By Mike Fermoyle (mikefermoyle@gmail.com)
MANKATO -- One of life's rules is: Never put too much faith in what the meteorologists say. By extension, you should also be wary of the weather forecasts you get from your cell phone.
On Sunday, rain nearly wiped out the final day of the Krugel Invitational. It poured for an hour beginning at 5:30 a.m., and it was still raining steadily at 7:45, when the first groups were supposed to be teeing off at Mankato Golf Club. It wasn't until 11:30 that play began, at which time it was starting to rain again, and the cell phones that players were looking at were all predicting a washout.
Noon -- 100 percent chance of rain
1 p.m. -- 100 percent chance of rain
2 p.m. -- 100 percent chance of rain
3 p.m. -- 40 percent chance of rain
Then the skies began to clear, the cell phones began to hedge their bets ("60 percent chance of rain," "40 percent," "20 percent." "Never mind."), and Justin Doeden began to zero in on the pins at MGC. By the time he was done, he had missed four birdie putts from 6 feet and under, yet he still managed to shoot a 3-under-par 68 and win the tournament by three strokes with a 36-hole aggregate of 138.
Geoff Klein is to the Krugel Invitational what Phil Mickelson is to the U.S. Open -- except that Klein has even more top-5 finishes at the Krugel than Mickelson has at the Open -- turned in yet another really solid performance, but he couldn't get the birdies he needed. In the end, he had to settle for another second-place finish. An ugly, dead-left bounce off a tree on the last hole resulted in his tee shot going out of bounds, and he ended up shooting 73, for a two-day total of 141.
Those were the only two players who were under par at the conclusion of the festivities. On a day when the wind blew as hard as 25 miles per hour for a couple of hours, 143 turned out to be good enough for third place. That was where Mack Farley (71-72), Thomas Strandemo (72-71) and Tony Weber (69-74) all wound up.
There was another three-way tie another shot back. Toby Robinson, Tony Weber and the massivley long-hitting left-hander, Jack Pexa, all finished tied for sixth at 144. (Pexa probably hit the shot of the weekend on Saturday, a 230-yard 5-iron that he had to hook 40 yards from behind a tree on the 10th hole. He got it over the ditch and onto the green, and lipped out his putt for eagle.)
J.B. Lloyd, who holds the record with five Krugel titles, manufactured a 72 in the first round on a day when he didn't have his best form. On Sunday, he had chances to move up on the front nine, but couldn't buy a birdie putt and ended up with a 75. The resulting 147 put him in a tie for 12th. Also in the foursome at 147 was two-time champ Dave Gunderson (70-77).
Because of the wet conditions, the practice range at MGC never opened on Sunday, and there were no warm-ups. That may have been the reason Doeden started off with a bogey on the first hole, but then he started going after the pins. (He hit 16 of 18 greens in his round.) The University of Minnesota senior-to-be had a 6-foot putt for birdie at the 397-yard, par-4 second hole, a 5-footer at the 540-yard, par-5 fifth and a 4-footer at the 148-yard, par-3 sixth.
Unfortunately for Doeden, none of those putts fell, and he was still 1 over as he arrived on the tee at the seventh, a 488-yard par-5. That was where he got going in the right direction on the scoreboard, thanks to 220-yard, 5-iron second shot that left him with an easy two-putt birdie. A 200-yard 6-iron at the par-3 ninth set up another birdie, and he two-putted the green at the 506-yard, par-5 10th after a 4-iron second shot.
At the 11th, a 514-yard par-5, he missed the fairway with his tee shot and had to lay up. He proceeded to hit a 50-yard wedge shot to within 3 feet and made his fourth birdie in five holes.
The other green he missed on Sunday was the 13th, and he had to make a 5-foot just to salvage a bogey there.
"Making that putt was probably the key to the round," Doeden said afterward.
He got that stroke back when he hit another wedge close at the 15th hole (297 yards, par 4) and converted the putt.
At the 16th (141, par 3), he had a chance to all but seal the deal after hitting a wedge to 3 feet. But he hit his putt a little too hard, through the break, and it slid past the top edge.
As it turned out, it didn't make any difference. He capped off the round by hitting the last two greens in regulation, two-putting the both for pars and signing for a 68.
There was no rest for the winner, however, because Doeden had to get to Dacota Ridge on Sunday night and prepare for another 36 holes of U.S. Amateur Qualifying on Monday.
MEN'S AMATEUR GOLF
Krugel Invitational
At Mankato Golf Club
Final results
1. Justin Doeden 70-68--138
2. Geoff Klein 68-73--141
T3. Tony Weber 69-74--143
T3. Mack Farley 71-72--143
T3. Thomas Strandemo 72-71--143
T6. Jack Pexa 71-73--144
T6. Toby Robinson 75-69--144
T6. Mitch Pfingsten 71-73--144
T9. Matt Newman 69-76--145
T9. Andy Peterson 76-69--145
11. Joel Johnson 73-73--146
T12. J.B. Lloyd 72-75--147
T12. Nick Jarrett 74-73--147
T12. Matthew Opsal 71-76--147
T12. Dave Gunderson 70-77--147
T16. Dan Wenner 76-72--148
T16. Brady Beauchamp 75-73--148
T16. Tony Krogen 72-76--148
T16. Tony Vincelli 70-78--148
20. Haley Carter 75-74--149
T21. Josh Blackman 76-74--150
T21. Jacob Cooper 76-74--150
T21. Smed Bennett 75-75--150
T21. Landon Wallace 74-76--150
25. Carson Haley 76-75--151
T26. Ben Opsal 76-76--152
T26. Mark Stuckey 75-77--152
T26. Alex Klehr 74-78--152
29. Devan Johnson 75-78--153
T30. Alex Wallerich 76-78--154
T30. Brandon Bohks 72-82--154
T32. Jared Bollinger 75-80--155
T32. Tom Homan 75-80--155
T34. Ethan Kraus 76-83--159
T34. Ryan Nelsen 76-83--159
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