Foth Subdues Kuhn in 22 Holes to Claim Pine to Palm Crown

August 14, 2018 | 5 min.


DETROIT LAKES -- In the quarterfinal round of the Pine to Palm tournament, Rick Kuhn was 1 down going into the 17th hole against Austin Schultz. Kuhn birdied the 17th to square the match and eventually won it with a par on the fourth extra hole. 

Sunday's championship match between Kuhn and Jackson Foth had a similar look to it. Kuhn made a 45-foot birdie putt at the 17th to level the match, and that one, too, went to the fourth extra hole. But this time the result was different. Foth, who had been sort of boring his opponents to death with a lot of fairways and greens, made a another routine par. Kuhn, who had been living more dangerously and making quite a few remarkable pars throughout the tournament, couldn't quite manufacture another one. He missed his par putt from 7 feet -- and that made Foth the 2018 champion.

The 6-foot-6-inch Foth, who concluded his college career at the University of Missouri-Kansas City last year, was solid from his opening round of 3-under-par 68 on Tuesday at Detroit Country Club. He followed it with another 68, and his 36-hole aggregate of 136 earned him a seventh-place finish in qualifying. That made him the No. 8 seed. (Defending champ Chris Swenson was exempt from qualifying and entered the match-play portion of the tournament as the No. 1 seed.)

Kuhn wasn't far behind, getting the No. 10 seed with a 138 (70-68). 

The medalist was Will Czeh, a former Bemidji State golfer who set a tournament record by posting a total of 128. He trailed former two-time Birchmont champ Andrew Israelson by a stroke after starting with a 65, but he passed Israelson with a 63 on Day 2. Israelson, who will begin his junior year at North Dakota State in a few weeks, finished the qualifying with 132.  Andrew Proctor of Chandler, Ariz., was third with a 133 (68-65).

Ben Strauman was just a speck in their rear-view mirrors. He put together a 147 and had to survive a 10-for-9 playoff just to advance to match play. But Strauman did survive, barely -- he was tne No 64 seed -- and then he knocked off the defending champ, Swenson, 2&1 in his first match. He won two more matches before he was dismissed by Foth, 5&4, Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals.

Another big upset was sprung by Austin Schultz, an assistant coach at Florida Gulf Coast. He bounced the medalist, Czeh, 1 up in the second round of matches. Israelson was also a second-round upset victim, losing 2&1 to the No. 30 seed, Connor Glynn, a soon-to-be senior at Waconia who has committed to play for Minnesota beginning in 2019. 

Glynn made it all the way to the semifinals before he was dispatched, 2&1 by Kuhn.

In the other semfiinal, North Dakota State sophomore-to-be Lucas Johnson took Foth all the way to the 18th green before losing 1 down. 

Kuhn is a two-time former Pine to Palm champion who claimed the title for the first time while he was playing for the Gophers, in 1991. He didn't defend the crown, deciding to turn professional instead. But he got his amateur status back and won at Detroit CC again in 2005. Last week, the 48-year-old Bismarck resident was trying to become the first person to win the Pine to Palm in three different decades. 

He got off to a fast start, winning the par-5 first hole with a birdie and going to up thanks to another birdie at the 222-yard, par-3 third. He hit an errant second shot at the short, par-4 sixth (282 yards), but his ball hit a tree and caromed onto the green. From there, he halved the hole. 

Foth got one hole back with a birdie at the 286-yard, par-4 seventh, and he squared the match with a birdie at the 487-yard, par-5 12th. It wasn't until the 16th hole (288 yards, par 4) that Foth took the lead for the first time. But it didn't last long, as Kuhn drew even again with his long birdie putt at the 175-yard, par-3 17th.

Both players had eagle putts on the 511-yard first extra hole, and Kuhn's narrowly missed, coming up just short of the left side of the cup. Kuhn then made a spectacular escape from the trees to the right of the fairway at the par-4 second hole and two-putted for par.  

"I just wanted to keep playing my game," Foth said afterward. "I've been playing pretty steady all week, using a steady driver to hit the fairways and hitting a lot of greens." 

LIke Kuhn, after his first triumph at the Pine to Palm, Foth isn't likely to be back to defend. He plans to turn pro.  


MEN'S AMATEUR GOLF

Pine to Palm

At Detroit Country Club

Par 71

Detroit Lakes

Qualifying (top 64 advance)


1. Will Czeh, Roseau                                           65-63--128

2. Andrew Israelson, Staples                               64-68--132

3. Andrew Proctor, Chandler, Ariz.                       68-65--133

T4. Thomas Longbella, Chippewa Falls, Wis.      69-65--134

T4. Greg Melhus, West Fargo                              68-66--134

6. Nick Myhre, Rolette, N.D.                                 68-67--135

7. Jackson Foth, Lenexa, Kansas                        68-68--136

8 Pat Dietz, Moorhead                                          69-68--137

T9. Rick Kuhn, Bismarck, N.D.                             70-68--138

T9. Bryant Buckellew, Scottsdale, Ariz.                70-68--138

T9. Erik Weiss, Moorhead                                     65-73--138

What it took to qualify: 147 (10 played off at that number for 9 spots in match play)

Match Play

Quarterfinals


(8) Foth def. (64) Ben Strauman 5&4

(45) Lucas Johnson def. (5) Longbella 3&2

(10) Kuhn def. (34) Austin Schultz 22 holes

(30) Connor Glynn def. (22) Brennan Hockman 6&5

Semifinals 

Foth def. Johnson 1 up

Kuhn def. Glynn 2&1

Final

Foth def. Kuhn 22 holes

 

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