Bethel Wins Minnesota Golf Classic; Baylor's Bosco Is Medalist

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MAPLE PLAIN -- Trey Bosco claimed medalist honors at the Minnesota Golf Classic on Sunday in impressive fashion. He eagled the 573-yard, par-5 18th hole at Pioneer Creek GC.

The Baylor junior didn't really need to make that eagle. A birdie would have done the trick. Nevertheless, polishing off a tournament victory with an eagle on the final hole puts an exclamation point on the conquest. Sort of like Carlos Alcaraz finishing off his tennis triumph at the U.S. Open in New York City on Sunday with a service winner on the clinching point.

Hayden Carner, a junior at Georgia Southern, was one behind going to the last hole, and he birdied it. Even with that, however, he ended up two behind.

Bosco and Carner both closed with 3-under-par 69s. That gave Bosco a winning 54-hole total of 205 (11 under), and Carner a 207. Angelo Marcon of Notre Dame and Luke Pany of Iowa State tied for third at 209. Pany got there with a 68 -- the second-lowest score of Round 3 -- and Marcon with a 72. 

West Virginia's Kurtis Grant closed with a 71 and claimed sole possession of fifth place with an aggregate of 210, and Notre Dame's Owen Mullen shot 71 to finish sixth at 2011. 

This was mostly a Division III tournament, and Bethel won the team championship with an overall score of 866 (plus 2). St. John's, last year's winner, moved up from fourth to second during the two rounds that were played Sunday, but even though they narrowed the gap by 12 stokes with a final-round total of 288, the Johnnies still finished eight behind at 874. Luther was another three back in third at 877; Wisconsin-Eau Claire was fourth at 882. Gustavus Adolphus was the only other team to break 900. The Gusties finished fifth with a total of 891.

But there were quite a few Division I guys playing as individuals only. They came to the Twin Cities with teams that are playing in the Gopher Invitational across the street from Pionner Creek, at Windsong Farm (Sunday and Monday), but they didn't crack the starting lineups for their teams.

The Division I players took the top six spots in the final individual standings, beginning with Bosco. The highest finisher among the Division III guys was Wisconsin-Eau Claire's Cole Jahnke, a senior from Stillwater. He was tied for the first-round lead after shooting 68 on Saturday, and he followed it with a 73 and a 71 on Sunday, which gave him 54-hole tab of 212 and sixth place all to himself.

One other Division III player cracked the top 10, and that was Jay Fjelstul of Luther. He posted a 72 Sunday morning and a 71 in the afternoon and finished in a tie for eighth, along with West Virginia's Westy McCabe, at 213. They ended up just ahead of Sion Audrain, a junior at Kansas. He posted the best score of the final round, a 67, on his way to 214 and solo 10th. 

Bethel's Conor Schubring, who was the medalist at last week's Augsburg Invitational with a 142 (71-71) at Majestic Oaks, was also in position for a top-10 finish on Sunday. In fact, he was tied with Bosco for the lead after 36 holes, at 136 (69-67). But he didn't have much fun on Sunday afternoon. He bogeyed three of the first eight holes. It looked as if he might be righting the ship wtih a birdie at the par-5 ninth, but instead, things went downhill from there. After parring the 10th hole, he bogeyed four of the next five, and he concluded his round with a double bogey at the 18th. The resulting 80 dropped him all the way from a tie for first into a five-way tie for 12th at 216.

Bosco, a former Texas State Amateur champion from Austin, started his morning round on Sunday in a three-way tie for fifth, along with Schubring and Zach Sokolosky of Kansas. They were all one behind the leaders. Bosco made one birdie, one bogey and three pars in the first five holes, but then he began moving up. He birdied the 374-yard, par-4 sixth hole and the 425-yard, par-4 seventh, and after making the turn in 34, he birdied the 437-yard, par-4 10th and the 369-yard, par-4 11th. Bosco made his sixth birdie of the morning at the par-4 16th (310 yards). He bogeyed the par-3 17th (182), but bounced back with a birdie at the 18th for a 67.

A birdie at the 501-yard, par-5 first hole put Bosco into the lead -- for good, as it turned out. While Jahnke was struggling toward a 38 on the front nine, Bosco was working his way toward a 35.

Meanwhile, Carner, who started Round 3 two back, was also making birdies, three of them in the first five holes, but he also threw in a double bogey at the 195-yard, par-3 third hole, and he, too, had a 35 on the outward nine. He got within one of Bosco when he birdied the par-4 11th (369 yards), but he bogeyed the 208-yard, par-3 13th, and Bosco birdied the 597-yard, par-5 14th.

Carner's birdie at the 15th (440 yards, par 4), cut the deficit to one again, but that was as close as he got. Bosco made sure of that with the way he played the 18th.      
  

Minnesota Golf Classic 

At Pioneer Creek Golf Course

Par 72, 6,953 yards

Maple Plain

Final results 

1. Bethel (1)                               283-283-300--866

2. St. John's (1)                          298-288-288--874

3. Luther                                     292-296-289--877

4. Wis.-Eau Claire  (1)                300-296-286--882

5. Gustavus Adolphus (Black)    296-301-294--891

6. Carleton                                   301-298-304--903

T7. Gustavus Adolphus (2)          315-303-295--913

T7. St. John's (Blue)                     307-306-300--913

9. Wisconsin-Stout                        307-310-298--915

10. St. Olaf                                    311-310-301--922

T11. Augsburg                               311-306-308--925

T11. Macalester                             312-306-307--925

T13. Bethel (2)                               311-302-314--927

T13. Wis.-Eau Claire (2)                319-305-303--927 

15. Alexandria Tech                       305-317-306-928

Individuals

1. Trey Bosco, Baylor                          69-67-69--205

2. Hayden Carner, Ga. Southern         68-70-69--207

T3. Angelo Marcon, Notre Dame         68-69-72--209

T3. Lukas Pany, Iowa State                70-71-68--209

5. Kurtis Grant, West Virginia              68-71-71--210

6. Owen Mullen, Notre Dame               72-68-71--211

T7. Cole Jahnke, Wis.-Eau Claire        68-73-71--212

T8. Jay Fjelstul, Luther                         70-72-71--213

T8. Westy McCable, West Virginia       73-71-69--213

10. Sion Audrain, Kansas                      71-76-67--214 

11. Robert You, Yale                              71-74-70--215

T12. Teddy Kaste, Gustavus Black         73-72-71--216

T12. Hunter Neumann, Wis.-Stout          72-72-72--216

T12. Conor Schubring, Bethel                 69-67-80--216

T12. Zach Sokolosky, Kansas                 69-74-73--216

T12. Calen Sanderson, Notre Dame       75-71-70--216