117th MGA Amateur Championship Fact Sheet

117th MGA Amateur Championship
July 13-15, 2020
Edina Country Club, Edina, Minn.

GENERAL INFO/FORMAT – The 117th MGA Amateur Championship will be held at Edina Country Club, Monday through Wednesday, July 13-15. One hundred and fifty-six competitors will play 36 holes – 18 on Monday and 18 on Tuesday. After 36 holes, a cut will be made and the remaining 60 players and ties will play 18 holes on Wednesday to determine the champion.

LIVE SCORING ON THE WEB
Live Scoring will be available on the MGA website at www.mngolf.org.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE – Follow us for updates, photos, and results
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            Twitter Handle: @MNGolfAssn; #MGAAmateur
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EDINA COUNTRY CLUB OFFICIALS – Mike Laukka, President; Brian Maxwell, Vice President; Bill Chrysler, General Manager; Marty Lass, Golf Professional; and Brandon Schindele, Golf Course Superintendent.  

EDINA COUNTRY CLUB -- Edina Country Club got its start in 1922 when S.S. Thorpe purchased 120 acres of the Craik Farm near the Edina-Morningside area and announced plans for a new community, “The Country Club District.” Later prolific golf course architect Tom Bendelow from Aberdeen, Scotland, was hired to lay out a 6,350-yard 18-hole course that featured greens of “genuine Creeping Bentgrass.” Then called Thorpe Country Club, the course opened in 1924. Renamed Edina Country Club in 1946, the club has seen a number of renovations over the years, but none more significant than in 2010-2011, when Tom Lehman and Chris Brands redesigned the course, installed new green complexes, bunkers, tees and fairway grasses.  
 
This year marks the seventh time the club has hosted the MGA Amateur: in 1926, Harrison “Jimmy” Johnston defeated Jake Wetherby, 3 and 1; Edina’s own Allen Labatt was medalist, posting 76-74—150. In 1937, Bobby Campbell defeated Neil Croonquist, 5 and 4. In 1945, with a switch from match play to stroke play, Al Clasen posted 73-70-69—212 to win the championship. In 1958 and back to match play, Bob Henrikson defeated Gene Hanson, 3 and 2; Edina’s Dick James was medalist, shooting 73-70—143. In 1971 and a return to stroke play, Dave Haberle posted 67-74-74—215 to win by one shot over Edina’s Dick Blooston, who put up steady rounds of 72-71-73—216. In 1986, the last time the Amateur Championship has visited Edina CC, Dave Nordeen won his second consecutive amateur after carding rounds of 72-71-75—218; Edina’s Dick Blooston finished T-9, posting scores of 68-76-81—225 (since the championship moved to stroke play permanently in 1967, Blooston finished inside the top ten no less than 10 times).
 
Edina has seen four members win seven State Amateur championships: Dick Sawyer, in 1936; Dave Haberle (claimed by Edina CC in its club history, but playing out of Interlachen CC), in 1971; John McMorrow, in 1979; and John Harris (the 1993 U.S. Amateur champion), in 1974, 1987, 1989 and 2000.

LAST YEAR’S CHAMPIONSHIP – A late-round eagle and a pair of key pars allowed Clay Kucera to fend off charges from both Van Holmgren and Andrew Israelson to earn Kucera his first state victory at the 116th MGA Amateur Championship, July 17 at Somerby Golf Club.

Overcoming a rocky start to the final round, Kucera dropped his eagle chance from 30 feet at the par-3 15th and scrambled to save par at the 16th and 17th, extending his lead to two strokes before a par on the final hole made him the first player since Eric Deutsch (2004) to win the championship after making the field as an alternate. Kucera posted 71-66-72—209 (-7), one shot better than Holmgren and Israelson.
 
Holmgren, who posted an opening-round 68 to take the 18-hole lead, said winning the championship a year earlier only made him hungrier to win another. Unable to convert multiple birdie and eagle chances during Wednesday’s final round, Holmgren fell one stroke short of becoming the 10th player in championship history to successfully defend his title, but “the putts just weren’t falling,” he said afterward.
 
Israelson, with five state victories to his credit prior to this season, began the summer by advancing through U.S. Open Local Qualifying and later defeating Parker Reddig in the finals of the MGA Players’ Championship. At Somerby he came up shy of becoming only the third player to win the Players’ Championship and the State Amateur in the same season.
 
THE FIELD – Clay Kucera returns to defend his title amongst a formidable field of challengers including six former MGA Amateur champions: Jesse Bull, Golden Valley G&CC (2014); Dave Carothers, Windsong Farm GC (2017); Mike Christensen, Northland Country Club (1995); Bryce Hanstad, Olympic Hills GC (2007); Van Holmgren, Pioneer Creek GC (2018); and Trent Peterson, Fountain Valley GC (2008). 
 
Should Kucera successfully defend his title, it would be the eleventh time a champion has accomplished this remarkable achievement – the most recent being current PGA Tour player Tom Hoge, who won in 2009-2010.
 
Notable competitors in the field include the 2017 and 2019 Class AA High School individual champ, Cecil Belisle (Red Wing GC); the 2019 MN PGA Junior Boys’ champ, Gunnar Broin (Chaska Town Course); the 2001 MGA Mid-Amateur and 2014 MPGA State Public Links champ, Tony Brown (Wayzata CC); the 2019 MGA Mid-Amateur champ, Justin Burleson (Mendakota CC); the 2017 USGA Four-Ball champ, Frankie Capan (North Oaks GC);  the 2017 MPGA State Public Links champ, Joe Conzemius (Interlachen CC); the two-time Minnesota State Open champ (2016-2017), Ben Greve (Olympic Hills GC); the 2011 MPGA State Public Links and 2012 MPGA Match Play champ, Jonathan Hanner (Baker National GC); the 2016 Class AA High School individual champ, Derek Hitchner (Minikahda Club); the 2019 MGA Players’ and 2016 Minnesota State Junior Boys’ champ, Andrew Israelson (Vintage at Staples); the 2016 MGA Mid-Players’ champ, Andy Jacobson (Eagle Creek GC); the 2011 Minnesota State Open champ, Troy Johnson (Medina G&CC); the 2019 Minnesota State Open champ, Brady Madsen (Hawk Creek CC); the 2002 MGA Players’ champ, David Morgan (Mendakota CC); the 2015 MGA Mid-Players’ champ, Joe O’Brien (Rush Creek GC); the 2019 MGA Players’ runner-up and 2019 Twin Cities champion, Parker Reddig (Hiawatha GC); the 2017 MGA Senior Players’ champ, Jerry Rose (Alexandria GC); six-time MGA Player of the Year, and the 2018 MGA Players’ champ, Sammy Schmitz (StoneRidge GC); the 2016 Class AAA High School individual champ, Ben Sigel (Windsong Farm); the 2019 Minnesota State Junior Boys’ champ, Ian Simonich (Moorhead CC); the 1996, 2002 and 2004 MGA Mid-Amateur champ, John Spreiter (Litchfield GC); the 2016 and 2018 MPGA State Public Links champ, Max Tylke (Links at Northfork); the 2018 Minnesota State Junior Boys’ and MN PGA Junior Boys’ champ, Caleb VanArragon (Bunker Hills GC); and the 2019 MGA Senior Amateur champ, Trent Wilcox (Headwaters CC).  
 
CLUB TEAM EVENT – The MGA Amateur Championship includes a team competition during the first two rounds (MGA member clubs are represented by three or four golfers, whose low three scores are totaled). Ties are broken by a matching of scorecards, per the Official Guide to the Rules of Golf, see Section 5A(6) of the Committee Procedures.  
 
Last year, Baker National GC (Ian Mackenzie-Olson, and Van and Will Holmgren) won with a two-day total of 432 (even par), two shots better than the Chaska Town Course team (Jon Dutoit, Russ Higgins, Lincoln Johnson and Clay Kucera).     
 
COURSE SET UP – 6,810 yds, Par 35-37 – 72
 
Hole #1 – 418 yards, par 4         Hole #10 – 561 yards, par 5
Hole #2 – 388 yards, par 4         Hole #11 – 167 yards, par 3
Hole #3 – 337 yards, par 4         Hole #12 – 518 yards, par 5
Hole #4 – 130 yards, par 3         Hole #13 – 506 yards, par 5
Hole #5 – 364 yards, par 4         Hole #14 – 388 yards, par 4
Hole #6 – 413 yards, par 4         Hole #15 – 363 yards, par 4
Hole #7 – 222 yards, par 3         Hole #16 – 432 yards, par 4
Hole #8 – 580 yards, par 5         Hole #17 – 205 yards, par 3
Hole #9 – 322 yards, par 4         Hole #18 – 496 yards, par 4
Out   –   3,174 yds   Par 35         In     –    3,636 yds    Par 37
Course Rating/Slope Rating:  72.8/136
 
ELIGIBILITY – To enter the MGA Amateur Championship, a player must be an
associate member of the MGA (through membership of an MGA member club) and carry a USGA Handicap Index of 6.4 or lower at the time of entry. 
 
As of July 3, there are 116 players in the field with “plus” USGA Handicap Indexes (that is, having an index that is better than scratch), with Derek Hitchner and Parker Reddig atop the list of competitors at +6.2.
 
The oldest competitor in the field is Jerry Rose (Alexandria GC), 61 years, 9 months and 10 days; the youngest, Kyler Schwamb, Southern Hills GC, 15 years, 2 months and 25 days.
 

PAIRINGS/NOTICE TO COMPETITORS

Complete pairings and the notice to competitors are available online at
https://www.mngolf.org/Tournament/MGA_Amateur_Championship_10
 
ABOUT THE MGA
Founded in 1901, the Minnesota Golf Association is the governing body over amateur golf in the state, responsible for administering the Rules of Golf, and committed to uphold and promote the game of golf and its values for all golfers in Minnesota. The MGA conducts 23 major amateur championships and 14 USGA qualifying events each year. Thanks to the support of its member clubs and associate members, and the efforts of its volunteers and staff, the MGA provides a variety of services such as handicapping, course rating and measuring, an online golf news and information resource, mngolf.org, and an official publication, Minnesota Golfer magazine, which benefits all golfers throughout Minnesota.