Team Minnesota and Anderson Sweep Honors at 2017 Midwest Cup in Willmar

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By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org


  WILLMAR, Minn. – Playing with the familiarity of their home course, Danny Anderson, Andy Jacobson and Matt Gorans led Team Minnesota to its third Midwest Cup title in five years and second on home soil, defeating Missouri by seven points Sunday at Eagle Creek Golf Club.

Minnesota earned a sweep with team and individual honors as Anderson posted a final round 66 to finish first at 8-under par 208, while Jacobson carded a tournament-low 65 Sunday to finish in a tie for second at 209. Gorans claimed a tie for seventh at 212, whith five Minnesotans finishing inside the top-10.

“This is a great group of guys—they’re easy to manage and it was pretty simple. With the seeding, it was really a coin flip because they all can play,” said Jacobson, who is playing in his fifth Midwest Cup and has been captain of the last four teams, of his team this week. “I had two of the best senior players, some really good [mid-amateurs] and a couple local guys. I had all the confidence in the world and I had a good feeling beforehand.

“We talked a little, but these guys are so focused and they all know the program. They were here early warming up and checking out the putting green. These guys are so easy—awesome golfers, but really good guys and that’s what I’m proud of.”

Anderson fired a 4-under par 68 Friday to open the championship, but followed it with a 74 during the second round Saturday in what he called the toughest conditions of the championship.

“The first day I hit the ball awesome and made enough putts to shoot a good number and played really solid,” Anderson said about his start to the championship Friday. “I made all of those six to eight-footers for par that you need to make to keep a round going. I thought the course was the easiest the first day.

“The second day my shot dispersion was a little loose—I just missed a couple putts and got up-and-down a lot because I wasn’t hitting many greens. For me, yesterday was the hardest course set up. The greens were fast and the pins were tough."

Anderson saved his best performance for the final round Sunday to jump to the top of the leaderboard after carding four birdies, two eagles and two bogeys to shoot 66 and claim a one-stroke victory over teammates Jacobson and Justin Burleson.

“Today I was just hot. We were joking about needing to shoot 59 or something, but realistically, I don’t do numbers—I can’t control it before the round, but I did plan on playing very aggressively and firing at every pin I could,” he said.

With a final-round shotgun start, Anderson began his round on the second hole Sunday and got the scoring started by rolling his second shot at the par-5 fourth to five feet and converted his eagle putt to move to 4-under for the championship.

After carding back-to-back bogeys at the sixth and seventh, Anderson found trees off the fairway at the 10th and punched to 15 feet, rolling in his birdie putt and added another from 20 feet at the 11th to get back to 4-under.

Anderson put a 7-iron to the back edge of the par-5 13th green and rolled in a monster 50-footer for eagle to move to 6-under and would sink his birdie look from 12 feet on the ensuing hole. His eagle putt from 30 feet on the final hole stopped six inches short of the cup, leaving a tap-in birdie for a final-round 66.

He claimed the tournament victory when Burleson failed to get up-and-down for par from the back edge of the 18th green as Burleson went on to finish tied for second.

“Today I didn’t miss many shots and had a two-hole stretch that was tough,” Anderson said of his final round Sunday. “The difference was those six to 10-footers to keep the round going and I made a lot of them. That can completely flip around and that’s what I did best to stay in the hunt.

“There’s pressure [to win] on your home course because you’re expected to play well. It’s all I could ask for to do it on my home course with my family here.”

Playing in his second Midwest Cup in as many seasons, Anderson said his team was determined to improve on its third-place finish a year ago, stressing a team title meant more to him than individual honors.

“Andy really wanted to win this year—we felt like we could’ve had it last year, but we weren’t solid on Sunday,” he said. “The cool thing about this team is that we’re all friends and really close. It’s the closest thing since college to a team sport.

"We’ve got a lot of guys rooting for everyone else. I’m not rooting for [Burleson] to not make par [on No. 18] for us to go to a playoff. We all had fun and picked each other up. We had some guys, probably the better players on the team, that didn’t have great tournaments and they’re here rooting us on.”

Playing host of the event, serving as team captain and also playing in the championship proved to be a difficult challenge for Jacobson this week as he opened the championship with a 1-under par 71 before carding a 73 during the second round Saturday.

“I’ve never been so stressed out in my life—I learned a lot. It was a learning experience and I tried my hardest. It was hard to work and run the tournament side of it,” he said.

Starting on the fourth hole Sunday, Jacobson stuck his approach to within six inches at the ninth for an easy tap-in before rolling in his birdie look at the 11th to get to 2-under. Holing out for eagle at the 12th, Jacobson quickly moved into contention at 4-under for the tournament and moved to 5-under with his third birdie of the day at the 13th.

He gave back a stroke with bogey at the 14th, but bounced back to go to 6-under with back-to-back birdies at the 16th and 17th. Adding one final birdie on the first hole, Jacobson would card a tournament-low 65 to finish in a tie for second at 209.

“I would’ve liked to finish stronger because I knew coming to the front that those holes were scorable. I wasn’t even looking at the leaderboard—I had no idea where I was at. Obviously I wish I would’ve birdied the last hole because it was getable. I had a makeable putt and didn’t make it.

“I couldn’t be happier for Danny, he’s a buddy of mine and we battle against each other in our club tournaments, but he’s a darn good player. He earned what he did today. I’ll take 65 today—I’ll sleep a lot better tonight.”

Kansas edged Missouri by a single point to win the 2016 championship at St. Joseph Country Club in Missouri, while Minnesotan Mike Fiedler won medalist honors, posting a 1-under par 212 to earn a one-stroke victory.

Minnesota claimed the 2012 event at Hastings Country Club and hoisted the trophy again two years later at Firekeeper Golf Course in Mayetta, Kan.

The Midwest Cup was first played in 2006 and was originally known as the Illinois/Wisconsin Cup. The 54-hole event features eight teams and 80 players competing in a Ryder Cup-style event recognizing team and individual champions. The 10 players on each team are determined by their state golf association’s player-point standings.

Now in its 12th year, The Midwest Cup has raised more than $40,000 for golf-related charities across the Midwest.

“We had a long drive home last year and talking with a couple teammates, we said we could have this tournament in Willmar. Low and behold, two weeks later we got the commitment,” Jacobson said of hosting the tournament this week. “Our conversation in the car ride is pretty much how it all panned out. I didn’t really understand what’s all involved in running a tournament and now have a deep appreciation for what the [Minnesota Golf Association] does. It was overwhelming, but absolutely worth it.

“We raised $1,000 for junior golf, so we’re helping out some local junior golf teams as well as the Willmar Junior Golf Foundation. It’s all near and dear to my heart. We’re trying to grow the game and I’m really proud of that. All these guys helped out raising money and that’s what makes me smile.”



2017 MIDWEST CUP
EAGLE CREEK GOLF CLUB
WILLMAR, MINN.
6,349 YARDS, PAR 72


FINAL TEAM RESULTS
1. MINNESOTA – 323
2. Missouri – 316 
3. Illinois – 303 
4. Kansas – 283 
5. Winsconsin – 213 
6. South Dakota – 186 
7. Nebraska – 180
8. Iowa – 130


FINAL INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1. DANNY ANDERSON, MINNESOTA, 68-74-66—208
T2. JUSTIN BURLESON, MINNESOTA, 66-72-71—209
T2. ANDY JACOBSON, MINNESOTA, 71-73-65—209
T2. Bradley Lane, Kansas, 70-67-72—209
T5. Wayne Fredrick, Missouri, 69-69-73—211
T5. Brian Haskell, Missouri, 67-74-70—211
T7. Lance Lawson, Nebraska, 68-73-71—212
T7. MATT GORANS, MINNESOTA, 73-69-70—212
T9. JOE CONZEMIUS, MINNESOTA, 69-69-75—213
T9. John Wright, Illinois, 69-70-74—213

T23. WILL HICKEY, MINNESOTA, 72-72-75—219
T35. MIKE FIEDLER, MINNESOTA, 72-73-78—223
T44. JORDAN HAWKINSON, MINNESOTA, 78-73-76—227
53. JIM LEHMAN, MINNESOTA, 76-76-78—230
T57. JOHN ANDERSON, MINNESOTA, 71-85-76—232


For complete tournament results go to: www.golfgenius.com/pages/1052874