VanArragons Rally with a Final-Round 65 to Win MGA Mixed Amateur Team Championship

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  LAKEVILLE, Minn. – Following a 3-under 68 during Monday’s opening round at Brackett’s Crossing Country Club, the brother-sister combo of Kathryn and Caleb VanArragon erased a four-stroke deficit with a final-round 65 Tuesday to claim the 33rd Minnesota Golf Association Mixed Amateur Team Championship.

The VanArragons edged the twosome of Molly Stevens and Brandon Sperling by one stroke to become the fifth brother-sister tandem to win the championship.

“We really turned our putting around today and made more putts outside of five feet,” Caleb VanArragon said Tuesday. “This is my second MGA win and first in about five years, so this is really cool for me. There were a lot of really good players in the field.”

The VanArragons got off to a hot start Tuesday with two short birdie chances over their first three holes to reach 5-under for the championship before taking a bogey at the sixth.

The two would turn in 2-under for the round following a birdie at the par-4 eighth, converting a birdie putt from 10 feet.

Three birdies across their first five holes to begin the back nine catapulted the siblings into the lead at 8-under before Kathryn VanArragon sank a 10-footer for birdie at the 17th to help put her team at 9-under.

A two-putt par at the last was just good enough for a one-stroke victory at 9-under 133.

“We both played pretty good yesterday, we just didn’t get a whole lot of putts to fall,” Caleb VanArragon said. “We both made birdie on the same hole and both made bogey on the same hole, so we didn’t play the four-ball format very well. You really can’t practice this format today.”

“You never really know what to expect,” Kathryn said after switching to an alternate shot format for the final round Tuesday. “It really depends on the course.”

With her win Tuesday, the soon-to-be freshman at the University of St. Thomas notches her ninth state title and second of the 2023 season, winning her third consecutive Minnesota Girls’ Junior PGA Championship last week at Legacy Golf.

The younger VanArragon first gained notoriety in Minnesota when she qualified for the Drive, Chip and Putt Finals at Augusta National in 2016 at the age of 11.

She entered the record books in 2018 when she became the youngest to win the Class AAA individual title to close out her seventh-grade season.

At 14-years-old, she became the youngest to win the MGA Women’s Amateur in 2019 at Town and Country Club and was the youngest to win the Minnesota Women’s Open in 2020 at 15.

She claimed her second Class AAA individual title in 2022.

Caleb VanArragon, who will return to Valparaiso University for his fifth year later this year, collects his first state victory since winning the Twin Cities Championship in 2021 at Hastings Golf Club.

His first amateur victory came at the Minnesota Boys’ Junior PGA Championship in 2017 at Chaska Town Course, and then VanArragon followed it up with a win at the Minnesota State Junior Boys’ Championship in 2018 at The Bridges.

A pair of runner-up finishes and a semifinal appearance at the MGA Players’ Championship helped VanArragon earn 2022 MGA Men’s Player of the Year honors for the first time.

Their win Tuesday is bittersweet because it could be the last state championship they play together as amateurs—Caleb VanArragon is still unsure of his future in golf after graduation next spring.

“Caleb is getting older and if he plays professionally, we won’t be able to play this event anymore,” Kathryn VanArragon said.

“It’s nice that we won it while we can, in case I decide to go pro,” the eldest VanArragon said.

Alissa and Tim Herron became the first brother-sister combo to claim the title, winning in 1993 and again in 1995 before Claudia and Dave Pilot became the first husband and wife team to claim the championship at Burl Oaks Golf Club in 2003.

Siblings Betsy and Mark Aldrich earned medalist honors at the 2007 championship at Forest Hill Golf Club, followed by Elizabeth and Michael Carl at Mississippi Dunes Golf Links in 2008.

Most recently, Emily and Andrew Israelson notched a win in 2018 at Forest Hills prior to Lily and Tony Vincelli becoming the first father-daughter duo to win last season at Northfield Golf Club.

After carding a 4-under 67 to begin the championship Monday, Stevens and Sperling began their final round Tuesday with three consecutive birdies to quickly climb the leaderboard to reach 7-under.

The two would then card a pair of bogeys over their next four holes to turn in 5-under for the tournament and three shots off the lead.

Getting back on track with a birdie at the 13th, Stevens and Sperling would birdie the final two holes to come up one stroke short of the VanArragons at 8-under 134.

Brother and sister combo Mallory and Marcus Belka entered Tuesday’s final round in a share of second, three shots off the lead, but would trade two birdies for two bogeys during their opening nine, to turn in 4-under for the tournament.

Back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th moved the two within striking distance of the lead at 6-under, and they would finish the round with one last birdie at the 17th to post a final-round 68 to place third at 7-under 135.

First-round leaders Maddie Herzog and Nate Deziel played their opening 12 holes in 1-under par Tuesday before a devastating quadruple-bogey at the par-4 13th.

The two rebounded by carding a pair of birdies over their final five holes to finish three shots back at 6-under 136.

Olivia Herrick and Trent Peterson, winners in 2016 at Valleywood Golf Course, posted a final-round 2-under 70 to place fifth at 137.