Brellenthin and Peterson Make it Three Straight at MGA Senior Four-Ball

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  EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Staging a late rally with four birdies over their final six holes Tuesday at Bent Creek Golf Club, the twosome of John Brellenthin and Tim Peterson earned a three-stroke victory to become just the second team in 51 years to win three consecutive Minnesota Golf Association Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championships.

Brellenthin and Peterson entered the final round with a two-stroke advantage over former champions Jim Lehman and Jerry Rose and carded a final-round 68 to post a 36-hole tally of 10-under 132, tying John Reicher and David Rovick’s mark of three straight wins from 1993 to 1995.

“It’s pretty satisfying again,” Peterson said following his second victory of the season Tuesday. “This one felt like more than a struggle than the other two, but whenever you can win, you must’ve done something right. You don’t know how many more chances you’ll have the older you get.”

“It’s really hard to win,” Brellenthin said. “But Tim is such a great friend and great partner, it’s super fun to win this with him. I don’t know if any of the wins are better than others, but to win three times in a row is really great."

Beginning the final round on the 10th hole Tuesday, Brellenthin and Peterson started slowly by carding their first bogey of the championship at the 13th before Brellenthin rolled in the first birdie of the round on the ensuing hole to draw even for the day.

Leaning on his putter all week, Peterson rolled in a 20-footer for birdie at the 17th to turn in 8-under for the championship. But the two would come back to the field with a pair of bogeys over their first three holes of the back nine to drop to 6-under.

Finding their footing after Peterson sank his birdie opportunity from 15 feet at the par-4 fourth, Brellenthin stepped up with three birdies putts inside of four feet over the final five holes to help the former University of Minnesota teammates pull away with a three-stroke victory.

“I had a really good partner,” Brellenthin said. “Tim played much better than I did—I didn’t hit a green until about the fifth or sixth hole. We both had our struggles, but he kept us in the front nine. I made a couple birdies that helped the team, but Tim made a lot of pars when I was out of the hole.”

“We struggled a little bit more today,” Peterson said. “I was hitting the ball okay, but putting was definitely more of a battle for me today.”

Brellenthin’s first state victory came in 1981 at the Minnesota Junior PGA Championship, and he’d follow it with individual medalist honors at the Class A state tournament to close out his junior season at The Blake School.

After edging Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame member Don Berry at the 2018 Minnesota Senior Open at Hastings Golf Club, Brellenthin won the 2021 MGA Senior Amateur on his home course at The Minikahda Club.

His first win at the MGA Senior Four-Ball in 2022 helped Brellenthin to MGA Senior Men’s Player of the Honors.

Successfully defending his senior four-ball title each of the last two seasons, the 60-year-old Brellenthin has amassed seven state victories to date.

Advancing to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Senior Amateur and the semifinals of the MGA Senior Players’ Championship helped Peterson claim MGA Senior Men’s Player of the Year honors in 2021.

His first state win came alongside his former college roomate Brellenthin in 2022 at The Jewel Golf Club.

After successfully defending his title last season, Peterson earned his first individual state victory by defeating Lehman in the final match at the MGA Senior Players’ Championship at Deacon’s Lodge in June.

Peterson, also 60, claimed the fourth state win of his career Tuesday.

Tuesday’s finish marks yet another close call for 2019 champions Lehman and Rose, who’ve now finished in second place five of the last seven seasons at the championship.

“We got off to a terrible start and I kind of let us down with my short game,” Rose said following Tuesday’s final round. “If I’d have made a couple of putts the first five or six holes, we would’ve been fine. It’s frustrating when you make three bogeys like we did today, but that’s the way it goes.”

“We hit a bunch of shots close to the hole on the back side,” Lehman said, “but it’s not good when you start a best-ball 2-over after three holes.”

Lehman and Rose, both 66-years-old, fired a 5-under 66 to trail Brellenthin and Peterson by two strokes entering Tuesday’s final round, but the two were plagued by a slow start, carding a pair of bogeys over their first three holes to begin their round.

Rose carded his first birdie of the final round at the par-3 second, and Lehman rolled in his birdie look at the fourth to climb back to even par for the round.

After giving back a stroke with their third bogey of the final round at the fifth, Rose countered by sinking his birdie chance from the front edge of the sixth green to put him and Lehman at 5-under for the championship.

Lehman’s approach at the seventh stopped inside of four feet where he’d capitalize on his birdie chance to regain a share of second place before Rose hit his approach at the last to three feet for one final birdie to post a final-round 68 to place second at 7-under 135.

Lehman and Rose fell in a playoff to Tom Heidrick and John Sexton in 2018 at Northfield Golf Club before winning the championship on Lehman’s home course at Windsong Farm.

The two finished runner-up to Dave Haslerud and Matt Yeager in both 2020 and 2021 and fell to Brellenthin and Peterson by six shots in 2023 at Eagle Creek Golf Club.

The team of Rick Frieburg and John Spreiter carded three birdies over their final five holes Tuesday to fire a 3-under 68 for the second consecutive round, finishing in third place at 6-under 136.

Gary Johnson and Dan Spillum followed their opening-round 68 with a 1-under 70 during Tuesday’s final round to claim medalist honors in the 65-and-over Master Division, while the pairing of Brian Patterson and Steve Pribyl posted a final-round 61 to earn a two-stroke victory in the Net Division.

The 52nd MGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championship will be played at Cannon Golf Club in Cannon Falls, Minn.