One Last Par Wins AAA Boys Crown for Winter; Edina's Depth Pays Off

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By Mike Fermoyle (mikefermoyle@gmail.com)

COON RAPIDS -- A golf course during a tournament is like a battlefield during combat. There is a lot of information being tossed around, and there are a lot of rumors, and you're usually better off not believing anything you hear. Or at least being skeptical. 

But sometimes there are people who actually know what's going on. It's rare, but it happens. That was the case early Wednesday afternoon at Bunker Hills during a windy final day of Class AAA boys competition at the Minnesota state high school tournament, as the last group on the West Nine came to the final hole. Stillwater senior Brock Winter, who began the day tied for the lead, was 1 over par for the day and 1 under for the tournament. He looked at Ponies assistant coach Kyle Scanlon, who told him: "Make par and you win."

He was right, and Winter did as he was instructed to do, although he didn't exactly make a routine par. The Mr. Golf finalist -- and North Dakota State recruit -- hit his drive right down the middle, but he left his approach shot short of the green and then chipped 8 feet beyond the hole. It certainly wasn't the putt he wanted in that situation -- "My palms were sweating," he admitted later -- but he made it anyway. That gave  him a 73 on a day when conditions were difficult for scoring because of strong winds -- and a 36-hole total of 143, good for a one-stroke victory over St. Michael-Albertville senior Trey Fessler, a fellow Mr. Golf finalist.

It was a disappointing conclusion to the tournament for Fessler, who probably played the best golf from tee to green. He hit 31 of 36 greens in regulation, but couldn't get his birdie putts to fall and shot even-par 72 both days on his way to an aggregate of 144. He was playing as an individual; so he started early Wednesday and finished his round more than an hour ahead of the last groups, which were reserved for players with teams in the tournament. 

Fessler's 144 made him the leader in the clubhouse, but all he could do was sit and wait -- or stand and pace -- as the team foursomes came in. One by one, those scores went on the board, and Fessler's total kept holding up, until the last group and Winter.

"I was happy with the way I played," Fessler said. "I hit a lot of good shots and gave myself chances, and I hit a lot of good putts. I just didn't make anything."  

John Langlois, a Lakeville South sophomore, and another sophomore, Logan Hamak of Sartell-St. Stephen, ended up two strokes belhind Winter, at 145. Langlois tied Fessler for the best score of the day with a 72. Hamak was part of the four-way tie for first at 70 after the first day. He shot 75 on Day 2.

The recently crowned Mr. Golf, Waconia senior Connor Glynn, was also tied for the lead after the first day, and he was leading and still 2 under overall after his first (East) nine on Wednesday. But he came back in 40, and his total of 146 put him into a tie for fifth individually, along with Edina senior Carl Berghult (73-73). 

Berghult's efforts helped the Hornets come from five strokes behind St. Thomas Academy at the beginning of the day to win the team championship. They were the only team to crack 300 in Wednesday's blustery conditions, as they combined for a 298. That, plus Tuesday's 297, gave them a winning total of 595. Waconia passed St. Thomas, as well, posting with 300 for the day, and a 597 overall. The Cadets shot 310 and finished third at 602.

It was the fifth state team championship for the Edina boys (not counting the three that Edina West won when the district was split into two high schools during the 1970s and early '80s), but it was the first for head coach Phil Ebner, who played college golf at the University of Minnesota. With this one, he now has a complete set of top-5 finishes. 

"We'd been second, third, fourth and fifth," Ebner pointed out, "but we hadn't won. So this was nice."

The wind was blowing from 10 to 15 miles per hour for most of the round, and that caused a lot of problems for the players, as was evident from the fact that no one was able to break par. A lot of good players went in the opposite direction. Three of the eight teams shot scores that were 18 strokes or more higher than the scores they had shot in the wet but relatively windless conditions on Tuesday.

It wasn't a coincidence that the deepest team in the field, Edina, ended up winning. 

"We don't have any super stars," Ebner conceded, "but we can get a low score from anyone in our lineup, No. 1 through 6. They're all pretty much equal, and I thought that made the difference today. In these conditions, you needed as many chances as possible to get a good score. If you were counting on your top four for your scores, and one or two of those guys had bad days, you were going to be in trouble. We didn't have that problem." 

In addition to the 73 from Berghult, the Hornets got a 73 from junior John Tucker, who ended up in a tie for seventh  individually at 147, a 75 from senior Matt McGuire and a 77 from the other junior in the lineup, Joe Karos. McGuire and Karos both wound up in a five-way tie for 25th at 153.  

"When we got here this morning, I told the kids that if we could just break 300, we'd win," Ebner said. "It wasn't easy. This was the best our guys have played all year. They played exceptionally well in really difficult conditions."

Winter said his round Wednesday wasn't so much a quest for birdies as it was a matter of survival. It didn't start out all that well; he bogeyed his first hole, No. 1 East, a 410-yard par-4. But he took advantage of the two par-5's on the East Nine, making birdies at No. 4 (451 yards) and No. 6 (495). He slipped back to even par with a bogey at the 430-yard eighth hole, but was pretty much satisfied to be even par as he made the turn and started on the West Nine. 

"I told myself to just keep making pars, and let the other guys make the mistakes," he remembered after the round.

That was what he did, making eight pars and one bogey for an inward 37, and his fifth victory of the season.

Winter had won a couple of big tournaments earlier in the season, at Detroit Lakes and Forest Hills, and he capped off his high school career in impressive fashion, by winning his last three in a row -- the Suburban East Conference, Section 4AAA and state tournaments.


Fessler, a massively long-hitter, even by modern standards, made most of his birdies this week by hitting par-5's in two and two-putting. Both of his birdies on Tuesday were par-5's (4 and 6 East), and the first three of his four on Wednesday were also par-5's. After a bogey at 2 East (347 yards, par 4), he neglected to birdie the fourth hole, but he did birdie the sixth. Like Winter, he bogeyed 8 East, and he dropped back to 2 over for the day when he bogeyed his 10th hole, No. 1 West (405, par 4).

He got back to even par by making birdies at both of the West Nine par-5's, 11 (510 yards) and 14 (530), but he bogeyed the West's 220-yard, par-3 eighth hole. And of all the putts he missed at this year's state tournament, the one he'll probably remember more than any other was the 4-footer for par on that hole.

"I was in a bad patch of grass on the green," he said when asked about it, "and the ball didn't roll quite the way I thought it would." 

Fessler bounced back with his only birdie of the week on a hole that wasn't a par-5. No 9 West is a 340-yard par-4, and Fessler hit his tee shot 340 yards, maybe a little longer. But he was a little off line, 40 yards right and in the trees. It took a spectacular shot from there to get over the bunker and within about 15 feet of the hole, and he made the birdie putt from there.

"Even though it wasn't enough," he said with a sigh, "it was nice to finally make a putt."  
 


Minnesota State High School Tournament

Class AAA Boys 

At Bunker Hills Golf Course

Par 72, 6,515 yards

Coon Rapids

Final results

1. Edina                                           297-298--595

2. Waconia                                       297-300--597

3. St. Thomas Academy                  292-310--602

4. Alexandria                                   302-309--611

5. Elk River                                     303-315--618

6. Lakeville South                           315-304--619

7. Maple Grove                               300-320--620

8. Stillwater                                    322-299--621

Individuals

1. Brock Winter, Stillwater                                70-73--143   

2. Trey Fessler, St. Michael-Albertville             72-72--144

T3. John Langlois, Lakeville South                  73-72--145

T3. Logan Hamak, Sartell-St. Stephen             70-75--145

T5. Carl Berghult, Edina                                   73-73--146

T5. Connor Glynn, Waconia                              73-73--146

T7. John Tucker, Edina                                     74-73--147

T7. Muzzy Donohue, St. Thomas                     70-77--147

T9. Nate Stevens, Northfield                           73-75--148

T9. John Fischer, Waconia                             74-74--148

T9. Caleb VanArragon, Blaine                        73-75--148