Bethel wins Minnesota Golf Classic for Second Straight Year; Furman’s Diehl is Medalist

MAPLE PLAIN, MINN. - Furman's Trey Diehl needed a birdie on the par-5 ninth hole (his 18th hole of the day) at Pioneer Creek Golf Course to claim the 2023 Minnesota Golf Classic and he did just that, knocking in a seven-foot putt to claim a one-shot victory over Notre Dame's Christoher Bagnall and Kansas' Max Jelinek.

The event, played September 9-10, consisted of 54 holes, with 18 on Saturday and 36 on Sunday. Diehl opened the tournament with a four-under-par 68 that consisted of six birdies against two bogeys. He would go on to shoot an even par 72 during the second round on Saturday with two birdies and two bogeys to go into the final round tied for fifth place.

Diehl, a junior from Orlando, Fla., would open the final round red-hot, carding four birdies on the back-nine (his front nine) at the 10th, 14th, 16th and 18th holes to make the turn at four-under-par for the day, eight-under overall and with a share of the lead. He continued the momentum to his back-nine, birdieing three of the first four holes against a bogey to reach ten-under-par and claim the solo lead. He made two consecutive bogeys at the par-4 seventh and par-3 eighth holes to drop back into a tie of the lead with at eight-under-par with Bagnell and Jelinek but managed to birdie his final hole to claim the one-shot victory with a final round five-under-par 67 and finish the tournament at nine-under-par 207 (68-72-67). This was the first collegiate victory for Diehl.

Bagnall and Jelinek both had impressive final round performances as well. Bagnall, a freshman at Notre Dame from South Africa, started the day at three-under-par and in a tie for eighth place opened the final round with a bogey at the par-5 first hole but would card six birdies (including four in a row from the fourth to seventh holes) over his final 17 holes to shoot a final round five-under-par 67 and vault up the leaderboard into a tie for a second at eight-under-par (71-70-67).

Jelinek, a freshman at Kansas from the Czech Republic, started the day at four-under-par and in a tie for fifth, started strong with an eagle on the par-5 first on his way to an opening-nine two-under-par 34. He would card four birdies on the inward nine against two bogeys four a two-under-par 34 on the back nine and final round four-under 68 to finish the tournament in a tie for second place at eight-under-par (66-74-68).

Kent State's Chris Vandette, West Virginia's Westy McCabe and Utah's Peter Jung finished in a tie for fourth place at seven-under-par.

In the team portion of the event, for the second year in a row, Bethel won the title at the Minnesota Golf Classic. They won the event with a three-day total of one-over-par 865 (287-295-283) to claim a 12-stroke victory over Gustavus Adolphus.

Led by Conor Schubring, who finished in a tie for seventh place individually with a three-day total of five-under-par 211 (71-73-67), Bethel beat their previous record low as a team by one-shot over their 866 at that 2022 Minnesota Golf Classic.