Peter Claims Victory as Weather Shortens Twin Cities Championship

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  MAPLEWOOD, Minn. – Less than a week ago, Iowa native Andrew Peter played in his first Minnesota Golf Association event at the Players’ Championship at Spring Hill Golf Club, winning his first two matches.

On Sunday, Peter finished a rain-shorted Twin Cities Championship at 3-under par 104 at Keller Golf Course to win his first Minnesota amateur title by two strokes over Dylan Gergen, Jesse Larson and Jamie Quesnel, who finished tied for second at 1-under par 106.

“This definitely gives me more confidence to keep working. I haven’t won too many tournaments in the last several years—you grow up playing junior and high school golf and winning some tournaments. Then you get to college and play amateur golf and it’s a lot harder to actually win one,” Peter said after his victory Sunday.

“It was a good field and I’m looking forward to the rest of my schedule because it’s nice to get over the hump again and make some putts when you need to.”

Peter, Northfield Golf Club, overcame an early double-bogey to open the championship Saturday at Bunker Hills Golf Club, rolling in five birdies over the next nine holes and would finish the opening round at 2-under par 70.

Sunday the tournament shifted to Keller Golf Club, but play was halted for nearly an hour as thunderstorms swept across the area. Tournament officials then decided to shorten the tournament to just 27 holes due to time constraints.

During his nine-hole round Sunday, Peter put his approach at No. 3 to within three feet and would roll in his birdie putt to move to 4-under for the championship.

Peter lost a stroke after failing to get up-and-down at the par-4 sixth hole but rebounded with a 20-foot birdie putt at the eighth hole to essentially clinch the championship as he fired a 1-under par 35 during the final nine holes Sunday.

“I’ve been experimenting with my putting and on the second hole yesterday I three-putted from 12 feet for double-bogey, which was kind of a shock, but those things happen and I tried to move on from there,” Peter said Sunday. “It was my first time at [Bunker Hills and Keller] and I knew there were going to be some guys shooting low scores, so I had to put my head down and make some good swings and come back a little bit.”

“After No. 2 yesterday I played about as well as I have and really felt good about my swing coming into today and I wanted to make some putts and deal with the weather the best we could. Our group all hit one or two bad shots after the rain delay, but that’s tournament golf. [Larson and Gergen] played great and I feel lucky to hold on to it for the last nine holes.”

Peter said playing two courses blindly on back-to-back days wasn’t an issue and, in fact, probably worked in his favor.

“For me they were new courses and all I could worry about was the hole ahead of me. Sometimes if I’ve played a course a lot, or even at my home course, I know what’s coming and my mind can wander, but on new courses all I can do is focus on the shot in front of me,” he said.

Peter won his first two matches Monday at the MGA Players’ Championship at Spring Hill Golf Club before losing during the Round of 16.

He was a member of the Iowa State University men’s golf team for two seasons before transferring to Luther College for his final two seasons.

During his senior season, Peter was named 2014 Division III Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar after becoming the third golfer in Luther College history to be named first, second or third team All-American, as he was named to the third team in 2013. Peter won the Iowa State High School Class 3A individual title in 2009.

“I think I’m a better player now than I was in college. It’s a little different game when you’re playing for yourself and not for your team and there aren’t coaches or anything,” Peter said. “I can focus on the things that I need to work on. Now if I have a bad round or tournament, it doesn’t really mean much.

“During a short college season, I always felt pressure with a limited number of tournaments and you’re playing for your teammates so I think it was tougher to play well. Now I try to enjoy it more and realize that bad days are going to happen, but on the good days, really relish that.”

Larson, Le Sueur Country Club, entered the final round one shot behind Peter and would make bogey on his first hole following the rain delay Sunday to slip to 1-over on the day.

Larson rolled in a huge 30-foot birdie putt at the par-3 sixth hole to get to 1-under for the championship, but it would be all the closer he would get to Peter as Larson finished tied for second at 106.

“The re-start was tough,” Larson said Sunday, “I was hitting it good before we came in and came out and made bogey—I got a little stiff. Then I played solid again, I had some birdie chances and made one on six and tried to put some pressure on [Peter] but couldn’t get anything else going.”

“I started with bogey yesterday and finished strong—I birdied three of the last five to get into position and was looking forward to having a run today, but I played solid and made some putts when I needed to.”

Gergen, the defending champion and winner in 2012, rolled in three birdies with two bogeys during the opening round Saturday at Bunker Hills to shoot 1-under par 71, one shot off the lead.

At Keller Golf Club Sunday, Gergen rolled in his birdie look at the par-5 third hole but would make bogey at the fifth and would finish at even par for the day and two shots off the lead at 1-under par 106.

Quesnel, Twin Cities Golf Club, opened the championship with an even par 72 Saturday at Bunker Hills, rolling in four birdies with four bogeys before making a lone birdie on the final hole Sunday at Keller Golf Club to shoot 1-under par 106.


For complete tournament results go to: www.ghintpp.com/mngolf/TPPOnlineScoring/ResultsStroke.aspx?ID=1068