After Several Close Calls, Haslerud Comes Out on Top at MGA Senior Amateur

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By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org


  WACONIA, Minn. – Following a pair of second-place finishes at the Minnesota Golf Association Senior Amateur Championship, David Haslerud found pay dirt Wednesday by shooting a final-round 70 to claim his first state amateur victory at Island View Golf Club.

A steady and efficient Haslerud carded three birdies and one bogey over the final 18 holes to earn a four-stroke victory over Jerry Rose, who made a late run by playing his final nine holes at 4-under par Wednesday.

“I’m very happy to come out on top. There are so many good players and I’ve been playing good the last couple weeks and had a decent tournament at the [MGA Mid-Amateur]. I thought about the last two or three years as runner-up and [2014 at Somerset Country Club] was the one I felt I let slip away.

“I just kept grinding. It was good to feel the nerves again, but I felt it most of the day. I made a couple of clutch putts to save par, and obviously it worked out well.”

At the MGA Senior Amateur in 2014, Haslerud fell to Jim Lehman by one shot after entering the final round at Somerset with a three-stroke lead. Haslerud finished in a tie for fourth the following year before tallying a second runner-up finish to Lehman, who breezed to an 11-stroke victory with a final-round 68 a year ago at Golden Valley Golf and Country Club.

With rounds of 73 and 71 to begin the championship this week, Haslerud found himself once again in familiar territory as he entered the final round within reach of the leader.

In a matter of minutes, though, Haslerud’s one-shot deficit grew to four after a three-putt for bogey and an eagle by 36-hole leader Stu Oftelie on the opening hole.

“Today I started out weak again with a bogey on the first hole. Stu hit two wonderful shots and rolled in his eagle putt, so I’m four behind after one. I kind of thought it might not happen—knocking on the door as the No. 2 man. I came back to birdie number two and slowly clawed my way back,” he said.

Sinking his downhill 4-footer, Haslerud drew even for the championship and continued to hit fairways and greens while he watched Oftelie carded three bogeys over the next four holes to gain a share of the lead at the sixth.

Dropping an 8-footer for birdie at the seventh, Haslerud moved to 1-under for the tournament and claimed the only lead he would need. Finishing by hitting 17 greens during the final round Wednesday, Haslerud carded consecutive pars, including an up-and-down from behind the green at the 13th and a 4-foot tester to save par at the 14th.

Firmly in control of the match, Haslerud converted his 8-footer for birdie at the 17th to take a five-stroke lead with two holes to play. He would post a pair of two-putt pars to close out the championship with a four-stroke victory at 2-under par 214.

“I didn’t know where I stood, but I felt I was in good shape,” Haslerud said after his win Wednesday. “It was literally a hole at a time—fairways, greens and see what happens. I knew how I stood with [the final group], but I didn’t look to see how I was with the others.

“The greens rolled really nice. A lot of putts were tentative and very guarded, but when you had a chance and were below the pin, they rolled wonderfully. I retired in July and that allowed me to practice and work on my short game seriously. I never took the time before. A lot of those 50-60 yard pitches I was able to hit close, so I’ll give that the credit.”

Haslerud finished inside the top-10 last week at the MGA Mid-Amateur Championship on his home course at Southview Country Club, earning Low Senior honors by shooting 4-over par 217.

With his runner-up finish Wednesday, Rose has a firm grasp on MGA Senior Men’s Player of the Year honors, edging out Haslerud with next week’s MGA Senior Four-Ball Championship as the final senior event remaining on this season’s schedule.

“I played spotty this year,” Rose said. “I played good early in the year and then didn’t play well most of the summer. Any time you win something you should feel good about it, so I’m grateful for that. It can always be better—that’s the good thing about this game. There’s always something you can be working on.”

Rose entered Wednesday’s final round in a three-way tie for fourth place, four shots off the lead, but played his front nine at 3-over par. With the help of two birdies and an eagle on his back nine, Rose climbed the leader board to claim a second-place finish at 218.

“I hit the ball pretty well, I just didn’t get the ball in the hole very effectively,” Rose said his performance this week. “These greens are tricky; you’ve got to be in the right spots and having not played here much, I wasn’t quite sure and pretty tentative on putts. My speed wasn’t what it should’ve been. I left a lot of shots out there, but that’s golf. That’s how it goes."

Oftelie entered Wednesday’s final round with a one-stroke lead over Haslerud, and started the best way possible by sinking his eagle putt from 12 feet on the opening hole.

But trouble during the final round for Oftelie began with a three-putt bogey at the fourth before failing to get up-and-down after missing the fifth green to the right. Finding the hazard short of the sixth green led to Oftelie’s third consecutive bogey as he watched his slim lead transform into a two-stroke deficit after nine.

Struggling to find the fairway from the tee left Oftelie scrambling to safe par and keep pace with Haslerud instead of giving himself birdie chances to cut into the deficit. After a bogey at the 10th and a bogey at the 13th, he slipped to four shots back of the lead before Haslerud sank his birdie chance at the 16th.

After taking the lead in tough conditions Monday with a round of 72, Oftelie’s home-course knowledge benefitted him again during the second round Tuesday as the former University of Minnesota golfer posted a 1-under par 71. A final-round 76 put him into a tie for fourth place with Steve Whittaker at 3-over par 219.

“I was looking to play the same way I did the first two days. I just hit fewer fairways today and when I missed, I generally didn’t end up well,” Oftelie said Wednesday. “You can stray a little bit and get lucky, but when I missed I was scrambling trying to make par and usually made bogey.

“I putted really well the first two days and after the eagle [at No. 1] I just never got comfortable with the speed. I didn’t play that bad—just a little spotty. It was fun; I haven’t played a MGA event since the 1984 state amateur.”

Oftelie was a member of Waconia High School’s four-year state championship team from 1977-80, winning two individual titles in 1979 and 1980, while his older brother, Steve, claimed the individual title in 1978. Steve Oftelie was a four-year letter winner with the Gophers from 1979-82, while Stu lettered at Minnesota from 1981-84.