Gergen Defeats Wynia in Playoff to Win Second Twin Cities Championship

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


HASTINGS, Minn. – With a birdie on the fourth playoff hole Sunday at Hastings Country Club, Dylan Gergen avenged his second place finish from a year ago to win his second Twin Cities Championship in three years.

Players were pulled off of the course on three occasions Saturday as the weather eventually shortened the opening round at Bunker Hills Golf Club in Coon Rapids, Minn., Saturday to just nine holes with Gergen and Joel B. Johnson taking the early lead at 1-under par 35.

Sunday the tournament shifted sites to Hastings Country Club and Gergen fired a 4-over par 75 to finish tied for first place with Adam Wynia at 110.

Gergen, Mendakota Country Club, hit an extraordinary approach shot from 130-yards on the fourth playoff hole, which used the slope of the fourth green perfectly and rolled to within two feet.

Wynia’s approach landed on the front edge of the green and after his birdie putt missed by inches, Gergen rolled in his birdie to win the championship.

“Today I thought the course was playing pretty tough,” Gergen said following his round Sunday. “I gave away a couple of silly strokes here and there, but all in all I played pretty solid. I struggled a little coming in with a double-bogey on 16, but I bounced back with a good birdie on 17 which ended up being very important.”

“I usually play really well in the wind. I don’t put a lot of spin on the ball and kind of knuckle the ball around and I was able to hit a lot of fairways. I think some of the longer hitters struggle a little bit in the wind when they get their ball in the air.”

Gergen rolled in a birdie putt on the third hole to start his round Sunday, but ran into trouble soon after as he made three consecutive bogeys to fall to 2-over par for the round.

With a birdie on the 10th hole Gergen got to 2-under par but would again run into trouble on the back nine. Gergen made bogeys on the 13th and 15th holes before recording a double-bogey on the 16th hole to fall to 5-over on the day and 4-over for the tournament.

He rebounded with a birdie on the 210-yard, par-3 17th hole and would finish the championship at 3-over par 110.

Gergen won the championship in 2009 when it was held at Bunker Hills and Keller Golf Club. Last year he finished tied for second, three strokes behind 2013 MGA Player of the Year Sammy Schmitz at Bunker Hills and Hastings Country Club.

Wynia, Les Bolstad/University Golf Course, started the tournament with four bogeys Saturday to finish the rain-shortened first round at 4-over par 40. Wynia got off to a slow start with a bogey on the second hole, but answered with a birdie on the following hole to fall back to even for the round.

With birdies on both par-3’s on the front nine, Wynia would make the turn at 2-under par 35. He couldn’t get his par putt to fall on the tenth hole and dropped back to 1-under before making bogey again at the 13th to fall to even par for the day.

Wynia’s success on the par-3’s continued as he made birdie on the 17th and would shoot the low round of the tournament at 71 to finish at 3-over par 110 to force a playoff with Gergen.

Both Gergen and Wynia made par on the first two playoff holes before Wynia found the right rough from the tee on the third playoff hole. He opted to use the fourth fairway to advance his ball rather than try to punch his second shot under a thick line of trees.

Wynia’s third shot from the adjacent fairway landed just short of the third green, where he would chip up and two-putt for bogey. Gergen ran into trouble of his own as his second shot found the left rough and he had to hit an awkward third shot from under a pine tree which only traveled 30 yards, well short of the green.

He eventually put his fourth on the green and two-putted to further the playoff. With both players in the fairway on the fourth hole, Gergen hit his 9-iron which rolled to two feet.

After Wynia’s approach landed on the front edge of the green he rolled his birdie putt to inches of the cup but the ball wouldn’t drop and he would make par.

“I played okay yesterday. I made a couple of bad swings that cost me some shots,” Wynia said. “When you’re getting pulled off because of weather it’s hard to get into a rhythm.”

“Today was fun. I tried to go in with the mentality of no expectations and just trust my targets and swing and see what happens,” he said. “I ended up playing a really good round of golf. I made four birdies—which was tough out there today with the wind. I didn’t think my score would hold up, but it was fun because I didn’t expect to be in that position today.”

Jordan Hawkinson, Chisago Lakes Golf Course, began his final round two strokes behind Gergen and Joel B. Johnson, and would card a 3-over par 74 to finish the championship in third place at 111.

Hawkinson got off to a rough start with a double-bogey on the third hole and made two bogeys on the fifth and seventh holes to quickly fall to 4-over par for the day. He rebounded nicely with three consecutive birdies to move to 1-under for the round.

But Hawkinson would falter late in the round as he would make bogey on the final two holes to miss a three-way playoff by one stroke, finishing third at 111.

Terry O'Laughlin, Links at Northfork, and Devon Johnson, Minikahda Club, finished tied for fourth place at 5-over par 112.


For complete tournament results go to: http://www.ghintpp.com/mngolf/TPPOnlineScoring/ResultsStroke.aspx?id=861