Freddy Thomas Maintains Lead to Win MN State Boys' Championship at Dacotah Ridge

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


MORTON, Minn. – When Freddy Thomas began his round Tuesday at the Minnesota State Junior Boys’ Championship at Dacotah Ridge Golf Club, he had a hefty seven-stroke lead. His conservative approach to the final round worked according to plan as he cruised to a seven stroke victory, finishing at even par 144.

Thomas, Lakeville, Minn., got out to a big lead during the opening round Monday as he fired a 6-under par 66 and followed it with a 6-over par 78 on a day in which the wind kept players from posting low scores.

Max Redetzke, Lakeville, Minn., was one of two players tied for second after the opening round and carded a 6-over par 78 during the final round Tuesday to finish second at 151.

Last year’s champion Jack Holmgren, Wayzata, Minn., fired consecutive rounds of 76 to finish in a tie for third with Freddy’s twin brother, Bobby Thomas, at 152.

“Yesterday was one of those days when everything went right,” Thomas said following the victory Tuesday. “I don’t feel like I played as well as the score indicated but I felt like I was able to control my bad shots and I made a good amount of 10 to 15 foot putts for birdie.”

“Today I just wanted to hit the ball solid and play conservatively—trying not to challenge any of the water hazards,” he said.

Thomas admitted that carrying such a big lead to the final round of a championship is uncharted territory for him and nerves were a factor during his round early Tuesday.

“I’ve never been in a position like that and I was trying to combat the nerves a little bit,” he said. “The wind kept picking up and it was tough at first. I made a couple of bad swings and I was a little rattled.”

He started the day with a bogey on the opening hole and would find the water on the fifth hole, taking double-bogey. After a 5-over par 41 on the front nine, Thomas said he began to settle down with a good up and down for par on the 10th hole.

His nerves seemed to be a non-factor from then on as a birdie on the 12th hole put him back to 4-under for the day. Thomas’ par putt just missed the right edge of the cup and he would make bogey on the 15th to drop back to 5-over on the day.

On the 18th hole, Thomas’ tee shot clipped the trees lurking over the right side of the fairway. He put himself in perfect position with his second shot to less than 100 yards to the flag but flew his approach over the green and into the hazard behind.

Thomas opted to take a drop and with his fifth shot, chipped to about 12 feet short of the pin. His putt traveled right to left and curled just inside the right edge for an improbable bogey to shoot 1-over par on the final nine holes to clinch the championship.

“It was a battle and it feels good to come away with a win. I was looking at the trophy and there are guys that I recognize like Clayton Rask and Donald Constable—guys who have played on the Tour and to have my name next to theirs is pretty special,” Thomas said.

Redetzke fell to 2-over for the day with bogeys on the second and fifth holes before rolling in a birdie on the sixth hole. With back-to-back bogeys to finish the front nine, he headed to the back at 3-over par 39.

Redetzke rolled in two more birdies on the back but with the windy conditions, made five bogeys to finish his round at 6-over par 78 and 151 for the championship. Just 14 golfers of the 114-player field managed to break 80 Tuesday with the low score being a 75.

“Yesterday I played solid and hit the ball really well,” he said. “The wind was a lot stronger today and I hit the ball well again, but putting was even more difficult. I made a couple less putts today and missed a couple less greens and that bumped my score up a little bit.”

“I hit the ball so well yesterday that I felt like I still had a chance today. I think more pressure was on [Freddy Thomas] today,” Redetzke said. “I was up on him early in the round today and just wanted to stick to my plan of hitting greens and getting some birdie chances. Overall I feel pretty good about the way I played and I’m happy with where I finished.”


For complete tournament results go to: www.ghintpp.com/mngolf/TPPOnlineScoring/ResultsStroke.aspx?id=821