Extended Season Boosts Golf Rounds in Minnesota in 2024
December 23, 2024
By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org
EDINA, Minn. – When Samantha Sommers graduated from the University of Minnesota she left behind a successful collegiate golf career. She still has the third-lowest career stroke average in school history at 78.03.
She took a two-year hiatus from the sport to, as she put it, “find my love for the game again.”
If there is anything that could rekindle her competitive fire it would winning the Minnesota Golf Association’s 2013 Mixed Amateur Team Championship, and that’s exactly what Sommers and her partner, Daryl Schomer, accomplished Tuesday at Edina Country Club.
Carrying a 1-stroke advantage to Tuesday’s final round, Sommers and Schomer finished at 10-under par 134 in a tie for first place with Samantha Falk and Tyler McMorrow, and needed an extra hole to earn the victory.
After 36 holes the two teams would head back to the 18th hole to decide the winner, which eventually came down one putt.
Sommers and Schomer landed just short of the green with their second shot. Sommers’ putt went about four feet past the hole but Schomer cleaned up and made par. Falk and McMorrow’s second shot landed short as well and Falk sent her birdie putt well past the hole leaving McMorrow with a tricky put to force another playoff. McMorrow knew immediately when the ball left the face of his putter that his putt had missed and the tournament was over.
“Yesterday we got off to the kind of start we expected,” Schomer said after the victory. “Then we got into a little trouble, but we finished strong with three birdies in a row. We both played well – it felt easy. I think we could’ve shot a 60.”
“We wanted to go out and have fun today and have the same mindset we did yesterday,” Sommers said. “It’s a little bit harder when you’re hitting alternate shots but you’re still hitting a golf ball.”
The duo, who both play at Wapicada Golf Club, birdied the third hole to start the round on the right foot Tuesday but took two steps back with bogeys on the sixth and eighth holes before a par on the ninth put them at even par for the round at the turn.
They found a bit of a groove on the back nine with birdies on 10, 13 and 15 to finish 3-under for the day. Despite a 69 in the final round, Schomer said he didn’t feel as comfortable as the day before.
“I felt a little bit tighter today, especially on the greens. The greens are tough and it was hard to get the ball in the hole,” he said. “I felt like we hit the ball as well as we could have and we had a lot of good chances early but we just weren’t converting.”
After an extremely close round the pair was all smiles after the win and Sommers admitted she may need to start playing more golf.
“I keep telling everyone she’s the best kept secret in Minnesota,” Schomer said. “She’s a heck of a player and we should be seeing her more on the amateur scene.”
“After college I took two years of and I’ve been thinking about getting back into it and playing a lot more than I have been,” she said.
Asked if winning Tuesday adds to the desire to play more competitive golf, Sommers laughed, “it certainly does.”
Falk and McMorrow, both Gustavus Adolphus College golfers, overcame early troubles with back-to-back bogeys on the first and second holes. The two would record three birdies on the front nine before adding three more on the final nine holes to finish the tournament 10-under par.
The team of Sara Detlefsen, Somerby Golf Club, and Trent Peterson, Valleywood Golf Course, turned in another impressive performance in Tuesday’s final round. The two had no blemishes on the scorecard and with two birdies on the front and three on the back nine, they finished the round 5-under and 136 for the tournament in a tie for second place.
Elizabeth Ann Strom and Trenton Olson, both of Village Green Golf Club, also finished the tournament at 136. The two carded a first-round 67 before a 3-under par round of 69 on Tuesday.
The pair bogeyed the second but went on to record four birdies on the front nine making the turn at 3-under par. The two would then par the final nine holes to finish at 69 (136).
HUSBAND/WIFE DIVISION
For the second straight year the team of Donna and Jim Turner finished on top of the leader board by shooting a 141 to win by a stroke.
The two were five strokes behind the leader coming into Tuesday’s final round and didn’t start particularly well, but got hot on the final nine holes to overcome a 5-stroke deficit to win their second straight championship.
The Turners, Brackett’s Crossing Country Club, parred the first seven holes on the front nine before a triple-bogeying the par-5 eighth hole to go 3-over before recovering with a birdie on the ninth, shooting 2-over par on the front nine.
On the final nine holes, the two would record seven birdies and a bogey to finish 3-under par Tuesday and 141 for the tournament.
Justine and Jordan Hawkinson, StoneRidge Golf Club and Chisago Lakes Golf Club, respectively, can’t seem to catch a break as they have lost two years straight to the Turner duo, by a single shot both times.
The two shot a seemingly untouchable 5-under par 67 on Monday to take a 3-shot lead to the final round, but the two could only muster three birdies offset by six bogeys, to finish 3-over Tuesday and 142 for the tournament.
Claudia and Dave Pilot, Austin Country Club, finished tied for third at 2-over par 146 with Sally and Brad Deyak, Wapicada Golf Club, while 5 others tied for fifth at 148.
Final Mixed Team Results
Final Husband/Wife Team Results
December 23, 2024
.JPG)
December 17, 2024
December 17, 2024
Contact Us
Have a question about the Minnesota Golf Association, your MGA membership or the contents of this website? Let us help.
