Deeg and Kieffer Card 66 to Claim Second Straight MGA Mixed Amateur Championship

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  STILLWATER, Minn. – Entering the final round of the Minnesota Golf Association Mixed Amateur Team Championship with a share of the lead Wednesday at Oak Glen Golf Course, Cassie Deeg and Dominic Kieffer carded a 6-under par 66 to claim their second consecutive title.

Deeg and Kieffer finished the championship at 14-under par 130 Wednesday, four shots better than Andrew and Emily Israelson who fired a 66 on the final day to finish second at 134.

“It wasn’t 60 but we got off to a hot start and birdied three of our first five,” Kieffer said after the victory. “It was actually pretty casual all day long. We focused on playing golf and if we played like we knew, we could come out and win.”

The two opened last year’s championship with a 64 before shooting a tournament-record 12-under par 60, winning by five strokes.

On Tuesday Deeg and Kieffer opened the tournament with another 64 to share the lead with Trent Peterson and Sara Detlefsen.

Beginning the final round on the tenth hole Wednesday, the defending champions started quick by rolling in a birdie at the 11th before Deeg chipped in for birdie at the 12th to move the pair to 10-under for the championship.

After another birdie at the par-5 14th, Kieffer dropped a long birdie chance from off the green and the two would head to the final nine holes at 12-under par.

Deeg and Kieffer continued to roll on the back nine Wednesday, dropping back-to-back birdies at the second and third holes to jump to 14-under par, but the two would give back a stroke with bogey at the sixth.

Trying to regain some momentum, Deeg and Kieffer rebounded with birdies at seven and eight before making bogey on the final hole of the championship to card a 14-under par 130 to claim their second consecutive title. 

“We didn’t play our best today, but we ham-and-egged it well,” Kieffer said after the round Wednesday. “I kept [Deeg] in the fairway and she kept me in the fairway so even if we didn’t hit great shots, we still had two balls to pick from. I made some bombs and she chipped in once.”

“I think we saw the par-3s as a real advantage,” Deeg added, “we knew we had to get two good shots in there because you have two putts at it and hopefully you’ll make one of them.”

The sibling team of Andrew and Emily Israelson had one of the more peculiar starts to the tournament as the two were forced to use rental clubs during the opening round by locking their keys in their car Tuesday.

The rental clubs worked, however, as the two rattled off five birdies with one bogey to shoot 4-under par 68.

Starting the final round Wednesday on the 10th hole, with their own clubs, the two would drop four birdies over their opening five holes to quickly jump to 8-under for the championship before adding another at the 18th to make the turn at 5-under for the round.

They would roll in two more birdies with one bogey over the final nine holes to finish in second place at 10-under par 134.

“We did pretty good yesterday using rental clubs—I liked the irons,” Emily said following the final round. “The woods were nice but we were missing wedges.”

“I didn’t have a pitching wedge and on [No. 3] I left the ball about 50 yards short,” Andrew said.

Tuesday’s opening round was played as a four-ball format before switching to a modified Chapman format for the final round Wednesday, meaning players would alternate the first two shots before playing the best ball for the remainder of the hole—something Andrew Israelson said benefitted him and his sister during the final round.

“I actually liked playing this format better, it was pretty fun,” he said. “[Emily] hits a lot of fairways and she’s a good wedge player so when I hit a good drive and it’s up there pretty good, she can usually hit it pretty close.

“At the same time, I’m a little better putter than she is so when she puts it close, I have a pretty good chance of making it. Today we hit a lot of good shots and set the other person up perfectly.”

Detlefsen and Peterson matched Deeg and Kieffer’s 64 to open the championship Tuesday but struggled to find a rhythm during the final round, making two birdies with one bogey to shoot 71, finishing tied for third at 135.

“We just didn’t have it today,” Peterson said. “[Deeg and Kieffer] made putts and we didn’t. They chipped in and we couldn’t really get anything in close. It was one of those days.”

Leigh Klasse and J.T. Johnson, champions in 2009, also finished tied for third at 135 after opening the tournament with a 4-under par 68 before shooting 67 during the final round Wednesday.