Hanstad a Winner Again, Downs Conn for MGA Mid-Players' Title

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  LAKE ELMO, Minn. – Carding five birdies during his first nine holes Wednesday at Royal Golf Club was more than enough to help Bryce Hanstad claim his first victory in 14 years, defeating Ryan Conn, 5 and 4, to claim the 16th Minnesota Golf Association Mid-Players’ Championship.

“It’s been 15 years [since my MGA Amateur win], so this win feels really good,” Hanstad said. “My game has really come around in the last four or five years. I found some interest in the game again and put some more effort towards it, so it’s good to see some fruits of that labor."

“The putts just started falling. Rolling in a birdie at [No. 2] and seeing something drop was helpful. I feel like I was under reading greens all week and tried to make an adjustment. Wish it hadn’t taken so long.”

During the final match Wednesday, Hanstad struck first by sinking a 4-footer for birdie at the second to take the early lead and extended his lead after a three-putt bogey by Conn at the fourth. He extended his lead to three when he dropped his birdie look from 10 feet at the sixth and took command of the match when he sank a 20-foot bender from the fringe for birdie at the seventh to go up by four.

Missing the ninth left, Hanstad pitched his third inside of four feet and converted his birdie to turn with a commanding 5-up lead. A bogey by Conn at the 10th extended Hanstad’s lead, but Conn would card his second birdie of the round at the 11th.

Hanstad and Conn halved the par-4 14th to give Hanstad the victory, 5 and 4.

“I feel like drove the ball well. I didn’t get in much trouble or give many holes away, so I didn’t put a ton of stress on myself,” he said. “Ball striking was definitely improved over where I felt a couple weeks ago.”

Hanstad began with week with a slim, 1-up, victory over Joel B. Johnson early Monday before defeating Jeff Stebbins, 5 and 4, during the second round of pool play. He advanced to the quarterfinal round with a conceded victory over Will Hickey.

He would then knock out two fellow MGA Amateur champions, Dave Carothers, 2 and 1, during the quarterfinals and then 2008 champion and two-time MGA Mid-Players’ champion Trent Peterson in 21 holes to reach the final match against Conn.

“It was hard to have a thought process ahead of the final match—it was a 15-minute turnaround from the playoff with Trent,” the 35-year-old Hanstad said. “You get a little numb at the end of the week, in a good way, to kind of free you up a bit.”

An Alexandria, Minn., native who played collegiate golf at Colorado State University, Hanstad won the 2007 MGA Amateur Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club and followed it with a win at the Resorters Tournament weeks later for his second state win.

In 2008, Hanstad won the KX4 Bank of the West Amateur Championship at Moorhead Country Club and went on to turn professional after graduating from CSU in 2010, playing briefly on the Dakotas Tour. He regained his amateur status in 2013.

“[Playing professionally] is a grind and being on the road with a family back home is difficult,” Hanstad said. “I saw a different path trying to compete as an amateur again. My livelihood doesn’t rely on my golf game, which is comforting.”

Wednesday’s result marks yet another close call for Conn, who teamed with Hunter Rebrovich to win the 2019 MGA Amateur Four-Ball Championship at The Classic at Madden’s. Since his last win, Conn finished runner-up to Cecil Belisle at the MGA Players’ Championship at Hastings Golf Club in 2020.

He notched a pair of runner-up finishes in 2021 at both the MPGA Four-Ball Championship as well as the MPGA State Public Links Championship. Conn fell to eventual winner Troy Johnson at last year’s MGA Mid-Players’ Championship during the semifinal round at The Quarry at Giants Ridge.

“There’s not much you can do when your playing partner is 5-under during their front nine—Bryce played great. I was pleased with how I played this week, but he just played better today,” Conn said Wednesday. “I’m just happy to be in contention at the end of the week.”