Wages Dethrones Schaefer in 1st-Round Match at Birchmont

BEMIDJI -- Six of the top eight seeds survived the opening round of match play on Wednesday in the Birchmont Golf Tournament at Bemidji Town & Country Club, but one of the casualties was defending champion Nick Schaefer. He was upset by fellow Grand Forks resident -- and the No. 32 seed -- Duane Wages Jr., 1 up.

The other upset was sprung by Cody Cook of Bemidji. He was the No. 29 seed and, like Wages, shot 150 in the stroke-play qualifying portion of the tournament. So he, too, had to make it through a 6-for-5 playoff for the final spots in match play. But he took advantage of his opportunity on Wednesday, beating the No. 4 seed, Chad Skarperud of Fargo, 2&1. 

Lucas Johnson, a sophomore-to-be at North Dakota State, was the qualifying medalist with a 36-hole score of 135 (70-65), and he won his first match 3&2 over Tim Skarperud. Johnson's NDSU teammate Andrew Israelson, a two-time Birchmont champion (2016, '17), is the No. 3 seed (he shot 71-67--138 in qualifying). He advanced with a 2&1 victory over Alex Skarperud.  

Israelson's sister Emily is also a former two-time Birchmont champ, having won the Women's Division in 2016 and again last year. The defending women's champ won her first 2019 match on Wednesday, defeating the No. 16 seed, Kylen Fenson 3&1. Her quarterfinal opponent will be eighth-seeded Haley Tollette, who beat Tatum Offerdahl 4&2 in her Round-of-16 match.  

The Birchmont is the first of three tournaments that constitute Minnesota's Resort Circuit. It will be followed by the Resorters at Alexandria Country Club next week, and the Pine to Palm at Detroit Country Club in Detroit Lakes, Aug. 6-11.   

MEN'S AMATEUR GOLF

The Birchmont Golf Tournament

At Bemidji Town & Country Club

Bemidji 

Men's Division

Championship Flight

Round of 32

Duane Wages (32) def. Nick Schaefer (1) 3&2

Matt Norby (16) def. James Foss (17) 2&1

Beck Erholtz (8) def. Dylan Naylor (25) 3&1

Chrisi Swenson (9) def. Nate Deziel (24) 2&1

Cody Cook (29) def. Chad Skarperud (4) 2&1

Matt Haugstad (13) def. Alex Barrett (20) 5&4

Zach Israelson (5) def. Zach Hischberger (28) 3&2

Gage Stromme (12) def. Tony Vanyo (21) 3&2

Lucas Johnson (2) def. Tim Skarperud (31) 3&2

Trey Dale (18) def. Adam Van Raden (15) 3&2

Toby Palmiscno (7) def. Michael Hendricks (26) 5&4

Matthew Gregg (23) def. Luke Sheetz (10) 1 up

Andrew Israelson (3) def. Alex Skarperud (30) 3&1

Josh Bergurd (19) def. Justin Johnson (14) 3&2

Matt Skarperud (6) def. Sam Tollette (27) 1 up

Brennan Hockman (22) def. Andrew Lindberg (11) 3&2


Women's Division 

Championship Flight

Round of 16

Emily Israelson (DC) def. Kylen Fenson (16) 3&2

Haley Tollette (8) def. Tatum Offerdahl (9) 4&2

Morgan Heltetved (4) def. Jenna Palmiscno (13) 2&1

Heather Erholtz (12) def. Taylor Offerdahl (5) 19 holes

Abbie Kelm (2) def. Alyssa Konecne (15) 19 holes

Olivia Klefsaas (7) def. Carrie Lundgren (10) 19 holes

Haily Abel (3) def. Amber Koth (14) 4&3

Anna Tollette (6) def. Anna Graveline (11) 6&5