MGA Press Release

Jacobucci Makes 3 Birdies Down Stretch to Win Publinx by 3

STILLWATER -- Every tournament golfer has days when the game just seems easy. Ross Jacobucci had one of those days on Saturday at Logger's Trail, in the first round of the Minnesota State Public Links Championship.

"I hit the ball really well, and gave myself a lot of chances for birdies," he said.

Jacobucci, who begins his senior year at Luther College shortly, wound up making eight birdies in that first round, along with two bogeys. The resulting 66 gave him a one-stroke lead over Jon Sauer.

No one else was within four shots of Jacobucci. Troy Johnson, the defending champion, was in third place with a 71.

The cruel thing about those days when golf seems easy is that you never -- ever -- get two in a row.

Just ask Jacobucci.

As easy as the game was for him on Saturday, that's how much of a struggle it was on Sunday. At least, for the first nine and the first couple of holes on the back. 

"I played poorly up until No. 12," he admitted.

But then the shots began to go where he was aiming them again, and just in time. Having lost his lead, Jacobucci reasserted himself and birdied three of the last five holes. Those three birdies, as it turned out, were his margin of victory.

After a front-nine 39 on Sunday, he rallied to shoot 73, and his 36-hole total of 139 earned him a three-stroke victory.

Sauer, who hit his tee shot out of bounds at the par-5 second hole and ended up with a triple bogey there, battled back to complete the front nine in 37, which gave him a one-stroke lead. But he couldn't make the putts when he really needed them down the stretch, and a three-putt from 25 feet at the 17th relegated him to a second-round 75 and dropped the University of New Mexico Academic All-American back into a three-way tie for second place, at 142, along with Sammy Schmitz and Wade Walters.

With that, Sauer completed an impressive -- but also frustrating -- second-place sweep in the three tournaments that have traditionally made up the Minnesota Amateur Triple Crown: State Amateur, State Open, State Publinx.

No one has won them all since Gene Hansen accomplished the sweep two years on a row, in 1961 and '62. Trent Peterson came as close as anyone since then to claiming all three trophies last year, when he won the Am, finished second by two strokes in the Open and lost the Publinx to Troy Johnson in a playoff.

Sauer was right there in all three tournaments this year. He tied for second in the Am, two strokes behind champion Tom Hoge, tied for second again in the State Open, one stroke behind Brett Swedberg, and now he's added a runner-up finish in the Publinx.  

Schmitz, a former All-American at St. John's who played one year on the Hooters Tour before applying for reinstatement as an amateur, has had a banner year in 2009, and he shot the best score on Day 2, a 68, to arrive at 142 and earn his share of second.

Like Sauer, he's been a contender for the crown in the State Amateur, where he tied for fourth, State Open (fourth again) and at the Publinx. Despite starting the second day eight shots behind Jacobucci, he got to within a single shot of the lead with an eagle at the 16th hole. Schmitz also has a victory in the this year's Twin Cities Championship to his credit.

Walters, a former hockey star for Como Park High School, tried to make the University of Minnesota golf team as a walk-on in 2003, just as the Gophers were eliminating walk-ons (mainly because of NCAA restrictions). So now he caddies for a living, at Spring Hill in the summer and Whisper Rock (near Phoenix) in the winter, and his golf game continues to improve. (At Whisper Rock, he's caddied for PGA Tour players Fred Couples, Bryce Molder, Andrew McGee and Gary McCord, among others.) 

In addition to toting golf bags to pay his bills, Walters has also been working on his game. Last year, he was near the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the State Amateur at Windsong Farm, only to fall back into the pack during the final two rounds. This weekend, he looked solid from start to finish, shooting 72 the first round and then closing with a 2-under 70.

"It's getting there," he said.  

Next up for him will be the Pine to Palm, begining on Tuesday at Detroit County Club in Detroit Lakes. 

Finishing alone in fifth place at 145, was Kyle Beversdorf, who shot a 73 on Sunday. In June, Beversdorf tied for fifth individually at the state high school tournament, which helped Wayzata win the Class AAA team championship. Last month, he won the 27-hole State Publinx Junior Championship by shooting 73-34--107 at Sundance GC.

All of which would be pretty good no matter what. In Beversdorf's case, it's even more impressive because he didn't take up golf until two years ago, when he was a freshman at Wayzata. He should be one of the more sought-after college recruits during his senior year. 

Kyle Frederickson, a former college golfer -- and tournament winner -- from St. John's, was next, alone in sixth place with a 147 (72-75). He was a late entry into the Publinx. For most of the summer, he's been busy completing his Masters Degree in Education, and was talked into playing in this weekend only in the last couple of weeks.

The only player besides Sammy Schmitz to break 70 at Logger's Trail on Sunday was Tim Beranek, who shot a 69 and ended the weekend at 148, tied for seventh place. Johnson, the defending champion -- and '09 MGA Mid-Players' winner -- was also part of that tie, after shooting 77, along with his Four-Ball partner Brent Jacobson (75) and Stephen Bidne (76).

Bidne, who will start his junior year at Northern Colorado in a  few weeks, started his summer by tying Schmitz for first in the Twin Cities Championship with a 137 at Bunker Hills and Keller (Schmitz won a playoff on the third hole), and tied Schmitz again -- for fourth place -- at the State Am. 

"Give him a year or two, and he'll be a great player," Schmitz said Sunday, while watching Bidne putt out on the 18th hole.   

For Jacobucci, this was his third victory of the year. He won two invitationals in a row -- the Bobby Krig at LeSueur and the Buena Vista in Storm Lake, Iowa -- near the end of his junior season at Luther. It was nearly three consecutive victories, because he finished second by a stroke in the Wartburg Invitational, the week before Buena Vista.

Jacobucci was part of two Section championship teams while playing high school golf at Woodbury, won an individual section title, and he finished second in the Tri-State Invitational, the tournament with the strongest field of the Minnesota high school season.

After graduating in 2006, he went to Winona State, and after a year there was ready to give up tournament golf. Transfering to Luther revived his interest in the sport, and he's been a regular in the Norse lineup ever since the spring of his sophomore year ('08).

During the '08-09 school year, Jacobucci had the lowest scoring average on his team (75.2 strokes per round) and was selected as a Division III Academic All-American.

He hasn't decided yet whether he'll continue with golf after he graduates in next spring, but right now he seems to be leaning towar graduate school and a two-year Masters Program, which would qualify him to be a high school counselor.

The biggest improvement in the State Publinx this year was the switch from foursomes to threesomes. But there were an odd number of players on Sunday, and because of that there had to be one twosome, which turned out to be the two leaders: Jacobucci and Sauer.

"That made it pretty slow for us, playing behind all those threesomes," Jacobucci noted.

It's possible that the pace of play affected both Jacobucci and Sauer, as both players gave strokes back to the field on the front nine. But Jacobucci started to hit the ball better on the par-3 13th hole, and he birdied the 14th to reclaim the lead from Sauer.

At the dogleg, par-5 16th, Sauer pulled his tee shot into the trees left of the fairway, then made a great escape and ended up just missing an eagle putt. Jacobucci matched his birdie, however, and they went to the 17th tee still separated by a single stroke.

Jacobucci was 4 under for the tournament at that point, and Sauer was 3. Schmitz, fresh from his eagle at the 16th, was one behind Sauer, at minus 2, and so was Walters.

Both players in the final group his the green at the par-3 17th, and neither was all that far from the cup. However, the 17th green is diabolical in that you go up a slope in the front, and then the green slopes away in the back.

Even though Sauer was only 25 feet, his putt got away from him as it went past the hole, and he missed a 5-footer coming back for par. Jacobucci was only 15 feet putting for birdie, and that went 3 1/2 feet past, but he made the next one and saved his par.

Suddenly, he was two ahead with one hole to go, and after hitting his tee shot right of the fairway, he managed to get his second shot within a few feet of the green. From there, he closed the proceedings by chipping in for another birdie.

Sauer, once again, had to settle for second place. Nevertheless, even though he hasn't won a state title this summer, all of those seconds in big tournaments have put Sauer in first place in the race for 2009 MGA Player of the Year honors. He has 668.3 points and leads New Mexico teammate Travis Ross by 133.3. Schmitz is third, 155 points behind, after boosting his total to 513.3.

Minnesota State Public Links Championship

At Loggers Trail

Par 72, 7,180 yards

Stillwater

Final results

For complete results, go to the Minnesota Public Golf Association's website (just Google "Minnesota Public Golf Association").

1. Ross Jacobucci            66-73--139

T2. Sam Schmitz             74-68--142

T2. Jon Sauer                  67-75--142

T2. Wade Walters          72-70--142

5. Kyle Beversdorf          72-73--145

6. Kyle Frederickson       72-75--147

T7. Troy Johnson            71-77--148

T7. Brent Jacobson         73-75--148

T7. Steve Bidne              72-76--148

T7. Tim Beranek            79-69--148

11. Derek Clarey            76-73--149

T12. David Smith            77-73--150

T12. Bill Tedewald          76-74--150

T12. Alex Wallerich        75-75--150

T12. Pat Vincelli             79-71--150

16. Terry Moores            74-77--151

T16. Jake Warneke         75-76--151

T18. Kyle Thul                75-77-152

T18. Keith Piotrowski     76-76--152

T18. Mark Hayes            75-77--152

T18. Beau Anderson        74-78--152