Christensen Medals With 69, Three Others Advance to U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. – With a number of amateur titles and professional accomplishments to his credit, Mike Christensen’s competitive golf game hasn’t been the highest of priorities in recent years.

Christensen claimed two Class AA individual titles at Grand Rapids High School in 1994 and 1996, while adding a team title in 1995.

He won the Minnesota Golf Association Junior Boys’ Championship the summer following his junior year before he became just the third player to win the Minnesota State Amateur as a high school underclassman in 1995.

Christensen chose Duke University to play his college golf where he was teammates with PGA Tour player Kevin Streelman, turning professional himself in 2001. He found success as a caddy for Streelman for five seasons before eventually regaining his amateur status and returning to Minnesota.

Easing back into competitive golf recently, mainly with smaller, weekend events, Christensen won the 61st Smokey Bear Golf Invitational in International Falls, Minn., in late July.

Most recently he won the 2015 Vern Fryklund Northwest Invitational Monday in Hibbing, Minn.

With confidence building, Christensen aimed bigger and fired a 3-under par 69 Thursday at Edinburgh USA to earn medalist honors as well as a spot in next month’s U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at John’s Island Club in Vero Beach, Fla.

Joel B. Johnson carded a 2-under par 70 to qualify Thursday, while Sammy Schmitz fired a 1-under par 71 to earn a spot as well. After finishing 18 holes tied for fourth at 1-over par 73, Joe McCormick prevailed in a four-way playoff to earn the final qualifying position.

“It means a lot. As you get older, the USGA means more and you respect and admire it more. These championships mean more because you’re on the national spotlight,” Christensen said. “For me at my age, I haven’t played competitively a lot lately so to get back into it and have the opportunity to go there is exciting.”

Christensen, Minneapolis, Minn., put together an impressive front nine with a birdie on the opening hole to quickly move to 1-under par before adding one more birdie at the par-4 seventh to make the turn at 2-under.

A bogey at the 10th and another at the 13th put Christensen back to even for the round but he would answer with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 13 and 14 before sinking his birdie chance at the 17th to earn medalist honors by carding a 3-under par 69.

“I felt good about my game but I played pretty conservatively and tried to take advantage of the opportunities that I had and, luckily, I kept myself out of trouble. Overall, I had pretty good control of my game and I was pretty solid tee-to-green,” Christensen said. “I didn’t hit many drivers and kept it down the middle.”

“I knew under par was going to be a good score so when I turned at a couple under, I knew that I had a nice opportunity,” he said. “I made two early bogeys on the back but then I hit a 5-iron to a foot on [No. 14] and that relieved some of the pressure. Then on three of the last five holes I made birdie so I was happy to bounce back from a couple of the bogeys.”

Christensen qualified for two U.S. Amateur Championships previously as well as a U.S. State Team Championship in 1995, but this will be his first Mid-Amateur championship appearance.

"I'm very proud and happy for my friend, Mikey Christensen. We have been great friends for many years and I've always known what a great players he is. To see him have success on the Mid-Amateur level is no surprise to me. I'm honored to be his friend and look forward to teeing it up in the Masters together next year," Duke teammate and PGA Tour player, Kevin Streelman, said via email.

Johnson, Hugo, Minn., carded a bogey at the third hole before rolling in his birdie chance at the ninth for an excellent up-and-down from the greenside bunker to turn at even par.

Sinking a pair of birdies over the final nine holes, Johnson would go on to card a 72 and qualify for his first career USGA event despite a back issue causing him to adjust his swing Thursday.

“I’ve been battling a really bad back and it was weird to use a totally different golf swing today to protect my back,” Johnson said following his round Thursday. “I’m trying to swing, literally, without a shoulder turn and actually hit it really straight. It’s a weird game and it worked out.

“I didn’t have any three-putts today. On the front nine I was misreading every putt but I was still hitting good putts and on the back nine they finally started to fall,” he said. “I kept the ball in play, had a good iron game and didn’t hit any bad shots. The finishing stretch is tough—it’s easy to make a bogey on any of the last three holes.”

Playing in a national tournament has been milestone Johnson had yet to achieve, but despite being 2-under par late in his round Thursday, Johnson still had his doubts.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted and it's been a goal of mine to get in a USGA event. I’ve been really close a lot of times where I’ve collapsed down the stretch and during the last couple of holes I was thinking, ‘When’s the double-bogey coming?’ But I played solid all the way through. It’s exciting to finally play in a national event.”

A solid round of 71 Thursday translated into the third appearance for Schmitz at the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship and first since 2012, advancing to the Round of 32.

Schmitz, River Falls, Wis., started his round with five straight pars before his only mistake of the round, a three-putt leading to bogey at the par-4 sixth hole as he would turn at 1-over.

Schmitz rattled off six straight pars to begin the back nine Thursday before dropping a 25-foot birdie putt at the par-3 16th and followed it with another birdie on the ensuing hole after sticking his approach inside of two feet and would finish his day at 1-under par 71.

“I made it—it went great,” Schmitz said about qualifying Thursday. “I hit the ball probably the best I have all year. I hit 16 greens and put the ball in the right spots. I didn’t try to shoot at some of the pins and I thought I played smart golf all day and it paid off because I didn’t make my first birdie until the 16th hole.”

“I’m ecstatic. The [U.S. Mid-Amateur] is always on the radar and, for me, it’s probably the biggest tournament of the year. The [U.S. Amateur] is guys going to the PGA Tour. This is guys 25 and older, a lot of working guys who are still phenomenal golfers but it’s a little more in my league. For some reason the game felt really good today.”

Schmitz advanced to match play during the 2012 U.S. Mid-Amateur at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Ill., winning his first match before getting eliminated during the second round.

He also qualified for match play in his first appearance in 2011 when the championship was held at Shadow Hawk Golf Club in Richmond, Texas.

McCormick, Hutchinson, Minn., began his round Thursday on the back nine, rolling in his birdie look on the opening hole before taking a double-bogey at the par-4 11th hole.

Answering with a birdie at the 12th, McCormick would get back to even but turned at 2-over after a second double-bogey at No. 15.

Finding more consistency on the front nine Thursday, McCormick rolled in four consecutive pars before dropping a birdie at the fifth hole to get to 1-over for the tournament.

McCormick carded four consecutive pars to finish regulation tied for fourth at 1-over par 73 along with Shane Barnes, Ben Greve and Eric Rislove, before prevailing in the playoff.

Shane Barnes, Bloomington, Minn., and Ben Greve, Golden Valley, Minn., finished as first and second alternates, respectively.