Sorenson Shoots 69, Leads Golf Champions by 1 Going into Final Round

ST. LOUIS PARK -- Who would have imagined it? The Minnesota Golf Champions tournament, which has a long tradition of less-than-stellar weather (typically 40 degrees plus rain and wind for at least one of the three days), has had two nearly perfect days so far, and another is predicted for Sunday.

But even though the weather hasn't bared its teeth, the course has shown a fang or two this weekend. The firm, fast greens have been taking a toll. 

All of the leaders made at least three bogeys in the second round at Minneapolis Golf Club, and not always because they hit bad shots.

Jeff Sorenson, a former champion who shot a 3-under-par 69 on Saturday and leads the field with a 36-hole score of 141, was actually 6 under par after 15 holes. But he made three bogeys on the way in from there.

The last of those bogeys demonstrated the difficulty of dealing with MGC. Sorenson hit a good drive into the fairway, and his second shot looked fine -- except that it refused to stop. It kept rolling until it snagged in the short rough at the back of the green.

"That's a bogey," declared Ryan Helminen, the Wisconsin club pro who won the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am two years ago and is in contention this weekend. It might have seemed like a harsh judgment, considering that the ball was no more than 35 feet from the cup. Nevertheless, he was right. Five players in the last three groups on Saturday saw their second shots go to the back fringe or beyond. None of them saved par. Three made bogeys. Two made doubles. 

Sorenson, the Director of Instruction at Columbia GC,  hit a pitch shot about as well as it could have been hit, but the ball trundled down the slope toward the front of the green, and he ended up with a 12-foot putt for par. That was a familiar sight. Anyone who went over the green wound up with at least that long a putt for par -- or worse.

The par putt refused to fall for Sorenson, and as a result, he's only one stroke -- instead of two -- ahead of former University of Minnesota star Clayton Rask, a two-time winner of the Golf Champions tournament who spent 2011 on the Nationwide Tour, and current Gopher Robert Bell, a former state high school champ from Pierz and also a former MGA Junior Player of the Year. Bell shot his second straight 71. Rask followed an opening 70 with a 72 on his way to 142.

Last year, five-time champion Don Berry was the 36-hole leader with an aggregate of 137. Brett Swedberg, who went on to win the tournament  (with a 10-under total of 206) wasn second at 138.

"The reason the scores are higher this year is the greens, I think," Bell said. "They're pretty firm. Because of that, when you hit an iron shot into them, the ball just goes farther than you think it will. You're expecting a 5- or 10-footer for birdie, but you end up 20 or 30 feet instead. That makes it a lot harder to make a birdie. Or you might even go over the green, and the rough around these greens is nasty. If you're in that stuff, good luck trying to make your par."

The title contender with the distinction of having made the fewest pars on Saturday was Tyler Obermueller, the former two-time Wisconsin state high school champ from River Falls (he turned professional the day after winning the Wisconsin State Amateur in 2009). The long-hitting lefty made eight birdies, five bogeys and only five pars on his way to a 69, which put him  at 143. (Steve Chesley, a former Minnesota state high school champ from Mankato who hardly played for a decade but has rejuvenated his game in recent years, is the only other player besides Sorenson and Obermueller to have cracked 70 this weekend. He opened with an 80 but came back with a 69, and the resulting 149 made the 36-hole cut with two strokes to spare.) 

Helminen is part of a three-way tie for fifth at 145, after a second-round 70. He's tied with teaching pro Eddie Wynn, who followed a 74 with a 71, and another former Gopher, Ben Greve, who reversed Wynne's numbers.

No one was more aware of how treahcerous No. 18 was in Round 2 than the defender, Swedberg. He came to the final hole even par for the round, and for the tournament, but made the fatal error of knocking his second shot over the green and ended up three-putting for a double bogey. That bumped his score up to 74. He's tied for eighth at 146 with 2011 Minnesota State Amateur champ Donald Constable, who should have gotten more out of his round than a 73, and first-round co-leader Andy Paulson, who got off to a rather unseemly start (4 over after seven holes) and ended up with a 76.  

Minnesota Golf Champions

At Minneapolis Golf Club

Par 72, 7,045 yards

St. Louis Park

Second-round results (for complete results -- and hole-by-hole scoring -- go to the Minnesota Section PGA website: mnpga.bluegolf.com)

(a-indicates amateur, p-indicates professional, ar-indicates amateur awaiting reinstatement) 

                                 Regular Division

 T1  Mike Barge (p)        Hazeltine National GC   73--73 +1  
 T1  Terry Comstock (p)    Prairie Green GC   73--73 +1  
 T3  Jim Manthis (p)       Midland Hills CC   78--78 +6  
 T3  John Spreiter (a)     Litchfield GC   78--78 +6  
 5   Rick Ehrmanntraut (a) Southview CC   79--79 +7  
 T6  Mike Fermoyle (a)     Hastings CC   80--80 +8  
 T6  Steve Johnson (a)     Elk River GC   80--80 +8  
 8   William Homeyer (a)   Edina CC   82--82 +10 
 9   Jerry Gruidl (a)      Golden Valley G&CC   89--89 +17 
 10  Richard Copeland (a)  White Bear YC   92--92 +20