Callan Posts a 69 and 212, then Waits -- and Wins

HUTCHINSON -- Carter Callan shot a pair of 3-over-par 75s at Bunker Hills Golf Course in the Minnesota state high school tournament two weeks ago, and his 36-hole total of 150 put him in a tie for 16th place in Class AAA, but it helped Benilde-St. Margaret's to claim its first state team championship in golf.

On Monday, he had a nightmarish back nine at Crow River GC in the first round of the Minnesota State Junior Boys Championship. After making the turn in even par, he made a double bogey at the par-4 10th hole and even worse, he followed it two holes later with another double, this one on the 522-yard, par-5 12th. As if that weren't bad enough, he bogeyed the the other par 5 on the back nine at Crow River, the 505-yard 15th.

A birdie at the par-4 17th helped a little, but he had 40 on the back side and ended the round with a 4-over 75, which had him tied for 30th.

But things got progressively better for the BSM senior to be after that. On Tuesday, he improved by six strokes on the back nine and shot 34 on both nines. The resulting 68 moved him up 24 places into a tie for sixth. Nevertheless, he was still four behind the leader, Ryan Stendahl, who was the only player to beat Callan's 68 in Round 2. Stendahl had a 67.

Callan went out a couple of groups ahead of Stendahl on Wednesday, and birdied the 376-yard, par-4 second hole, but so did Stendahl. Shortly after that, however, things began to change. Stendahl doubled the par-4 third (412 yards), and Callan was within two of him. A birdie at the par-4 sixth (396) got Callan within one. He bogeyed the par-3 eighth (160), but he birdied the par-4 ninth (390), and when Stendahl bogeyed it, they were tied for the lead.

That was a recurring theme on Wednesday. Callan moved mostly forward. The other contenders for the Boys Junior title would take a step or two forward, and then fall back until, in the end, Callan was the last man standing. He followed Tuesday's 68 by closing with a 69, and his 54-hole aggregate of 212 (minus 1) was good enough to claim the victory, albeit just barely.

Jacob Wilson and Joey Mackinac tied for second, one behind Callan at 213, and Stendahl and Jimmy Abdo were right behind them in fourth at 214. All four of them had their chances on Wednesday.

Callan took two steps backward to start the inward nine, with bogeys at the par-4 10th and par-3 11th holes, but he rallied with birdies at the two back-nine par 5s, the 522-yard 12th and the 505-yard 15th, plus a birdie at the 350-yard, par-4 14th, but he bogeyed the par-4 17th, which looked as if might be costly. He signed for his 69 -- and then he waited.

That waiting had to be tough, because four players were ahead of or tied with him at some point as they came down the stretch. The earliest challenger was Lunden Esterline, the Kansas state Class 3A high school champion, even though he won't start his sophomore year until September. The precocious Esterline, who spends much of the summer in Alexandria and is a member at Alexandria GC, started the final day tied for second at even-par 142 and birdied three of the first five holes (2, 3 and 5). Suddenly, he was 3 under for the tournament.

Esterline bogeyed the eighth, but when he arrived at the 10th tee, he was still 2 under for 45 holes, and up ahead, Callan had slipped back to even par for the tournament with the bogeys at 10 and 11, although the birdie at 12 got him back to 1 under. Esterline dropped back to 1 under with a bogey at the 11th, and that was just the start of his problems on the back nine. He went bogey-double-bogey at the 14th, 15th and 16th on the way to a 74 and a tie for seventh at 216.

Mackinac started his day with a bogey at the first, but he birdied the second, the seventh and the eighth and turned in 2-under 33 despite not birdying either of the front-nine par 5s. So he was 1 under overall at that point. A bogey at the 10th put him at even par, but Callan was just getting back to even with the birdie at the 12th. The 14th and 15th holes settled the issue for Mackinac. Callan had just birdied them, and Mackinac, who will be a senior at Rosemount this fall, bogeyed both of them. His birdie at the par-3 16th came at just about the same time that Callan was bogeying the 17th. So it closed the gap, but Mackinac's valedictory 70 wasn't quite good enough to force a playoff.

Wilson, who concluded his junior year at Mahtomedi by finishing third in Class AAA at the high school tournament, opened with a 73 at Crow River on Monday. But his final 36-hole tab of 140 (69-71) was second only to the 137 (68-69) by Callan. And Wilson was pretty clean through the first 15 holes on Wednesday. He bogeyed the fourth but birdied the sixth and the ninth, which had him at 1 under, and ahead of Callan. He improved to 2 under with a birdie at the 15th, by which time Callan had rattled off his birdies at 12, 14 and 15, and he was also 2 under.

Shortly after Callan bogeyed the 17th, Wilson bogeyed the 16th, and then he, too, bogeyed the 17th, leaving him one shot out of first.

That meant that Stendahl, playing in the last group, was the only remaining challenger. The 2024 Minnesota Mr. Golf from Maple Grove, having begun the final round with the lead, put himself in an even stronger position with a birdie at the second hole, which had him at 4 under for 38 holes. But he followed that with a double bogey at the 412-yard, par-4 third. He seemed to right the ship with five pars in a row, but bogeyed the ninth.

Despite going 3 over on the last seven holes of the front nine, Stendahl was still 1 under in the larger picture, and that wound up being the winning score. A birdie at the par-5 12th got him back to 2 under, but he made his second double bogey of the day, at the 16th, and he bogeyed the 17th, as well. Those three dropped shots in two holes demoted him from sole possession of first place to a tie for fourth, two shots out of first, with a final round of 75.

As for Abdo, who helped Edina win the state team title at last year's high school tournament and had top-20 individual finishes in both his junior and senior years, he was at plus 1 at the beginning of the day and made three birdies and two bogeys in the first six holes. He was even or 1 over for the next seven holes, but the benefits of the birdie he made at the 13th were undone by a bogey at he 14th. Abdo bounced back with a birdie at the 15th and ended up with a second straight 71.


Minnesota State Junior Boys Championship

At Crow River Golf Club

Par 71, 6,568 yards

Hutchinson

Final results


1. Carter Callan, YOC Minnesota 75-68-69--212

T2. Jacob Wilson, Forest Hills GC 73-69-71--213

T2. Joey Mackinac, Southview CC 71-72-70--213

T4. Jimmy Abdo, Minnesota Valley CC 72-71-71--214

T4. Ryan Stendahl, Rush Creek GC 72-67-75--214

6. Tullly Super, Wayzata CC 73-73-69--215

T7. Lunden Esterline, Alexandria CC 72-70-74--216

T7. Carver Larson, Geneva GC 73-69-74--216

T7. Andrew Ballou, Chaska Town Course 75-70-71--216

10. Chase Birdwell, TPC Twin Cities 69-73-75--217

T11. Collin Ramos, YOC Minnesota 74-71-73--218

T11. Lance Hamak, Blackberry Ridge 71-73-74--218

T13. Ian Friederichs, Minikahda Club 74-74-71--219

T13. Mick Herron, Wayzata CC 73-73-73--219

T15. Carson Boe, YOC Minnesota 79-69-72--220

T15. Parker Brock, Tianna CC 71-72-77--220