Rehfeldt Takes Down Defending Champ Rose at MGA Senior Players' to Win First State Title

June 14, 2018 | 4 min.



By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org
 
 
  LAKEVILLE, Minn. – Withstanding a late surge by Minnesota Golf Association Senior Players’ defending champion Jerry Rose Thursday, David Rehfeldt two-putted for birdie on the final hole to win the 2018 championship at Brackett’s Crossing Country Club.
 
In a back-and-forth battle, Rehfeldt managed a 3-up lead with five holes to play, but carded four bogeys over the first seven holes of his back nine Thursday before Rose, who was hobbled most of the final nine holes with a back injury, rolled in a downhill birdie putt at the 17th to even the match. Reaching the par-5 18th in two, Rehfeldt’s two-putt birdie gave him a 1-up win and the first state championship of his career.
 
“This is the first thing I’ve ever won other than the club championship,” Rehfeldt said after his win Thursday. “I know I get into the State Am with it and I’m sure it’ll sink in later tonight. It’ll give me some confidence.
 
“For some reason I seemed to find the fairway with every drive this week and was usually in wedge range, which made things a lot easier. I don’t think I hit more than a 7-iron into any of the greens. I hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens and kept the ball in play. The driver was in play all week—I didn’t miss a fairway by more than three or four feet.”
 
Rehfeldt started the scoring with a two-putt birdie at the par-5 third before taking a step back with a three-putt bogey at the fifth. Sticking his approach inside four feet at the sixth, Rehfeldt regained the lead with a short birdie putt.
 
It was apparent Rose injured his back mid-round Thursday as the defending champion struggled to pick up his ball, dropped to one knee while reading putts and shortened most follow-throughs on his swing.
 
“[Rose] started having back issues somewhere around eight or nine on the front side and I tried to put that out of my mind and keep avoiding mistakes. I was starting to get a little nervous. I had one easy match this week and that was the first one. Everything else came right down to the end.”
 
Rehfeldt had good reason to worry as Rose, despite hobbling around the final nine holes, remained remarkably steady, winning the 14th and 15th holes to pull within one before sinking a slippery, downhill putt from eight feet at the 17th to draw even with one hole to play.
 
A spectacular 3-wood from 245 yards rolled up to 30 feet to give Rehfeldt an eagle opportunity. With a downhill lie, Rose was unable to get underneath the golf ball and hit a low 3-wood short and right of the final green. Chipping past the hole, Rose was unable to convert birdie and two-putted for par. Rehfeldt rolled his eagle chance inside of three feet and tapped in for the victory.
 
Prior to his win Thursday, Rehfeldt’s previous best at the event came in 2016 when he advanced to the semifinals before falling to eventual champion, Steve Whittaker, 6 and 5, at Bent Creek Golf Club.
 
Since 2008 Rehfeldt has collected 14 top-10 finishes, with his best coming at the 2009 Minnesota Senior Open where he finished third.
 
Rehfeldt, seeded No. 26 for the championship, defeated Jon Empanger, 4 and 3, to begin play Tuesday before getting past Bill Tadewald, 2 and 1, during the Round of 16. Edging Leif Carlson during the quarterfinals Wednesday, Rehfeldt advanced to face Whittaker during the semifinals early Thursday. Rehfeldt outlasted the two-time champion in 21 holes to reach the final match against Rose.
 
Rose defeated Carlson, 2-up, to win the championship at St. Cloud Country Club a year ago and would go on to collect three more top-10 finishes en route to MGA Senior Men’s Player of the Year honors.
 
“I had a good week and for the most part played pretty well. I didn’t putt especially well until this morning when I needed to,” Rose said Thursday. “That was kind of a boost of confidence to this afternoon. I feel like I hit the ball better this week than I did last year during the tournament. I’m pretty excited about this summer and hope to keep it going.
 
“Dave played good this afternoon—I was just struggling and my back was really tightening up. I tweaked it earlier this week but didn’t have any problems with it. All this golf and sitting around between rounds probably didn’t help. I was having a tough time making a decent turn and getting it on the right line. But I figured if it’s going to hurt, I might as well make a good swing at it and at least try.”
 

 

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