Minnesotans Sigel and Hitchner Headed to U.S. Amateur; Iowa State Grad Sondjaja Medals

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By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org


  LAKEVILLE, Minn. – Following a deflating round of 75 early Wednesday at Brackett’s Crossing Country Club, recent Iowa State University graduate Ruben Sondjaja rebounded with a course-record 65 during in the afternoon session to earn medalist honors and qualify for the 2017 U.S. Amateur Championship.

Sondjaja carded just one birdie on his front nine during the second round before sinking five birdies on the final nine, including four over his final five holes to qualify for the national championship August 14-20 at Riviera Country Club along with Minnesotans Ben Sigel and Derek Hitchner.

“It was definitely a good challenge and qualifiers are always tough,” Sondjaja said after qualifying Wednesday. “Everyone knows they need to play well. A 75 this morning was a little disappointing; I [double-bogeyed] my last hole as well. I thought it was a little undeserving because I came out last week and scouted the course.

“I knew I had to go low during the second round and knew that I had to stay patient,” he said. “I still got off to a slow start but putts started to fall and I was lucky enough to have four birdies in the last five to finish off strong. It was fun—I knew I was in contention when I started making birdies at the end and just kept my head down.”

After rolling birdie at the par-5 third hole, Sondjaja got to 2-over for the round following his second birdie at the 10th. Thanks to back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th, the 22-year-old Australian knew he was in contention.

“I sank a few nice longer putts and had a few tap-in birdies and that really was my round. As soon as I birdied 14 and 15 I knew I was even par with three holes to go and that’s when I knew I was in the mix.”

He finished his day at 2-under par 140 following a pair of birdies at the 17th and 18th holes to finish one stroke better than Sigel and Hitchner and qualify for his first USGA event.

“This morning was a little scratchy—I missed some shots in the wrong spots and a few putts lipped out, but this afternoon I knew the course well and the pins well and took that to my advantage,” Sondjaja said.

“I’ve always thought that my game was very close to being special and this week was another sign. This afternoon was a good round and I saw a lot of improvement and that’s what gets me excited,” he said. “I didn’t play my best golf today and that’s somewhat encouraging.”

During his senior season at Iowa State, Sondjaja notched four top-10 finishes and ended the year with a 72.00 stroke average, ranked No. 120 nationally by Golfweek. He won one collegiate tournament during his junior season at the Hawkeye Invite.

One of Australia’s best junior golfers, Sondjaja was named captain of the 2013 South Wales Junior team and finished runner-up at the 2013 Riverside Cup, Australia’s oldest amateur event, and was a semifinalist in the 2012 Australian Amateur.

Sigel, a recent graduate of Minnetonka High School, fired a round of 69 to open the tournament Wednesday before a pair of late birdies in Wednesday’s afternoon session put him at 72 and into a tie for second place at 141.

He earned an invitation to his third USGA event Wednesday, but the U.S. Amateur next month will only be the second event will have played in.

In May Sigel fired a 68 at Mendakota Country Club to advance to the second round of qualifying for the U.S. Open, but had to withdraw because the sectional qualifier was being held the same day as his high school team’s section championship.

The Skippers qualified for the state tournament, but fell short in a bid to repeat in Class AAA to Wayzata High School, while Sigel finished as runner-up individually, dashing his chances to repeat as well.

“I realized how hard it is to make the U.S. Open and I had one last go at it with my team—I just thought it was the right thing to do. We had a good team; it didn’t work out, but I don’t regret it at all,” he said.

Following a bogey on his eighth hole, Sigel recorded a pair of three-putt bogeys but battled back to make two crucial birdies on his 16th and 17th holes to finish the second round at 72.

“I didn’t have many expectations coming into today; I haven’t been playing that great and have been working on my swing quite a bit. I think I’m good enough to qualify for this tournament, but came out in the first group early and played pretty freely,” he said. “I went after a lot of pins today, which is pretty rare for a USGA qualifier. I didn’t putt great and that held me back a little from going really low, but I was hitting the ball really solid and pretty consistent.

“I’m really looking forward to the experience,” Sigel said. “I played in the [U.S. Junior Amateur] two years ago and ever since, I’ve really wanted to go back.”

A good week for Hitchner got even better Wednesday, qualifying for his first USGA event after carding a course-record 63 at The Minikahda Club Friday.

“I wasn’t even planning on playing—I practiced for about five hours that day,” Hitchner said of his career-low round. “A friend of mine wanted me to play a couple of holes and I kept making birdies. I had dinner reservations and was going to leave, but thankfully I didn’t.”

Hitchner shot a 33 over the final nine holes, finishing just before dark. He followed it up with a 66 the following day.

Wednesday, Hitchner opened the tournament with a 1-over par 73 before playing the front nine at even par to begin the afternoon session.

Following a bogey at the par-5 14th, Hitchner stuck his approach within inches for a tap-in birdie. Hitchner’s tee shot at the par-4 17th clipped trees left of the fairway and managed to hit a cut from 190 yards behind a tree to 15 feet where he rolled his birdie look to get to even par for the tournament.

At the par-5 18th Hitchner’s second shot landed short of the green and he would pitch to 15 feet where he would roll in the biggest birdie putt of the day to finish in a tie for second, earning the third and final qualifying position.

“I didn’t feel like my game was very sharp during the first round—I bogeyed my last two holes to shoot 1-over and it was a similar story the second round,” Hitchner said. “With five holes to go I found some other focus that allowed me to hit some better shots. It was nice to hit some good shots when I needed to.

“I wasn’t really thinking about the lead. I figured if I kept hitting fairways and greens that I could eventually get a couple to go in. I was thinking two or three under would do it.”

Noah Rasinski, Prior Lake, Minn., and Peter Jones, Owatonna, Minn., finished as first and second alternates, respectively.