Two Teams Shoot 65 to Take Lead at MGA Four Ball in Owatonna

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  OWATONNA, Minn. – A pair of teams carded a 6-under par 65 Tuesday at the Minnesota Golf Association Four Ball Championship at Owatonna Country Club, as the top four teams are now separated by one stroke heading into Wednesday’s final round.

On Tuesday, the top 15 teams, plus ties, advanced to Wednesday’s round, while because of Tuesday’s larger field, 21 teams, plus ties, will advance.

The pairing of Jordan Hawkinson and Jesse Larson set the pace early with a 65 to post the low score of the tournament.

“We had a slow start—then en fuego on the back,” Hawkinson said.

“[Hawkinson] was hitting good putts all round,” Larson said. “Nothing was falling on the front. We made the turn and then all of the sudden, his putter caught fire.”

The two, like most groups this week, got off to a slow start with a bogey on the second hole before turning things around on the sixth hole. They would get back to even with a birdie on the sixth and move to 1-under with another at eight.

Larson, LeSueur Country Club, made birdie on the 10th to move the pair to 2-under for the round before Hawkinson, Chisago Lakes Golf Course, took control of the round shooting 4-under par on the final eight holes on his own.

“I chipped in on 17,” Hawkinson said. “We were sweating bullets looking for our tee shots. [Larson] hit his into the hazard and I was five feet from it and chipped in. It was one of those rounds where we caught a break and took advantage of it.”

“I think playing in the team format is really hard for us,” Larson said. “We have really similar games. It’s all about putting and giving yourself chances. If a hole fits his eye better, then he can get more aggressive and I’ll lay back—we did that pretty well. We need to keep the putter going; it’s always hard two days in a row.”

The pair tied for sixth place a year ago when the tournament was held at Chaska Town Course.

The duo of Andy Jacobson and Aaron Barber carded a 65 later in the afternoon and sit tied for the lead after two rounds of play.

“Our whole goal was to get both of us chances at the hole because we haven’t been able to do that for as many times as we’ve played this event,” Barber said.

“We had a slow start but we kept saying, ‘give it a couple of looks,’” Jacobson said.

According to Jacobson and Barber, a slow start translates into two consecutive pars to open the round before a birdie on the third hole quickly got them to 1-under for the day. The two made birdies at five, seven and nine to make the turn at 4-under par 32.

"The birdie on the ninth was huge. There couldn't have been many birdies on that hole with the way it was playing," Jacobson said.

The only mistake of the day for the two came on the par-5 10th where both made bogey to drop back to 3-under.

“I was a little worried after the bogey on 10, but we bounced back well. We scrambled on 11 and [Jacobson] made a huge par putt to really keep us going. It was only for par, but the momentum was huge,” Barber said.

They rebounded with a birdie on the 12th and would cruise on the final six holes making back-to-back birdies on the 16th and 17th, and would finish at 6-under par 65.

“We kind of have different styles of golf,” Barber said. “We hit the ball the same distance, which is short by today’s standards, but I think we’re both pretty straight. We feed off of each other well and know each other.”

Coming in at 5-under par 66 to move into a tie for third place was the team of Joel B. Johnson and Curt Carbaugh. The two matched the low round from Monday set by Michael Oberg and Max Redetzke, both from Brackett’s Crossing.

Tuesday, Johnson and Carbaugh jumped to 1-under with a quick birdie on the second hole but gave it away with a bogey on the fifth. They came back with a birdie at the par-3 seventh and made the turn at 1-under par.

On the final nine holes the duo would record five birdies and a bogey to finish at 4-under 31 on the back and 66 for the round, one stroke off the lead.

Five teams sit tied for fifth at 4-under par, including the team of Ben Clymer and Jesse Polk and the pair consisting of Trent Peterson and Minnesota Gopher Jon Trasamar.

Erik Christopherson and Brian Nordin are tied for fifth as well, as Christopherson is looking to become the only player to win three championships with three different partners.

Wednesday's final round will begin at 8:20 a.m. at Owatonna Country Club


For complete tournament results go to: http://www.ghintpp.com/mngolf/TPPOnlineScoring/ResultsStroke.aspx?id=475