Gopher Teammates Roloff and Schwamb to Square off in Finals of 48th MGA Players’ Championship

  WAYZATA, Minn. – A string of three consecutive birdies helped lift Mason Roloff to victory over former Spring Lake Park High School teammate Jake Birdwell during the semifinal round of the 48th Minnesota Golf Association Players’ Championship at Spring Hill Golf Club.

Roloff advanced to the final round where he will now face University of Minnesota teammate Kyler Schwamb on Thursday.

“Playing against one of my good buddies this afternoon was fun and we had a good battle,” Roloff said of his match against Birdwell Wednesday. “We play together a lot at [TPC Twin Cities], but this was a little different playing in a tournament against each other.

“Tomorrow is going to be really fun, too. [Schwamb] and I have played a lot of golf together, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

Roloff carded three birdies over a five-hole span during his early match against South Dakota State University golfer Drew Teeter, taking a 5-up lead after just five holes and never looked back as he closed out the match at the 15th to advance, 5 and 4.

Birdwell, who recently completed his freshman season at the University of Illinois, took the early lead during the semifinal match, winning two of the first three before Roloff came back to tie the match at the ninth.

Rolling in three consecutive birdie chances from inside of 10 feet beginning at the 10th, Roloff swung momentum in his favor and needed to fend off a surging Birdwell, who birdied the 13th and eagled the 15th to pull within one of Roloff.

Sinking his par putt from six feet at the 18th earned Roloff a spot in the finals against his Gopher teammate.

“Best part for me this week has been really battling mentally,” Roloff said. “Grinding it out—it’s match play so anything can happen. You can’t get too down because you’re always in it.

“I’ve been playing better coming in, so I was excited to play against a bunch of good Minnesota players. This is further than I had expected to be, but I’m really happy to be here.”

Schwamb began the day by defeating former Gopher teammate Jacob Pedersen, 2 and 1, before needing a late rally to beat 17-year-old Jake Heinrich, 2-up, during the semifinal round to advance to the finals.

“My game off the tee has been good and when I need to, making clutch putts,” Schwamb said. “Pins are tucked, so you’ve got to take your medicine and hit the middle of the green and stay patient.

“Slow start for me this afternoon. [Heinrich] made some nice putts and some nice saves, but I stayed patient and played pretty stock golf.”

An early eagle gave Schwamb the lead during his match against Heinrich, but the Prior Lake High School golfer battled back to take three consecutive holes from Schwamb and build a 2-up lead.

Schwamb, a former Farmington High School standout, pulled within one by winning the ninth before sinking a 6-footer for birdie at the 13th to draw even.

Taking the par-3 17th with a par, Schwamb carried a slim lead to the final hole where he would drop his birdie putt from 12 feet to seal his spot in the championship match, 2-up.
“Out here you have to hit it well off the tee, and for the most part I did that today. I gave away a couple of holes with errant tee shots, but putting was great all day.

An impressive week for one of the youngest players in the field as Heinrich posted a 1-over 73 during Monday’s qualifying round before he survived a 9-for-2 playoff to earn the final spot for match play as the No. 16 seed.

A late birdie helped Heinrich get past defending champion Joe Conzemius, 1-up, to advance to the quarterfinal round against University of Notre Dame golfer Nate Stevens, where Heinrich again rallied late to defeat Stevens, 1-up.

The championship match of the 48th MGA Players’ Championship is scheduled to begin at 8:10 a.m. at Spring Hill Golf Club.