Schmitz Hangs on for Another Victory at Twin Cities Championship

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org

  HASTINGS, Minn. – For the past two seasons, Sammy Schmitz has been one of the most dominant amateur golfers the state has seen. Sunday, Schmitz widened his lead from the previous day to win the 2013 Twin Cities Championship at Hastings Country Club.

Schmitz, Valleywood Golf Course, shot a final round 1-over par 73 to finish at 141 for the tournament, winning by three strokes over defending champion Dylan Gergen, Trent Peterson and Jon Trasmer, all of whom finished at 144.

With his consistent play in 2011, one victory and four Top-10 finishes, Schmitz earned Minnesota Golf Association’s Player of the Year award. With five victories and three Top-10 finishes in 2012, it was a no-brainer that he would earn Player of the Year honors again.

Although Sunday’s victory was just his first of the season, Schmitz has finished near the top in almost every tournament he’s played in this year. Last month he finished second at the Minnesota Golf Champions tournament, two weeks ago he lost in the semifinals of the MGA Mid-Players Championship and Wednesday at the MGA Players Championship, he again lost in the semifinals.

Saturday Schmitz fired a 4-under par 68 in the first round of the Twin Cities Championship at Bunker Hills and held a 2-stroke lead over the defending champion Gergen going into Sunday’s final round at Hastings Country Club.

Schmitz started his round with six straight pars before back-to-back birdies on the seventh and eighth put him at 2-under for the day heading into the final nine holes. Gergen, Mendakota Country Club, played just as well to start the round Sunday as he birdied the third and fourth holes to draw even with Schmitz. He made par on five and six and eagled the par-5 7th hole to actually take a 1-stroke lead for the tournament.

Gergen would bogey the eighth to give a 1-stroke lead back to Schmitz (who chipped in for birdie on the eighth) heading into the turn where things went downhill quickly for the defending champion. Four straight bogeys on 12, 13, 14 and 15 would drop Gergen down to 1-under for the tournament and surprisingly still only three shots behind Schmitz as he began to tumble as well.

Schmitz birdied No. 10 and it appeared that he was on his way to a victory but he would slowly start to slip. After parring the 11th and 12th, Schmitz bogeyed the 13th, 14th and 15th to sit three strokes up on the nearest competitor, Gergen, with three holes left to play.

The two would both put an end to the bogey skid with pars on 16 and 17 but both, again, made bogey on the final hole as Schmitz maintained a 3-stroke to earn the victory.

After his victory, Schmitz said his familiarity with the course paid off in the final round. “The first three holes were tough but after that I played good on the front nine; I’m just comfortable here,” he said. “I hit a huge drive on 10 and made birdie, so I was 3-under through 10. My goal, I figured, was if I shot 69 or 68, I would be just fine,” He said.

“To win feels good, but it was because we had a really good battle out there. It’s not a deep field – it’s not 156 golfers. It’s a bit of a reduced tournament, but all of the scores were really good. On the 28th hole I was 7-under and Dylan was 5-under,” Schmitz said.

Perhaps winning doesn’t quite mean as much to Schmitz these days as he and his wife welcomed a baby four months ago. Understandably, his mentality has shifted.

“I haven’t really played a lot; I practice a little bit. Things are different this year with the baby. That has been so fun and that’s where I’m trying to spend a lot of my time. Golf definitely takes a back seat, but I still love golfing and I love competing even more,” he said.

Despite the loss Gergen still remains upbeat about his performance and confident about his game.

“I was hitting the ball very well today. The first seven holes I was making everything. The hole looked like a bucket – everything was falling,” he said. “Any time you put yourself in the final group on the last day of the tournament is exciting. It’s good to get more tournament experience.”

“I hit the ball better in the last two days than I have in the last couple of years. I get a couple of weeks off and hopefully it’ll continue to the amateur tournament. Congrats to Sam, he’s a great player and had a great tournament. Unfortunately we bogeyed the same holes so I wasn’t able to catch up to him,” Gergen said.

Peterson, Valleywood Golf Course, struggled a bit on the front nine as he finished 2-over par, but went 1-under on the final nine holes, ending with six straight pars.

Although he wasn’t necessarily in contention to win the tournament after the first nine holes Sunday, he had a strong finish on the back side to end up near the top for the second time in as many attempts.

Peterson lost in the championship match Wednesday at the MGA Players Championship at Interlachen Country Club.


HASTINGS COUNTRY CLUB
HASTINGS, MINN.
PAR 72, 6,740 YARDS

FINAL RESULTS

1. Sammy Schmitz, Valleywood GC, 68-73—141
T2. Dylan Gergen, Mendakota CC, 70-74—144
T2. Trent Peterson, Valleywood GC, 71-73—144
T2. Jon Trasmer, University/Les Bolstad, 73-71—144
5. Shane Barnes, Twin Cities Golf Club, 72-76—148
6. Jesse Larson, Le Sueur CC, 79-70—149
T7. Paul Carlson, Rush Creek GC, 76-75—151
T7. Jack Barnhart, River Oaks GC, 80-71—151
9. Paul Commers, Theodore Wirth GC, 75-77—152
10. Chris Conklin, Hazeltine National GC, 74-79—153
11. Tony Gergen, Mendakota CC, 74-78—154
T12. Brandon Mader, Legends Club, 75-80—155
T12. Connor Hedlund, Somerby GC, 79-76—155
T14. Jim Foss, Oakcrest GC, 78-78—156
T14. Jake Miller, Eagle Valley GC, 79-77—156
T16. Aaron Hoppe, Twin Cities Golf Club, 80-77—157
T16. Nick Auman, Links at Northfork, 77-81—157
T16. Mike Fermoyle, Southview CC, 80-77—157
T16. Yarri Bryn, Theodore Wirth GC, 80-77—157
T16. Jacob Olsonoski, Minnesota Valley CC, 76-81—157
T16. Jon Holmes, Valleywood GC, 80-77—157
T22. Sean Tumlison, Northfield GC, 79-80—159
T22. John Barry, University/Les Bolstad, 78-81—159
T22. Tom Bruckner, Rush Creek GC, 80-79—159
T22. Tony Weber, Columbia GC, 80-79—159
T26. Jake Witham, Keller GC, 80-80—160
T26. Maxwell Fox, Hastings CC, 80-80—160
T26. Brent Grossman, Chaska TC, 82-78—160
T26. Jeff Druce, Victory GC, 80-80—160
T30. John Juntilla, Links at Northfork, 80-81—161
T30. Dan Cavanagh, Perham Lakeside GC, 82-79—161
T30. Mike Kelley, Territory GC, 80-81—161
T33. Joey Shroyer, Chaska TC, 83-79—162
T33. Eric Laorr, Hazeltine National GC, 87-75—162
35. Steve Gergen, Mendakota CC, 82-82—164
T36. Mark Peterson, Valleywood GC, 85-80—165
T36. Jake Warneke, Purple Hawk CC, 88-77-165
T36. Elton Mosman, Eastwood GC, 81-84—165
T36. Nick Gergen, Mendakota CC, 79-86—165
40. Derek Pyle, Theodore Wirth GC, 85-87—172
41. Kevin Treacy, Northland CC, 96-86—182
Blaze Beecher, Interlachen CC, WD
Larry Barnacle, Loggers Trail GC, WD
Chris Junker, Minnetonka CC, WD