MGA Press Release

Consecutive Eagles Help Kraft Win Gopher Invitational in Record Fashion

WAYZATA -- The fourth hole at Spring Hill Golf Club is a 192-yard par-3 that plays steeply downhill. Plugging a ball in the front bunker is always an unpleasant possibility, and that was what happened to Kelly Kraft on Monday morning in the final round of the Gopher Invitational.

Then things got worse.

"I blasted the ball over the green from the plugged lie," he said, reconstructing the hole a few hours later. "Then I pitched it back over the green into the bunker."

He eventually brought his little nightmare at No. 4 to a close by sinking a 7-foot putt for a double bogey. In a similar situation, even a lot of tournament golfers would be starting to panic, wondering if this just wasn't their day, and speculating about just how bad might things get. But the Kraft wasn't worried. 

"I really wasn't fazed by it," he said. "I love this course, and I knew I could make up for that double." 

But even in his optimism, Kraft didn't realize just how quickly he would get those two lost strokes back.

It took one hole, because he plunked wedge shot for an eagle 3 at the 570-yard, par-5 fifth. He then followed that eagle with another at the 280-yard, drivable, par-4 sixth, where he hit his tee shot to the back of the green and rolled in about a 60-footer -- for his second consecutive eagle.

After the two eagles in a row, he promptly made a birdie at the 435-yard seventh hole, and Kraft wasn't even close to finished yet. He birdied three of the next four holes, and made six more birdies in 10 holes on the way to a course-record 8-under-par 64 -- with a double bogey!

The 64 wasn't the only record the SMU junior set on Monday. He finished the 54-hole tournament with a total of 201, and that broke the old record (set last year by Marquette's Mike VanSickle) by 12 strokes.

It was kind of a strange day for Ben Pisani, a senior at Minnesota. He had set the course record the day before, with a 65 in the opening round of the tournament. Now he was on his way to a final round of 73, and what would have been a Gopher Invitational record total of 209 -- but he was eight shots behind Kraft, watching his course record being broken only 25 hours after he set it.

"I've never been in a situation like that one before," Pisani conceded. "He was playing so well that it made me feel as if I was playing badly. But when I got in, and saw the rest of the scores, I realized that I really did play pretty well. It was just that he was unbelievable."  

The third-place finisher, David Lingmerth of Arkansas, broke the old 54-hole record, too. He closed with a 68 for a 212.

Three players tied for fourth -- Vince India of Iowa, Andy Sajevic of North Carolina-Charlotte and Linmerth's Razorback teammate Ethan Tracy -- at 215.

Thanks in large part to Kraft's efforts, the SMU team also shattered a record. The previous low winning score had been 871, which is 7 over. But the Mustangs claimed the team title this year with an overall 855, beating the old record by 16 strokes.

Arkansas was second, six under the old record at 865, but 10 behind SMU. Minnesota wound up third in the 12-team field, with an 872.

"That's a pretty good score," said Brad James, the Gophers' director of golf (which means he oversees both the men's and women's programs), "good enough to win most years." 

The weather was perfect for both days of the tournament (high temperatures in the low 80's, sunny skies and almost no wind). But Spring Hill is not an easy golf course, and the way it was set up was definitely not easy.

"There were seven or eight really difficult pins," James noted.

The pin at No. 18, as an example, was so far back and to the right that from the fairway it appeared to be in the water hazzard that guards the green on the right. And there was some irony in the fact that the No. 5 green had one of the toughest pin placements on the course.

"I was glad I didn't have to putt that green," Kraft said of the green that he avoided having to putt on by one-hopping his wedge shot into the cup for the first of his two consecutive eagles.

The contest for the individual medal was a two-man race from the start of the day. Pisani, after his record 65 on Sunday, plus a second round of 71, was at 8 under par, 136, one ahead of Kraft, who shot 67 in the opening round and 70 in the second.

Kraft birdied the first hole (341 yards, par 4), and suddenly it was tied. Pisani stuck his nose back in front with a birdie at the 540-yard, par-5 third, and his par at the fourth, combined with Kraft's double, added another two shots to his advantage.

The fifth hole changed that in a hurry, because Pisani was making bogey while Kraft was making eagle, and the Kraft 2 at the sixth put him two strokes ahead. His birdie at the seventh made it three.

Kraft proceeded to birdie the 379-yard, par-4 ninth, the 340-yard, par-4 10th, the 455-yard, par-4 12th and the 455-yard, par-4 14th to swell his lead to eight shots over Pisani, who had made all pars from the fifth hole, except for a bogey at the 12th.

Pisani and Kraft both bogeyed the 15th, and they both birdied the 16th, although Kraft nearly made his third eagle of the day there,

At the 155-yard, par-3 17th, Kraft hit a 9-iron to 6 feet, and had a chance to get to 9 under. But Pisani and Lingmerth, his two playing partners, both had putts on the same line, and both putts broke sharply to the left.

Kraft was trying to avoid the same kind of miss with his shorter putt, and he rammed his past on the right, leaving himself a 3-footer just to save par.

"I had a little adrenaline fit on that one," he admitted.

After a perfect drive at No. 18, Kraft hit his second shot long and left, missing the green by about 12 yards. It was a difficult pitch from there, but you wouldn't have known it from the way he played the shot, nearly holing it and leaving himself a tap-in of less than 6 inches.

Kraft, who has four college tournaments in his first two years at SMU, has a reputation for shooting low scores, and he said Monday that a big part of the secret to being able to do that is psychological.

"Some guys, when they're under par, they get nervous," he explained. "When I get under par, I really don't get nervous; I get on a roll."  

 Gopher Invitational

At Spring Hill Golf Club

Par 72, 7,020 yards

Wayzata

Final results

1. SMU                        285-290-280--855

2. Arkansas                  296-281-288--865

3. Minnesota            292-285-295--872

4. UNC-Charlotte         298-281-296--875

5. Iowa                         294-294-290--878

6. Notre Dame              302-286-293--861

7. UNC-Wilmington      287-299-299--885

8. Wisconsin                 306-294-293--893

9. Lamar                       304-292-298--894

10. UNC-Greensboro    301-301-297--899

11. Miami (Ohio)          300-306-303--909

12. Northern Iowa        306-291-313--910

Individuals

1. Kelly Kraft                                         67-70-64--201

2. Ben Pisani, Minnesota                 65-71-73--209 

3. David Lingmerth, Arkansas                 75-69-68--212

T4. Vince India, Iowa                              75-70-70--215

T4. Andy Sajevic, Charlotte                     74-70-71--215

T4. Ethan Tracy, Arkansas                      72-71-72--215

T14. Frederick Van Rooyen*, Minn.  77-74-68--219

20. Robert Bell, Minnesota               75-70-76--221

T21. Cameron White, Minn.             76-72-74--222

T30. David Haley*, Minnesota           74-71-79--224 

T43. Tim Peterzen*, Minnesota          72-76-79--227

T56. Chris Meyer*, Minnesota            78-73-78--229

58. Derek Chang, Minnesota              88-72-72--232

T59. Thomas Campbell, Minnesota     76-80-77--233

71. Justin Kaplan*, Minnesota             79-78-84--241

72. Shang Zhi*, Minnesota                  85-79-79--243

*-indicates players who are competing as individuals only, and whose scores don't count toward the team total.