WEST ST. PAUL -- At 6,125 yards from the tees they're using this weekend for the Tapemark Minnesota PGA Pro-Am, Southview Country Club can be overpowered, and Trey Fessler was just the guy for that job on Saturday.
The prodigiously long-hitting first-year pro hit three of Southview's four par-5's with wedges, and the other one with a 9-iron, all of which resulted in two eagles and two birdies. He also drove the green on the 389-yard 11th hole on the way to a second consecutive 6-under-par 65, and the subsequent 36-hole total of 130 (12 under) has him three strokes ahead of the field going into Sunday's final round.
Justin Doeden, the former University of Minnesota star who is a regular on the Canadian Tour -- which didn't have a tournament scheduled this week -- put together a 67 that could have been a couple of strokes better. Nevertheless, he's only three behind in second place at 133.
Michael Schmitz, like Fessler, has been a pro for less than a year, and he matched Fessler's 65 on Saturday. He's in third at 134, but he's not alone. Justin Smith, the Gophers head coach, is a reinstated amateur, and he followed a first-round 65 with a 69. So he's also at 134, and he's first among the players not competing for the $5,000 first-place check.
Thomas Campbell, a former Gopher from New Zealand, is another stroke back, in fourth among the pros at 135, after he, too, shot 65, matching the low score of the day.
There is a fivesome tied for fifth at 136, and it includes first-round leader Andrew Israelson and the defending champion, Angus Flanagan. Flanagan kept hitting greens in regulation, "and two-putting them all." He finally made a couple of birdies, but only because he hit the greens at the 490-yard, par-5 17th and 481-yard, par-5 18th in two and two-putted them both for a 69.
Israelson, who turned pro last August, overpowered Southview on Friday to the tune of an 8-under 63. But his power had some negative consequences for him on Saturday, beginning with a 9-iron that he hit over the green on his first hole, the 172-yard, par-3 10th. In what became a pattern, he couldn't get it up and down and made a bogey. He then hit a wedge over the green at the 11th -- and made another bogey.
It was that kind of day for Israelson.
"I kept thinking I was hitting good shots, and they kept going over the greens," he lamented. "And they all ended up this far over (he held his hands 10 inches apart), which is the worst place to be on this course. It's where you get the worst lies."
He made a bogey at 14, from just over the green, but got one shot back when he hit a gap wedge to the 17th and two-putted for birdie. But at the par-5 18th, his gap wedge second shot,which looked great in the air, ended up just over the green -- once again. He couldn't get that one up and down, either. So, having played the hole about as well as he could, he had to settle for a par.
The former All-American Scholar for North Dakota State bogeyed the par-4 first hole from behind the green, but got two back by hitting wedges to the greens at the 470-yard, par-5 fourth and 476-yard, par-5 sixth holes. But one more wedge that went too far resulted in another bogey at the par-4 eighth.
"A 73," he said as he turned in his scorecard. "Ten shots higher than yesterday. But I'm playing pretty well, and I'm not that far back."
Right behind the five players tied for fifth, there are four more tied for 10th at 137, and two former Tapemark champions are in that group -- Chris Meyer (2020) and Jeff Sorenson (2009) -- along with this year's Minnesota Senior Open champ, Derek Stendahl, and Augsburg College coach Eric Rolland.
Don Berry, Minnesota PGA Section's best player over the last three decades -- and a seven-time Tapemark champion -- complained on Friday that he shoots 70 or 71 every time he plays this year, "and never 67 or 68." That changed on Saturday, when he shot 68. He's part of a four-way tie for 14th at 138. Also in that foursome is Alex Gaugert, who's made more money on the golf course during the last couple of years than anyone else in this field. That's because his regular job is caddying for his former Gopher teammate Erik Van Rooyen.
Van Rooyen got his first victory as a professional at the Tapemark in 2016. But he's moved on since then, and in the last two PGA Tour seasons, he's collected $3.138 million in prize money. Most tour caddies get somewhere between 5 and 10 percent of their player's earnings, plus a weekly stipend of between $1,500 and $3,000.
Gaugert, who has this week off, will rejoin Van Rooyen for this coming week's U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.
As for Fessler, he turned pro last July and chose not to try the Korn Ferry Q-School series because, as he explains it, "My game needed to be more pro golf ready."
It looked ready on Saturday. After parring the first three holes, he hit a sand wedge to the green at the par-5 fourth and two-putted for a birdie. A 9-iron to the sixth produced an eagled, and he followed that with a birdie at the par-4 seventh. His drive of nearly 400 yards at the downhill par-4 11th left him 20 feet from the cup, and he had the eagle putt on line, but it came up just short.
Fessler made up for a bogey at the 12th with a birdie at the 14th. On Friday, he hit a 5-iron at the 445-yard, par-4 16th, so that he could stay short of the water hazard, which is right around 300 yards from the tee -- and made a double bogey. On Saturday, he hit a driver and made a bogey.
"That was better than yesterday," he noted, with a grin.
Two more massive drives at the two closing par-5's left him with only gap wedges to the greens at the 17th and 18th holes, and he two-putted them both for birdies.
Doeden started on the back nine, and promptly bogeyed the par-3 10th. But he bounced right back with a birdie at the 11th. After making pars at the next three holes, he proceeded to run off four consecutive birdies, starting at the par-3 15th and ending with the 18th. Having birdied the first six par-5's he played this weekend, he neglected to birdie the seventh, No. 4, but a drive of 300-plus yards -- uphill -- and an 8-iron gave him an easy two-putt birdie at No. 6.
At that point, he was 10 under for the tournament. But a weak chip at the seventh left him a 10-footer for a par, and he missed it. Back to 9 under. At the 365-yard, par-4 eighth, he had a golden opportunity to recover that lost stroke. He flew his tee shot approximately 330 yards to the top of the hill left of the green, and the ball trickled down the hill, ending up in the right rough no more than seven or eight yards short of the green. Doeden tried a flop shot from there, but it came up 18 feet short, and he missed the birdie putt.
The 330-yard ninth could be drivable for anyone with Doeden's power, but there's water left and out of bounds right. He chose discretion over valor, and laid up with an iron off the tee. A wedge shot left him 25 feet past and above the pin. It was not a position from which to be aggressive. He two-putted for a par.
Tapemark Minnesota PGA Pro-Am
At Southview Country Club
Par 71, 6,125 yards
West St. Paul
Second-round results
Professional leaders
1. Trey Fessler 65-65--130
2. Justin Doeden 66-67--133
3. Michael Schmitz 69-65--134
4. Thomas Campbell 70-65--135
T5. Andrew Israelson 63-73--136
T5. Brent Snyder 66-70---136
T5. Angus Flanagan 67-69--136
T5. Brian Hills 67-69--136
T5. Jack Gustafson 69-67--136
T10. Chris Meyer 67-70--137
T10. Derek Stendahl 70-67--137
T10. Eric Rolland 70-67--137
T10. Jeff Sorenson 70-67--137
T14. Don Berry 70-68--138
T14. Alex Gaugert 70-68--138
T14. Grant Shafranski 69-69--138
T14. Josh Whalen 69-69--138
18. Andy Smith 68-71--139
Amateurs
1. Justin Smith 65-69--134
2. Scott Fenwick 70-69--139
3. Jesse Larson 67-73--140
T4. Andrew Boemer 68-74--142
T4. Sam Udovich 67-75--142
T4. Justin Burleson 71-71--142
7. Tyler Wood 72-72--144
8. Eric Hayne 73-72--145
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