MGA Celebrates 20 Years of the Senior Tour at Minneapolis Golf Club

MGA

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. – When longtime Minnesota Golf Association Executive Director Warren Rebholz created the MGA Senior Tour in 1996, he did so in an attempt to better serve its members and he recognized an opportunity for higher handicapped players to compete with players of a higher skill set.

The MGA Senior Tour began with about 200 members in two age divisions, Senior (ages 55-64) and Master (ages 65 and above) playing a Stableford format in eight events around the Twin Cities metro area.

Monday marked the 20th anniversary of the event held at Minneapolis Golf Club and what originally started as a modest thought in Rebholz’s imagination, has now transformed into one of the MGA’s most popular programs.

More than 800 players competed once a week in a total of 57 events held in four regional sections across the state this year, bringing in $3.8 million in revenue to member clubs statewide.

In yet another effort to grow the program, the MGA opened the tour to women golfers at select events in 2014 which was so successful, a women’s section was added in 2015. Last year also marked the first time the finals were held outside of the Twin Cities as a full field competed at The Classic at Madden’s Resort last September.

“I had to stop playing golf last year and I thought I’d miss it but, damn, enough is enough,” Rebholz said to open a ceremony commemorating the 20th annual event Monday. “A good friend at the Carolinas Golf Association, Hale Van Hoy, had a program much like this and it intrigued me. We started out very small—like every one of these did. It took me a couple of years but we built it up to what it is today and the people behind me did an extremely, extremely great job of doing more with it.”

“Everyone here tonight only speaks to the point that seniors are some of the nicest, most wonderful people that there is in the world,” said the 87-year-old who uses a Scotty Cameron Newport putter as a cane. “I say thank God for game of golf, so that all of us can, at this age, continue to reap the wonderful companionships that it brings to the game.”

Rebholz served as MGA Executive Director from 1972 until 1992 when he worked as a tournament official for both the MGA and the USGA. He served as commissioner of the senior tour from 1996 until officially retiring in 2006.

Since then, the MGA Senior Tour has been on the shoulders of Joel Comstock, MGA Regional Affairs Director, as well as Karen Spruth, MGA Senior Tour Administrator, who have kept the program running smoothly and successfully.

Monday's MGA Senior Tour Finals consisted of the top-80 senior tour point leaders of the 2015 season according to tour section, age division, net and gross.

Brian Patterson, Chisago Lakes Golf Course, claimed the overall gross title Monday, shooting 2-under par 70 to earn 38 points in the Stableford format to edge Steve Hjortness by one point.

In a shotgun start, Patterson began his round on the eighth hole with back-to-back birdies to quickly jump to 2-under before taking back-to-back bogeys at the 10th and 11th holes to draw even.

A bogey at the par-5 15th put Patterson at 1-over for the day before he sank a 15-foot bender for birdie at the 18th to get back to even.

Rolling in birdies at the first and second holes, Patterson again got to 2-under before he added his sixth birdie of the round at the fifth to move to 3-under. He would bogey the final hole after finding trouble off the tee to shoot 70, claiming his first MGA Senior win in only his second year of eligibility.

“I had a stymie on the last hole and had to chip out sideways, otherwise I would’ve had 69,” Patterson said after his round Monday. “I started out birdie-birdie and then went bogey-bogey so that was a little scary, but I held in there and played great. I was really hitting my irons close and all of my birdies came from seven feet and in.”

“I’ve had a really up-and-down year—I’ve either played well or played poorly,” he said. “I shot a 69 at [Prestwick Golf Club] and I haven’t shot 69 since I was in my 20s. When I was close to it today, I was gunning for it.”

Jack Hughes, Braemar Golf Course, carded a trio of birdies on his way to a total of 31 points Monday to win his third net championship in seven years.

“I’ve played 60 rounds this year and broke 80 maybe four times and I shoot 77 today,” Hughes said. “I made three birdies, one [double-bogey] and didn’t miss a putt inside six feet—that’s not me. That I’ve won this three times is ridiculous. I started off the day bogey-bogey-double and I was just trying to see if I could break 90.”

“This is the great thing about the senior tour is you get to play the country clubs—gorgeous courses—that we public course guys never get to play,” said Hughes Monday. “I played in all four of the different tours and this year I played in the [Northern Section] for the first time and played all of these courses I’ve never played before and it was incredible.”