Berry, Constable and Rask Shoot 67 During Opening Round of Minnesota State Open

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. – Riding the momentum from a fourth-place finish at a PGA Tour Canada event last week, Clayton Rask fired a 5-under par 67 Friday to share the lead with Don Berry and Donald Constable after the opening round of the 2015 Minnesota State Open at Mendakota Country Club.

Rask recorded his best finish of the season Sunday, finishing tied for fourth place at 15-under par 273 at the Staal Foundation Open in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

In five starts this season on the Mackenzie Tour, the former University of Minnesota golfer has made the cut in all five tournaments, earning two top-10 finishes and amassing more than $14,000 in earnings, saying his game is the best it’s been in several seasons.

“Last week was a fun week—I couldn’t buy a putt but that’s the way it goes. It was the first time in about 15 years I was in contention with a short putter again. Overall I played really well and my game’s only getting better every day,” Rask said following his round Friday.

“Today I putted really well and hit the ball well; I kept it in front of me and had a lot that lipped out. I limited my damages and had one bogey, unfortunately it came on the last hole,” he said.

On Friday Rask opened the championship with a birdie on the opening hole to quickly jump below par for the day.

Adding birdies at the fifth and seventh holes, Rask moved to 3-under before birdying the final hole on the front nine to turn at 4-under par.

Rask, winner of the event in 2010, would get to 6-under par after back-to-back birdies at Nos. 15 and 16 before his only blemish of the round, a bogey on the final hole to card 67.

Also playing on the Mackenzie Tour, Constable has made six starts this season, only missing two cuts and earning nearly $5,000 in winnings.

His best finish of the season came in May at the PC Financial Open where he carded a 6-under par 282 to finish tied for 22nd.

“[My game] has been good, playing up in Canada I’ve put a lot of good rounds together in the last month and I’ve missed one round here and there, but it’s been sharp and I like the way I’ve been hitting it,” he said.

Friday Constable carded three birdies before making bogey at the par-4 eighth hole to make the turn at 2-under par. With back-to-back birdies at the 11th and 12th holes, Constable would get to 4-under par before rolling in his sixth birdie of the round at the 15th.

Another birdie at the par-3 17th would put Constable at 6-under for the tournament, but he would finish the first round with a bogey at the 18th to shoot 67.

“I drove it really well, out here so many of the fairways get narrow, if you’re in the fairway you can attack some of these pins even though they were in some good spots today,” Constable said Friday. “My hand slipped on [No. 18] and I went in the trees and made bogey but it was probably one of my only missed fairway.

“I played the par-5s well which was nice because there are five of them. The greens are great—they’ve got good speed and they’re nice and fast, which I like. You just got to get [putts] going on line and they’ll go in.”

Don Berry, champion in 1992 and 1999, carded back-to-back birdies on the first and second holes to quickly jump to 2-under Friday, adding another at the par-5 fifth hole and would turn at 3-under.

Another pair of birdies at the 10th and 14th put Berry at 5-under for the championship before giving away a stroke with a bogey at the 16th.

Berry rebounded nicely with a birdie on the ensuing hole and would finish with a par to shoot 67, sharing the lead with Constable and Rask.

Joe O’Brien, winner of the 2015 Minnesota Golf Association Mid-Players’ Championship, carded a 4-under par 68 Friday and will begin Saturday’s second round tied for fourth place with Andrew McCain.

O’Brien, Rush Creek Golf Club, eagled the opening hole Friday to quickly jump to 2-under before taking advantage of a birdie chance at the fourth hole, but he would turn at 1-under par after back-to-back bogeys at the sixth and seventh holes.

Just as he did on the opening hole, O’Brien would card an eagle at the par-4 10th hole to get back to 3-under par Friday and would roll in one more birdie over the final eight holes to shoot an opening-round 68.

“My game has been non-existent—I’ve just been playing for fun,” O’Brien said of his tournament golf schedule since winning the Mid-Players’ Championship in June. “Expectations were low and I just wanted to go out and have fun. I’ve only played out here two times in 20 years and the golf course is fantastic—it’s in phenomenal shape and the greens are perfect.

“I putted well and that’s not usually the strong suit for my game. I made a long putt for eagle on one and a medium-length putt for eagle on 10 and then made a couple more medium-length putts. Typically I only make one or two of those a round but made a bucket full of them today.”

McCain, Dellwood Country Club, recorded three birdies with one bogey on the front nine to turn at 2-under par, before shooting 2-under par over the final nine holes with three more birdies and a single bogey.



2015 MINNESOTA STATE OPEN
MENDAKOTA COUNTRY CLUB
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, MINN.
6,980 YARDS, PAR 72


FRIDAY’S RESULTS
T1. Clayton Rask, Riverwood Nat’l Golf Course, 32-35—67
T1. Donald Constable, Spring Hill Golf Club, 34-33—67
T1. Don Berry, Edinburgh USA, 33-34—67
T4. Joe O’Brien, Rush Creek Golf Club, 35-33—68
T4. Andrew McCain, Dellwood Country Club, 34-34—68
6. David Morgan, Mendakota Country Club, 32-37—69
T7. Jeff Sorenson, The Minikahda Club, 34-36—70
T7. Jacques Wilson, Chaska Town Course, 36-34—70
T7. Dylan Baker, Chaska Town Course, 34-36—70
T10. Danny Sinksen, Elmwood Park Golf Club, 35-36—71
T10. Brian Hills, Wild Marsh Golf Club, 35-36—71
T10. Trent Peterson, Valleywood Golf Course, 35-36—71
T10. Erik Christopherson, StoneRidge Golf Club, 34-37—71
T10. Joe McCormick, Crow River Golf Club, 38-33—71
T10. Cody Seal, Deer Run Golf Club, 37-34—71


For complete tournament results go to: http://mnpga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/mnpga15/event/mnpga1546/contest/1/leaderboard.htm