Holmgren Shoots 70 in Final Round of Minnesota State Junior Boys' Championship to Win by a Stroke

July 9, 2013 | 4 min.

  MORTON, Minn. – Jack Holmgren rallied from two strokes down Tuesday to win the 2013 Minnesota State Junior Boys' Championship at Decotah Ridge Golf Club.

Holmgren shot an opening round 71 Monday and found himself tied for fourth just two strokes behind the leader. Holmgren turned in an impressive 2-under par round Tuesday despite blustery conditions.

He opened his round with five consecutive pars before a birdie on the par-5 sixth hole put him at 1-under. Holmgren bogeyed the ninth hole to make the turn even par.

“I started well—I hit greens and fairways. I was striking the ball good but I could've putted better on the front,” he said.

Holmgren, Corcoran, Minn., would heat up on the final nine holes with a birdie on the 10th hole that was negated by a bogey on the 11th, but back-to-back birdies on the 13th and 14th holes put him 2-under with four holes to play.

He made par on 15 and 16 before making another birdie on the 17th to go 3-under. That birdie would also be erased by another bogey on the final hole as Holmgren finished his day 2-under and 141 for the tournament.

“Coming into the last hole I knew I was up by one. Both Matt (Rachey) and I made bogey on the 18 and Freddy (Thomas) had a nine on the last hole so I knew I had won,” Holmgren said.

“Matt and I both went in the water on 18 near the green and he chipped to about four feet so I knew I had to get up and down. I ended up rolling my shot to about four inches and had an easy putt,” Holmgren said.

Holmgren’s consistency proved to be the difference as he hit 14 of 18 greens in regulation and missed only four fairways during his final round. “It’s exciting to win—it feels like a lot of hard work has paid off. I’m excited for my upcoming events and to test myself the rest of the summer,” Holmgren said after his victory.

Matt Rachey also began his day tied for fourth place at 1-under par Tuesday and carded another 1-under par 71 to finish second at 142.

“I played solid all day. I wanted to keep the ball in the fairway because the conditions were going to be a lot tougher with the wind. I tried to play safe and give myself 15 to 20-foot looks for birdie,” Rachey said after the round.

Rachey, Waconia, Minn., made par on the first two holes of the morning before a birdie on the third hole put him at 1-under. He would bogey the fourth hole and par the next five holes to finish the front nine at even par.

On the back Rachey made back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th holes to move to 2-under but a bogey on the final hole was the difference as Rachey fell one shot short at 1-under for the afternoon and finished at 142 for the tournament.

“My short game was extremely good this week—I think I only had 24 or so putts in the last round and my chipping was very good too. If I can sharpen up a couple of other things I should be in good shape for the rest of the summer,” Rachey said.

Freddy Thomas held a one shot lead in a tie for first place heading into Tuesday’s final round but couldn’t hang on as he fired a final round 77 to finish at 146, tied for third.

Thomas, Lakeville, Minn., put together another solid round going 1-over par after nine holes before another bogey on the 11th hole put him at 2-over for the round. Thomas made a surge late in the round with a birdie on 12 and an eagle on the 13th to move him back to 1-under on the day but it was all the further he would get as bogeys on 14 and 17 would dash his championship hopes.

Thomas finished his round with a quadruple bogey on the final hole.

Chandler Fritcher, Rochester, Minn., was also tied for the lead after Monday’s opening round and couldn’t hold the lead either as he shot a 6-over par 78 to finish the tournament at 147, tied for fifth place.

Fritcher’s round never got going after two bogeys and a double bogey put him 4-over par through just five holes. He would birdie the eighth hole, but three more bogeys on the final nine holes put Fritcher out of contention for good.

For complete results go to: http://www.mngolf.org/Res/2013%20MN%20Jr%20Boys%20Final%20Results.pdf

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