-dled two-time defending champion Todd Schaefer 7 and 5 Saturday to claim the executive division crown. So why the move to the executive di-vision, especially so soon after winning the tournament’s biggest title? “We had our fourth child, she’s 3 years old now, and I haven’t played a lot of golf since then,” Passolt said shortly after winning Saturday’s final. “I still have my Birchmont qualifying scores from 2007 on my handicap card.” In addition, Passolt said he failed to ad-vance through qualifying in last year’s Birchmont championship division, which prompted some soul searching. “There are lots of young guys playing really good golf,” he said. “I thought if I wanted to keep playing this tournament,
the executive division would be a better fit for me.” Passolt didn’t exactly tear things up in qualifying, shooting 82-79 to qualify in the middle of the pack. “Coming into the tournament, my wife and kids let me play a few times to get ready (three times, to be exact), and I struck the ball well, but didn’t score well. That carried over into the Birchmont qualifying for me.” Things started to turn around in the opening round of match play as Passolt defeated Peter Bridston 4 and 2. “We were both tearing it up,” Passolt said. “I was just fortunate enough to hang in there and win.” Passolt then went on a stretch of solid play that propelled him to the champion-ship match. He defeated Matthew Mor-gan of Warrensburg, Mo., and Rob Noren of Bemidji by identical 7-and-6 results, then rolled past Schaefer. “I only had one bogey in my last three matches,” Passolt said. “That came when I three putted the second hole.” Saturday’s championship was anticipat-
ed to be a tooth-and-nail battle between two accomplished players. Schaefer had dominated the division recently, win-ning the previous two titles. It didn’t turn out that way. The weather conditions weren’t exactly conducive to great scoring, with strong westerly winds and temperatures in the low 60s. “It was difficult out there,” Pas-solt said. “(Schaefer) just didn’t have his best day.” Passolt took a quick 2-up lead after two holes as Schaefer missed a pair of par putts from within six feet. “I caught a major break on the sec-ond hole,” Passolt said. “There was a big crosswind blowing and I hit my hy-brid 3-iron. It went left and I thought I wouldn’t have a shot, but the ball hit a tree and bounced out — on to the back fringe. I went from thinking I was going to lose the hole for certain to being 2-up. It was my luckiest bounce of the tour-ney.” The players halved the next two holes with par and birdie, respectively, before
Passolt took a 3-up lead with a par on No. 5. After halving the sixth with par, Pas-solt went 4 up when he got up and down from the right greenside bunker for par. Passolt then went 5-up with a birdie on No. 9 as he played a perfect approach on his third shot that stopped a foot away from the hole. Passolt closed out the match on 13. He played the hole to perfection with a drive down the middle and an approach to the middle of the green. Schaefer missed his bid for par and conceded the hole, and the match. The Birchmont has been a yearly fam-ily vacation for the Passolts for a num-ber of years now, and that doesn’t look to change anytime soon. “My twin boys, who are 9 years old now, played in their first putting tournament this year,” Pas-solt said. “It was great stuff – and the first of many to come.”
By John J. McRae Pioneer Sports Writer
This is getting to be old hat for Sam Matthew. The junior-to-be at Roseville High School captured his sec-ond Birchmont junior title in three years, winning the divi-sion crown with a 6-and-4 win over Bemidji’s Kevin Larson Saturday. Last year, Matthew advanced to the final before falling to Bill Carlson. It seems getting to the Birchmont final is a given for the perpetually smiling Mat-thew. “I like it up here – a lot,” he said. “I’m not a big hitter and where the juniors play the course from it’s not all that long. Plus, I just like being here. Everything about it is great.” After taking medalist honors with a solid 4-over 76, Matthew opened match play with a big 6-and-5 win over James Arna-son of Grand Forks. He then was involved in the match of the week in the division, taking on Bemidji’s Trey Dale. “I was down three with six to go,” said Matthew. “I got it back to even after the 17th hole and then won the match with a par on 18. It was a great match.” That set up the final against Larson, who made the final pairing after defeating Kaleb Hanson of Laporte 1-up and Be-midji’s Rylee Curb 3 and 2. But the final belonged to Mat-thew. He said he concentrated on playing solid golf tee to green and not taking any unnecessary chances. “I ended up hitting 13 of 14 greens,” he said. “I was hit-ting the ball pretty well.” Matthew never trailed in the match Saturday. He won the first hole with a par and the lead held up as the players halved the next four holes with par. Another par on the sixth hole gave Matthew a 2-up advantage
and yet another on eight put him ahead 3 up. Larson came back with a bird-ie 4 on No. 9 to give Matthew a 2-up lead at the turn. Matthew put his head down and kept playing solid golf. An-other par on 10 gave him a 3-up lead. The players halved No. 11 with par. Matthew then closed out the match with pars on 12, 13 and 14 to close it out. “There weren’t a lot of bird-ies on the card, but sometimes in match play pars do the job,” Matthew said. “That’s what happened for me today.” While Matthew will be eligible to play in the Birchmont junior division again next year, he said he may make the move to the men’s championship divi-sion. “The course is a lot longer from where the men’s champs play it,” he said. “That would be the biggest difference for me. But maybe it’s the time to make the move – we’ll see.” Without a doubt there are more than a few Birchmont ju-niors who wouldn’t mind seeing Matthew make that move.
By John J. McRae Pioneer Sports Writer
In her first two tries at the Birchmont golf tournament, Ra-chel Roller was knocked out in the first round of the women’s championship division. Not this time. Roller used steady play to cap-ture the 2009 crown, defeating Jenna Cannon 2 and 1 in Satur-day’s final. The North Dakota High School Class A individual state cham-pion in 2007, Roller completed her first collegiate season at North Dakota State this spring. She made the team and played in every meet, although her per-formance was little more than “OK,” the soft-spoken Roller said. This summer Roller has con-centrated on honing her game while working at King’s Walk Golf Course in Grand Forks. “I’ve have played just about ev-ery day,” she said, “but this is my first tournament.” Roller qualified for the Birch-mont championship match play with a score of 82 as she strug-gled with her putter. “I struck the ball well, but just couldn’t get it rolling on the green,” she said. “I used a long putter the first two days, then switched to a regular putter the rest of the way.” Roller opened up the Birch-mont with a 5-and-4 win over Bemidji’s Shelby Sauer and followed up with a 3-and-2 win over future NDSU teammate Cydney Hasselberg of Staples. Roller then advanced to the final against Cannon with a 2-and-1 win over Birchmont tourna-ment regular Anne Fraser of Lynn, Mass. The final featured a backand-forth match where neither com-petitor was playing all that well, Roller said. “That front nine wasn’t pretty,” she said. Cannon took an early lead with a par on the first hole, but Roller birdied the fourth hole to
even the match. Another birdie on No. 7 put Roller 1 up and a par on the eighth hole was good for a 2-up lead. That’s the way the match stayed at the turn as the players halved the ninth hole bogeys. Cannon made a move to get back in the match with a birdie on 10 to make it 1 up. But Roller returned the favor on the par-3 11th with a birdie to regain the 2-up lead. The eventual champion ex-tended her lead to 3 up with a par on 12. But Cannon wasn’t about to give in. She got one back with a birdie on 13 and cut the match to a one-hole margin with a par on 14. The turning point of the match came at the par-5 15th. Roller
played it very well and made birdie to go back to 2 up. Can-non would not recover. The players then halved the next two holes with pars as Roll-er claimed her first Birchmont title. “A win like this really gives me confidence heading into the fall season at NDSU,” Roller reported with a smile. “I don’t know – I wasn’t going to play any more tournaments this summer, but maybe I’ll head to the Pine to Palm (in Detroit Lakes) after this.” This was the second Birch-mont final for Cannon, who know lives in Bemidji. She also advanced to the 2006 final where she was defeated by Alyssa Wil-liamson.
Birchmont Golf Tournament:WOMEN
EXECUTIVE
JUNIORS
Matthew wins second junior title in 3 years
Third time’s a charm for Roller
Passolt’s move to executive field results in a title
Thursday, August 13th, 200911
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Wee Tee Tournament Ironman Golf Course • Wednesday, August 12
Ages 5 to 7
For many, it was their first golf tour-nament. For many, it was the best time they have had on a golf course. The Wee Tee Tournament at Ironman Golf Course each year during Pine to Palm week intro-duces tournament golf for the first time in a very casual way.
Nine holes from the Wee Tees, caddies and encouragement are required, lemon-ade along the way and ice cream at the end. Ribbons for all the winners and a tro-phy for the most outstanding boy and girl.
This year we had two outstanding boys tie with a score of 38, Colton Westra and Hunter Burnside.
They went out in a sudden win play-off and Colton won on the first hole. Anna Cihak wins the girls division with a 42.