Brellenthin and Peterson Eye Third Straight Win at MGA Senior Four-Ball

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  EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Looking to match John Reichert and David Rovick’s mark of three consecutive titles from 1993 to 1995, the twosome of former University of Minnesota teammates John Brellenthin and Tim Peterson fired a 7-under 64 Monday at Bent Creek Golf Club to take the opening-round lead at the 51st Minnesota Golf Association Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championship.

Brellenthin and Peterson will take two-stroke lead over former champions Jim Lehman and Jerry Rose to Tuesday’s final round.

"Tim made some good putts, so it was fun,” Brellenthin said Monday. “The golf course is tricky—you’ve got to hit fairways, and you’ve got to hit the right side of the hole because the greens have a lot of slope. If you hit good shots, it’s straightforward, and if you don’t, it gets tough pretty quickly.”

“I didn’t do much to help on the front nine,” admitted Peterson, “[John] was playing great, and we missed a couple of makeable putts on our back nine. And then we made up for it—I made a couple of long putts and that helped the cause a lot.”

Beginning the round on the 10th tee Monday, Brellenthin and Peterson birdied two of their first three holes, turning in 2-under before Brellenthin took advantage of the par-5 first, converting his birdie chance to put the two at 3-under for the day.

After Brellenthin rolled in a 10-footer at the sixth, Peterson’s putter took charge by sinking a 15-footer at the par-4 sixth prior to knocking in back-to-back birdies from 30 feet at the seventh and eighth holes, putting him at Brellenthin in front by two strokes at 7-under 64.

“We were in play most of the round, which helped a lot. I’d be happy to play like we did today. If we can hit the ball in the fairway again tomorrow, we’ll have some good looks at birdie,” Peterson said.

Brellenthin and Peterson, both 60, ran away with last year’s championship thanks to a final-round 63 at Eagle Creek Golf Club, earning a six-stroke victory over Lehman and Rose.

The former Gophers survived a two-hole playoff against J.T. Johnson and Tom Whaley at The Jewel Golf Club to win the 2022 championship.

Brellenthin claimed the 2018 Minnesota Senior Open at Hastings Golf Club before winning the 2021 MGA Senior Amateur Championship on his home course at The Minikahda Club. He earned MGA Senior Men’s Player of the Year honors in 2022.

Peterson earned 2021 MGA Senior Men’s Player of the Year honors in 2021 before his back-to-back MGA Senior Four-Ball titles. Peterson notched his first state individual title in June by defeating Lehman at the MGA Senior Players’ Championship at Deacon’s Lodge.

Lehman and Rose, who claimed the 2019 championship on Lehman’s home course at Windsong Farm, converted two birdie chances during their opening nine to turn in 2-under for the round.

The four-time MGA Senior Amateur champion Lehman sank three birdie chances from inside of eight feet over his first five holes of the back nine to lift the twosome into sole possession of second place at 5-under 66.

“Jim played great—he made a bunch of birdies,” Rose said following the round Monday, “I was just along for the ride.”

“It was a typical [four-ball round] for us. Jerry made a lot of great pars and I was able to make a couple of birdies, so we’re right there for tomorrow,” Lehman added. “Jerry and I have played a lot of best balls together and we always seem to play well together. Hopefully, tomorrow is the same thing.”

Helped by four birdies over their final six holes Monday, the team of Eric Przybyla and Paul Tabot finished the opening round in a share of third place with the pairing of Bruce Hegland and Scott Hogan by carding a 4-under 67, three shots off the lead.

The twosome of Gary Johnson and Dan Spillum combined for an opening-round 68 Monday to take a three-stroke advantage in the 65-and-over Master Division over the teams of Steve Doole and Rob Tennant, John Hoffman and Mark Norman, and Mark Alexander and David Anderson.

The final round of the 51st MGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championship gets underway at noon at Bent Creek Golf Club.