The Minneapolis Tour held their 2014 season opener at a course that will be the traditional opener, Deer Run Golf Course in Victoria Minnesota.  The course was in great shape as usual, and also as usual, the weather was the big question.

Luckily the weather  was probably the closest to average we had seen up to that date.  It was cool and windy with periods of sun, but most importantly, we were free of snow and rain.

Champ Flight saw one of the closest competitions of the day between both a rookie and returning members.  Through the first 8 holes, returning member Jason Rhoades held only a one shot lead over Matthew Foehse playing in only his first event. 

The ninth hole proved to be the hardest hole for the day yielding only one par to the field and also proved to be the deciding factor for the Champ Flight.  Shooting impressive matching scores on the back nine of 38 gave returning player Rhoades his first win of the season carding a 77 with rookie Foehse coming in second.  Returning champ flight player Mike Kelleyrefused to comment.

A flight saw a similar scenario with only in regards to a rookie facing returning members.  It only took four holes for rookie Jon Dubel to take the lead over returning membersTyler Metkowski and Jerry “the flop” Carlson.   It appears Metkowski and “the flop” decided the play their own game the remainder of the day boycotting the rest of the event.  Dubel took home the win in his rookie appearance shooting an impressive 81 with his closest opponent 9 shots behind and earning Metkowski the quote of the day.  “wow!  The tour director even beat me!”

B Flight had all returning members and quickly turned into two separate competitions.  Doug Bird and Larry Caldwell pulled away trading the lead with Bird taking the front nine by only one stroke shooting 41 and 42 respectively.  Caldwell took the lead on hole 11 and did not give it up winning his third consecutive season opener shooting a very respectable 82.

The other competition in B Flight proved less exciting and the players will remain nameless – because one of them is writing the article.

C Flight provided the largest field and pitted an equal number of returning players as rookies.   The competition remained close with only seven shots being the largest spread.  The Rookies held their own on the front nine taking three of the four top scores at the turn.  Cace Smith and Dan Bentzlin held the lead at the turn with Tom Blaido and Michael Foehse close behind.  Experience and consistency proved to be the key on the back nine with newly retired Bentzlin taking the win shooting an 89, with tour rookie Blaido coming in second shooting a 93.

Although D Flight brought the least amount of competition, it cannot go without comment.  Returning player Larry Smith showed his off season work by taking home almost as much money as he paid in.  Smith impressed the field by carding a birdie on hole 13 taking a skin as well as not carding the highest score of the event.

Yet another great season is under way!  It is great to see the returning members as well as welcoming many new members to the tour.

Thank you to Deer Run for hosting yet another Great Season Opener!