Three Teams Shoot 66's to Tie for Senior Four-Ball Lead

WOODBURY -- A South wind brought high temperatures with it to Prestwick Golf Club on Tuesday in the first round of the Minnesota State Senior Four-Ball Championship. It also made three of the par-5's substantially shorter, and the scores reflected that.

Three teams -- Don Howe and Dennis Barr, Bob Gardiner and Tim Flanagan, and Pete Hill and Pat McBride -- posted 6-under-par 66's, and they're tied for the lead.

Lurking one stroke behind at 67 going into Wednesday's final round are a pair of former MGA Senior Players of the Year, Tom Smith and Larry Barnacle. They won this tournament in 2008.

Things got a little bit crowded after that. There are seven teams tied for fifth place at 68, including the defending champions,  James Price and Randy Garber.

Barr and Howe, the 2010 State Senior Pubinx champ, were just treading water through seven holes, making all pars. Then they birdied five of the next seven holes. A bogey at the par-3 17th proved to be a minor setback in light of the eagle 3 that they made at the 500-yard finishing hole.

Gardiner and Flanagan are both Prestwick members. Their round was similar to the one Barr and Howe played, except in reverse. Having started on the back nine, they were 1 over through the 17th hole (their eighth) before they drained a long putt for birdie at the 18th.

Lengthy birdie putts at the first and second holes got them into red numbers, and they capped things off with an eagle at the 494-yard, par-5 ninth for their 66.

Virginia GC members McBride and Hill also started on the back nine. In keeping with the pattern of the day, they eagled the 18th hole to get to 4 under through nine. They were 3 under after four holes on the front side, but made four birdies and a bogey on their last five holes to claim their share of the first-day lead.

Barnacle and Smith were somewhat derelict in that they didn't have any eagles on their card. But they didn't have any bogeys, either. They could have had a 66 of their own if they had made a birdie at the eminently birdie-able 18th. Instead, they had to settle for par. 

MINNESOTA GOLF ASSOCIATION

State Senior Four-Ball Championship

At Prestwick Golf Club

Par 72, 6,374 yards

Woodbury

First-round results 

T1. D. Barr/D. Howe                  66

T1. B. Gardiner/P. Flanagan    66

T1. P. McBride/P. Hill                66

4. Tom Smith/Larry Barnacle   67

T5. J. Juntilla/J. Wiederholt      68

T5. B. Tadewald/C. Whitcher   68

T5. R. Ehrmanntraut/R. Wight  68

T5. L. Carlson/M. Boetcher      68

T5. C. Hanson/J. Fox                68

T5. R. Garber/J. Price               68

T5. D. Anderson/T. Stockman 68

T12. D. Mooty/G. Thalhuber    69

T12. B. Griesgraber/L. Griesgraber 69

T12. B. Anderson/B. Anderson 69

T12. D. McCook/C. Nelson       69