OAKDALE, Minn. – Picking up right where he left off a season ago, Minnesota Golf Hall of Famer Don Berry fired a bogey-free 6-under 64 Tuesday at Oak Marsh Golf Course to take the early lead at the 51st Minnesota Senior PGA Professional Championship.
Berry fired a final-round 70 last season on the same course to claim a one-stroke victory over Eric Chiles for his fifth win at the championship.
When the final round begins Wednesday, Berry will carry a one-shot advantage over Chiles in search of his sixth title since 2014.
“I feel like this course kind of plays to my strengths,” Berry said following his opening round Tuesday. “You’ve got to hit it pretty straight and there’s a lot of wedges. Iron game is important and I hit my irons well today.”
“I haven’t played very well this year so far, but I played well today and I putted better. For the most part I’ve been hitting the ball pretty well, but my putting hasn’t been great. I feel like I can put up some low scores if I can at least putt okay.”
Beginning his round on the 10th tee Tuesday, Berry took advantage of both par-5s on the inward nine to turn in 2-under.
After sinking his birdie chance from five feet at the first, Berry rolled in another birdie from six feet at the second to move to 4-under for the championship.
Capitalizing on his final par-5 of the day at the seventh with a two-putt birdie, Berry closed out his round with a 10-footer at the eighth to post a bogey-free 64 to take a one-stroke lead to the final 18 holes of play.
Berry claimed three straight wins at the championship beginning in 2014 at Northland Country Club. He added a fourth victory in 2020 at Medina Golf and Country Club, but waited four seasons before winning again last year at Oak Marsh.
Playing his front nine in 1-over Tuesday, Chiles wasted little time climbing back into contention by carding an eagle and four birdies over his final eight holes to pull within one shot of Berry by carding a 5-under 65.
“I careered on the back,” Chiles said Tuesday. “I’ve never shot a 29, so that was cool. I hit it just as good as I did on the front, but had a three-putt and got frustrated. I’ve got [Kyle Snyder] on the bag, and he said, “Calm down, you’re 1-over.’ Just kept going at the pins and got the greens figured out a little bit.
“Played great—got out of my own way and went unconscious on the back. Hit a bunch of wedges to two or three feet. This course favors the short, straight hitter. If you don’t hit it sideways, you can’t get in trouble.
Following his front nine of two birdies against three bogeys, Chiles hit a hybrid from 205 yards at the par-5 11th to two feet for a tap-in eagle to quickly jump into red figures.
He converted three consecutive birdie chances beginning at the 14th, highlighted by drilling his putt from 55 feet at the 15th.
Running in one final birdie chance from 15 feet at the last lifted Chiles to a back nine 29 and a 5-under 65 to sit alone in second, three shots off the lead.
Mike Barge, a four-time winner of the championship, played his final 10 holes in 3-under Tuesday to finish the first round in a share of third place with Chris Peterson, three shots back of the lead with a 3-under 67.
“Today went very well—I haven’t been anywhere close to that this year,” said Barge, who has one top-25 finish in three events this season. “I played down in the winter series in Florida and played some of the best golf I’ve played in 10 years. Since I’ve been back, I haven’t been close and completely lost the feel.
“Bad golf, bad ball-striking, putter didn’t feel good—nothing felt good. Working things out on the range and on Saturday I felt like I kind of found something. Basically, a feel and I’ve been trying to capture it all summer. Today was pretty good. Wasn’t perfect, but very solid.”
The final round of the 51st Minnesota Senior PGA Professional Championship gets underway at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday at Oak Marsh Golf Course.