A Late Eagle Lifts Jerry Rose to 18th MGA Senior Players' Championship Title at St. Cloud Country Club

By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org


  ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Helped by an eagle late in his round Saturday, Jerry Rose defeated Leif Carlson, 2-up, to win the 18th Minnesota Golf Association Senior Players’ Championship at St. Cloud Country Club.

With four top-5 finishes and to his credit over the last four years, Saturday’s victory is the first state win for Rose, while he’s had several close calls at his winter home in Florida.

“It’s nice to win and kind of get the monkey off my back,” Rose said Saturday. “I’ve gotten beat in the finals two of the last three years of our Florida Senior Amateur, so it’s nice to finally win one.

“This is such a fickle game—I was not playing well when I came into the tournament and found a few things and started hitting the ball a little bit better. It’s always great to win and it gives you a boost of confidence. Hopefully that carries over for the rest of the summer.”

Rose qualified for the 2016 Senior Amateur Championship at Old Warson Country Club in St. Louis by firing a 1-over par 72 at White Bear Yacht Club last August before finishing tied for second at the 95th MGA Senior Amateur Championship at Golden Valley Golf and Country Club two weeks later.

Carlson rolled in his putt from 10 feet on the opening hole to save par and remain even before Rose’s approach rolled to the right edge of the green, where he would get up-and-down for par to keep the match square.

“Leif made a great putt on one to halve the hole,” Rose said Saturday. “I made a decent putt on two—I got behind the pin and it was like lightning coming down but was able to stay even.”

Rose struck first with a birdie at the uphill par-5 fourth but gave back the next hole after running into trouble off the tee with his tee shot lying next to a tree root. He answered by converting his birdie from 12 feet at the sixth.

Falling down two after a bogey at the seventh, Carlson dodged a bullet when Rose left his birdie putt from four feet short of the cup at the par-4 eighth.

“On eight I hit a good shot in there and I was thinking it was straight downhill and I didn’t take the headcover off the putter and left it short from four feet—kind of embarrassing,” Rose laughed.

Carlson’s second shot at the par-5 ninth rolled just short of the green where he would putt to within three feet to have his birdie conceded by Rose who then carried a 1-up lead to the final nine holes Saturday.

Pushing his tee shot far right off the 10th tee, Rose made matters worse by punching out with driver and putting his ball further into the trees along the right side of the fairway.

Reaching the front edge of the green with his fourth, Rose nearly chipped in for par before conceding the hole to Carlson who pulled even. Rose answered by sinking his birdie from eight feet below the cup at the par-4 11th to regain a slim margin over Carlson.

Missing the 12th green to the left, Rose was unable to get up-and-down for par to give the hole to Carlson and the match drew even yet again.

Hitting his two best shots of the tournament at the par-5 15th, Rose reached the green in two, hitting a 3-hybrid to 12 feet for an eagle chance, taking full command of the final match late.

“That was huge,” Rose said of taking the lead late with his eagle at 15. ‘We were even there and had been back-and-forth all day. It felt like the turning point, at least for me.”

Taking a thin 1-up lead to the final hole, Rose watched as Carlson’s tee shot caught the trees left of the fairway, forcing him to punch out. Facing a long, uphill putt for bogey and with Rose staring down a makeable birdie chance, Carlson conceded the match and giving Rose the victory, 2-up.

The wait for a Senior Players’ Championship continues for Carlson, who advanced to the semifinals in 2009 and again in 2013, while getting knocked of the 2010 and 2012 championships during the quarterfinal round.

He reached the semifinals of the 2015 Senior Players’ Championship at Wayzata Country Club, a year after losing in the final match to Pat Vincelli at Brackett’s Crossing Country Club.

“I played pretty good but I misclubbed a couple times and that hurt,” Carlson said after the final match Saturday. “Jerry made a lot more birdies than I did. I made a lot of pars, but couldn’t make any birdies.

“It’s getting closer—I’m pretty happy because I hit the ball pretty well,” he said. “I putted well and had good speeds today, so I’m happy with how I’m playing early in the year.”