Hanstad, Conzemius, Conn and Wangen Last Remaining at MGA Mid-Players

View full size image

Bryce Hanstad, of Olympic Hills GC, and Ryan Conn, of Alexandria GC, the champ and runner-up, respectively, at the MGA Mid and Senior Players' Championships', June 14, 2023, at the Alexandria Golf Club, Alexandria, Minn. Hanstad and Conn went 20 holes to decide the match. The duo met in the Mid Players’ finals in 2022, which went in Hanstad’s favor. Photos by W.P. Ryan/courtesy MGA.

  ALEXANDRIA, Minn. – A pair of wins Tuesday at Alexandria Golf Club put Bryce Hanstad two steps closer to becoming the first player since Troy Johnson in 2014 to successfully defend his title at the Minnesota Golf Association Mid-Players’ Championship.

Hanstad moved on from pool play following his victory over Blake Onkka, 5 and 4, and defeated 2016 champion Andy Jacobson by the same margin to advance to the semifinal round against Joe Conzemius.

“I feel like I’ve played the same in each match so far—I’ve been about three or 4-under in each one and just haven’t made a lot of mistakes,” the 2007 MGA Amateur champion Hanstad said Tuesday. “I would still like to be a little more tidy with my short game, but I rolled the putter better today, which took some stress off that.”

A 2007 graduate of Jefferson High School in Alexandria, Hanstad is one of several golfers in the field playing on their home course this week.

“It’s been kind of a freewheeling week, which is nice,” he said. “You’re always a little unsure going into the week, but a few holes into the first round, it felt like old times playing around here."

Conzemius began the championship Monday with wins over Joel B. Johnson and Jordan Hawkinson before advancing from pool play with a tie against Dylan Krogen early Tuesday.

Facing 2020 runner-up Matt Norgaard during the quarterfinal round, Conzemius managed a 2-up lead through nine holes and would card five birdies to Norgaard’s four over the next seven holes, to close out his match at the 16th, 3 and 2.

Ryan Conn, another Alexandria, Minn., native, who fell to Hanstad at last year’s championship at Royal Golf Club, also notched a pair of victories Tuesday in familiar surroundings to advance to the semifinal round against Mike Wangen.

“Today was another really solid day and I hit the ball well,” Conn said following his quarterfinal win Tuesday. “I got the ball on the green and didn’t have a lot of stress. I did what I had to do to make par.

“Course knowledge has definitely helped—I know this place and the greens where you can’t be above the hole. That allowed me to apply a little pressure, but I got a little lucky because I think the guys I played would say they didn’t have their best stuff."

Defeating Kane Bauer, 2-up, during the opening round of pool play Monday, Conn then went on to defeat Brian Moehnke, 4 and 2.

Conn had little trouble against Travis Peterson during the final round of pool play early Tuesday, winning 6 and 5 to face Corey Schommer in the quarterfinals.

Jumping out to the early lead with a birdie on the opening hole, Conn built a 5-up lead after just nine holes, and would close out his match at the 14th, 5 and 4.

With one win to his credit coming at the 2019 MGA Amateur Four-Ball Championship, Conn has earned 10 top-5 finishes at state events since, including runner-up finishes at both the MGA Mid-Players’ and MGA Players’ Championship last season.

Wangen slipped past Danny Anderson, 2 and 1, for his first win of the championship early Monday, and then would go on to defeat Aaron Wiemiller during the second round.

During the final round of pool play early Tuesday, Wangen edged 2018 Twin Cities champion Erik Bredesen, 1-up, to reach the quarterfinals for the first time.

Facing Jamie Quesnel late Tuesday, Wangen took advantage of a Quesnel bogey at the third and would never look back, hanging on with a birdie at the 18th to win, 2-up, and advance to the semifinals against Conn.

The semifinal matches for the 14th MGA Mid-Players’ Championship are slated to get underway at 7:46 a.m. Wednesday at Alexandria Golf Club.