BRAINERD, Minn. – Since winning back-to-back Class AAA individual titles in 2021 and 2022, Nate Stevens has tallied five top-5 finishes at state championships, three being runners-up.
He placed third at the Minnesota Golf Association Amateur Championship in 2023 at Minneapolis Golf Club and improved by finishing second to Nate Deziel last season at Minnesota Valley Country Club.
Refusing to be denied yet again, Stevens tallied four birdies over his final five holes Wednesday at The Classic at Madden’s on Gull Lake to earn a two-stroke victory over University of South Dakota golfer Joe Rohlwing at the 122nd MGA Amateur Championship.
“It feels like a monkey off my back for sure,” Stevens said following his win Wednesday. “I’ve wanted to win this tournament since I first played in it when I was a freshman in high school.
“I felt like the past two years I didn’t give myself a great chance going into the final day and then have a good final round. It was nice to be a few shots closer to the leaders so I could actually chase them down this time.”
A University of Notre Dame senior, Stevens opened the championship with a 1-over 72 during Monday’s opening round before carding an even par 71 Tuesday during the second round to pull within three shots of the lead.
Stevens tallied birdies at two of his first three holes to move to 1-under for the championship before play was halted for nearly four and a half hours due to inclement weather.
“I got off to a good start and wanted to keep the momentum going,” Stevens said of the lengthy delay. “I made a nice 4-footer right away coming back out.”
He’d tally a third birdie of his final round at the par-5 sixth to move to the top of the leaderboard, turning in 2-under for the championship.
A double-bogey at the 10th and a bogey at the 13th dropped Stevens to 1-over for the tournament and into a four-way tie for the lead.
“I’m getting better at not showing emotion,” he said. “Today I did a really good job of having no reaction—something my college coach and I have worked on. I just wanted to respond to adversity well.”
Stevens responded in a big way, carding four consecutive birdies beginning at the 14th when he sank an 8-footer before back-to-back tap-ins at the 15th and 16th holes.
Taking charge of the championship late, Stevens ran in a 35-foot bender for birdie at the par-3 17th to take a two-stroke advantage to the final hole, where he’d two-putt for par to earn his first state victory in three seasons, shooting a tournament-low 4-under 67 on the final day.
“I knew I could only beat myself today,” Stevens said. “There are a lot of good players here, but I felt like if I played my game, I didn’t really care who won or who lost. I just wanted to put some solid swings together and see what happened.
“I didn’t know where everyone was, but I figured someone was going to go low today, and why not me? I hit some good iron shots, and that’s a strength of mine.”
In three seasons with the Irish, Stevens has appeared in 37 tournaments with 15 top-25 finishes, including a pair of top-10s this year, and holds a career scoring average of 71.46.
As a sophomore, he helped guide Notre Dame to its first NCAA national championship appearance since the regional format began in 1989.
Beginning the championship with a 3-over 74 during the opening round Monday, Rohlwing surged back by carding a 2-under 69 during the second round to pull within three shots of the lead.
A steady Rohlwing played his first 14 holes of the final round in even par before a pair of late birdies led him to a second consecutive 69 to finish two shots back of the lead at 1-under 212.
“After my start during the first round, I was just happy to be where I was,” the 2023 Mr. Minnesota Golf award winner said Wednesday. “I just wanted to come out and play my best and I did that today—very steady.
“I’m happy with how I fought. I finished 18th last year, which stung because I needed a birdie on the last two holes to be exempt into this year. I won a junior event here in high school and I love this course. Played with some confidence this week.”
Rohlwing has appeared in 16 events for the Coyotes in two seasons, claiming one top-10 finish during his sophomore season, while earning the third-lowest stroke average in the Summit League at 72.38.
Bouncing back from his second-round 76 Tuesday, recent Class AAA individual medalist and 2025 Mr. Minnesota Golf award recipient Sam Udovich fired a 3-under 68 on the final day to finish alone in third place.
“I gave it everything I had after yesterday’s sloppy round,” Udovich said Wednesday. “Cool to birdie 16 and 17 to get a couple fist pumps and give myself a chance. I was six shots down coming into the day, so happy with how I played and came back.
“Proud of how I fought back after some adversity—had a lot of it yesterday, shooting 5-over on the front. I had the mindset that I had to go low today to have a chance, and I did. Felt like I played some good golf.”
Carding even par 71 during Wednesday’s final round, University of Illinois sophomore Jake Birdwell finished in a share of fourth place with 36-hole leader Joe Honsa at 2-over 215.
Amongst Wednesday’s final-round highlights was Ben Freeman’s ace at the 208-yard seventh hole using a 5-iron.
The 123rd MGA Amateur Championship will be contested at StoneRidge Golf Club in Stillwater, Minn.