Back in Form, Garber Is Medalist in U.S. Senior Am Qualifying

July 24, 2017 | 6 min.



WAYZATA -- It was a return to glory for Randy Garber on Monday, as he shot a 2-under-par 70 at Wayzata Country Club. With that, he earned medalist honors in the U.S. Senior Amateur Qualifyng -- and a spot in this year's U.S. Senior Am, which will be played Aug. 26-31 at The Minikahda Club.  

There were 79 players trying for the five spots available. John Barry of Lakeville was really the only player in a position to challenge Garber for the qualifying medal. He was 1 under with six holes to go. But then he made a double bogey at the 183-yard, par-3 fourth hole (his 13th of the day), and he parred in from there for a 73, good for second place.

One clutch shot enabled Jeff Teal, a former professional hockey player, to come back from a 40 on his first nine and qualify with a 75. That put him in a three-way tie for third with David Brown of Plymouth and William Wood of Tampa, Fla.

In other words, there were five guys at 75 or better, which made it a clean cut. 

A playoff was required for the alternate spots, at 76, and the survivors were David Haselrud and two-time MGA Senior Player of the Year Steve Whittaker. If ever there was a good chance for an alternate from here to get into the Senior Am, this would seem to be the year, because the tournament is being played at Minikahda. 

For Garber, Monday's round represented a return to form. 

He was one of Minnesota's most consistent senior golfers for a long time, not a long driver but straight, a good iron player with a pretty good short game. He didn't beat himself, and he proved he could win with a pair of victories in the State Senior Publinx (2002 and 2006). In 2007, he won MGA Senior Players Championship, and went on to win MGA Senior Player of the Year in '07. Four years later, he combined with James Price to win the Minnesota Senior Four-Ball Championship. 

Garber turned up in 2017 with a new set of irons, which gave him an additional 10 yards or so per club. There was a period of adjustment, as he got used to his new distances and altered his club selection accordingly. 

"It's kind of a nice problem to have," he said in May. 

But his biggest problem was the same one that plagues a lot of seniors. It could be described as an Epidemic of Others. What happens is that holes where they used to make bogeys become "others," that is double bogeys or worse.

A good example of that could be seen at the end of the Minnesota Golf Champions tournament at Dellwood CC. Garber seemed headed for score of 74 or 75 on the final day -- but then he made doubles on three of the last four holes. Suddenly, that 74 or 75 was an 82.

"I never used to do things like that," he lamented afterward.

The State Senior Open, which was played the first week in June, may have been a turning point for Garber. In the first round, he made a bunch of bogeys -- plus two doubles -- on the way to an 83 at Baker National. But he came back with a 74 -- and only one double -- in the second round.

On Monday, a day when no one else broke par, the 67-year-old Garber got through the first 13 holes at Wayzata CC without a bogey. Or double. Birdies at No. 6 (501 yards, par 5), 10 (420, par 4) and 13 (183, par 3) had him 3 under before he made his first bogey of the day at the 355-yard, par-4 14th. He bounced right back with a birdie at the 538-yard, par-5 15th, before making one more bogey at the 174-yard, par-3 17th.

Teal's emergence from the caldron of qualifying could also be seen as a chapter in his return to form. When he was at Rochester John Marshall, he was one of the state's best high school players, but his No. 1 sport was hockey. He was one of the stars for JM when the Rockets became the first -- and still the only -- team from southern Minnesota to win the state high school hockey tournament, and he went on to play for the University of Minnesota and, briefly, in the National Hockey League, for the Monteal Canadiens.

While he was at it, he became a force to be reckoned with in Minnesota amateur golf. He defeated John Harris in a playoff to win the 1983 State Publinx. In 1984, he and partner Paul Luchau lost a record 12-hole playoff in the State Four-Ball Championship. He and Luchau lost the Four-Ball by a stroke in '85, and Teal and new partner Ray Pontinen lost another playoff (this one only two holes) in the '86 Four-Ball. Teal also lost playoffs for the title in the State Publinx in consecutive years, 1985 and '86.

In 1987, Teal won the MGA Players Championship at Town & Country, beating Harris 2 and 1 in the final. But it was Harris's turn six weeks later in the State Amateur at Hazeltine, where the 10-time MGA Player of the Year defeated Teal on the second hole of a playoff. 

Teal turned professional -- in golf -- that fall and played briefly on the mini-tour circuit. Then he pretty much disappeared, at least as far as Minnesota amateur golf was concerned.

Now he's back.  

He didn't exactly get off to a great start on Monday, making bogeys at the par-5 second, par-4 third and par-3 fourth holes. A bogey at the eighth (136, par 3) and another at the 10th (420, par 4) left him in need for a couple of birdies. Or an eagle, and that's what he made at the par-4 14th, thanks to wedge shot that he holed for a 2. That got him back to 3 over, and he parred out from there.  


MEN'S SENIOR AMATEUR GOLF

U.S. Senior Amateur Qualifying

At Wayzata Country Club 

Par 72, 6,694 yards

Wayzata

Final results 

(top 5 finishers qualify for the U.S. Senior Amateur, Aug. 26-31 at The Minikahda Club)


1. Randy Garber, Lakeville                  35-35--70

2. John Barry, Lakeville                       36-37--73

T3. Jeff Teal, Excelsior                        40-35--75

T3. William Wood, Tampa, Fla.           40-35--75

T3. David Brown, Plymouth                 37-38--75

Did not qualify

T6. David Haselrud, Woodbury             39-37--76 (1st alternate)

T6. Steve Whittaker, Becker                 37-39--76 (2nd alternate) 

T6. Tim Kelley, Minnetonka                  39-37--76

T6. Patrick Hunt, Edina                         37-39--76

T6. Bill Tedewald, Hopkins                    40-36--76

T6. Carl Horsch, Eden Prairie               37-39--76

T6. Earl Lanoue, Tampa, Fla.                38-38--76

 

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