The Minneapolis Golfweek Amateur Tour hosted their second local event of the 2015 season at The Meadows at Mystic Lake.  This is the first time the tour played the course and it was met with nothing but the best reviews.   “High risk, High reward” was the theme of the day.

Champ Flight had their largest field ever on the Minneapolis tour for this event and it is exciting to see the payouts increase.  All players were returning but for half of them it was their first even of the season. 

Competition was tight (as it should be), with Dan Shillertaking a one shot lead through the first three holes over Jason Rhoades andMike Kelley.  Tyler Metkowski and Matthew Foehse did their best to stay in the rear view mirror while Matt Bologna hung on to their shirt tails.  By the turn, Dan maintained his lead but Tyler made his presence known by birdying both holes 8 and 9. 

Not phased by Tyler’s front nine fury, Dan continued his steady (bogey) play on the back nine to hold off the less than intimidating group and taking the win in his first even of the 2015 season shooting an 80.  Tied for second coming in two (2) shots behind were Jason Rhoads and season opener winner Matthew Foehse.

In A flight we saw a rematch of the season opener betweenKevin Watson and Scott Kaiser.  Scott took the opener while Kevin played a round he would rather not be reminded of.  The competition between these two is a prime example of why there are flights on the Golfweek Amateur Tour.  There is a reason our handicaps are where they are.

At the opener, Scott was the most consistent, while Kevin went back and forth.  At the Meadows, Kevin was consistent while Scott went back and forth.  I would like to say the competition was close but this week was Kevin’s turn to drag Scott behind him.  Kevin redeemed himself taking the win (and the larger payout), with Scott coming in seven (7) shots behind.

B Flight was not able to boast the largest field and could only say they tied with the largest field. As with the Champ flight, all the guys were returning but for some it was their first event of 2015. Competition was close through the first six (6) holes with the lead changing 5 times and The Flop (capital T and F) holding the lead at the turn shooting an “acceptable” score of 44 for the front nine.  His closest competitor was two (2) shots behind with another just three (3).

Season opener winner Bob Santee didn’t let “The Flop”  (capital T and F) intimidate him and he continued on his steady path removing his two shot deficit while TF (The Flop with a capital T and F abbreviated) must have decided other things were more important (side games perhaps).  In just three holes the two shot deficit flopped (fitting) in the other direction with Bob taking the lead. 

It can’t go without mentioning that as the tournament was wrapping up, the tour director passed Bob in the bathroom and the comment made was “Larry got me on this one”. 

Needless to say, Bob took his second event in a row shooting a disappointing 91 but again reinforcing the reason there are handicaps and flights.  The aforementioned “Larry” (who took 2^nd at the Midwest Major at TPC Deere Run the week earlier), shot one of his worst rounds in a long time which I won’t say his score but it wasn’t in the double digit range….

Following Bob, and before Larry were Steven Holland just one shot behind Bob, then Chris Benny and Doug Bird following.  TF ended up in third and there is nothing more to say on that.

C Flight welcomed newly promoted Tom Blaido with returning players Jimmy Schomaker and Todd Zambrano. 

Again we are presented with the reason there are handicaps and flights in golf.  Newly promoted Tom (I don’t play enough to be in C Flight), with Todd Zambrano (I should be in B Flight), and Jimmy (I am in the right flight), played the entire round as they should.  Todd jumped out to an early lead with Jimmy and Tom following.  At the turn, Todd had a two (2) shot lead over Jimmy and 10 over Tom. 

That continued through the back nine with Todd taking the win by three shots over Jimmy and shooting a great score of 86, and Jimmy shooting an equally impressive 89.

See above – both Todd and Jimmy would have won if they were in the B flight this week.  Hence my previous comments on handicaps and flights.

D Flight welcomed new to the tour Gary Beste against senior member Bill Mlodgenski and Larry Smith. Competition was close between the Veterans while the rookie did his best to stay close.

In the D Flight, competition has the greatest impact, both negative and positive.  It causes the most stress although it also provides the most benefit.  High handicap players that challenge themselves with competition tend to see the greatest improvement.  The two biggest comments I receive are:  “Payouts aren’t big enough” and “I am not good enough”.  The payouts pertain to the single digit handicaps while the good enough comments pertain to the high handicaps.

What can be said for sure is that when competition is flighted, everyone is good enough.  Payouts are strictly dependent on participation and organization.

At the turn, completion seniority was evident.  Bill, with more than 5 years under his belt with competition held a six (6) shot lead over Larry (in his second year) , and 12 over Gary playing in just his first event. 

The victory wen to the completion veteran Bill shooting an impressive score of 89, with Larry and Gary close behind.  Although Bill got the win, there is a good chance both Larry and Gary got more out of the event dealing with the excitement of being in a competitive atmosphere.

Another wonderful event in the books at one of the best courses we have played on the Minneapolis tour.