Capan, Sigel and Schmitz Shoot 66 to Share Lead at 117th MGA Amateur in Edina

July 13, 2020 | 5 min.

 
By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org
 
 
  EDINA, Minn. – Fueled by his runner-up finish Thursday at the Minnesota State Open at Royal Golf Club, and the fact that his 3-under start Monday was negated by a string of bogeys to close out his opening nine, Frankie Capan carded six birdies over his final nine holes to earn a share of the early lead at the 117th Minnesota Golf Association Amateur Championship at Edina Country Club.
 
Capan will begin the second round Tuesday in a three-way tie for the lead with former Winona State University golfer Michael Schmitz and University of Kansas golfer Ben Sigel, as all three fired rounds of 6-under 66.
 
“It was kind of an up and down day. I started out well and made a few birdies on the par-5’s to start the back and, unfortunately, gave a few away pretty easily, so I was a little bummed and had a little fire in me going to the front nine,” Capan said Monday.
 
“I realized how many birdies you can make on this courseI hadn’t played it before and just drove it yesterday. After playing the back I realized how getable this course can be if you’re hitting your shots and staying on the proper side of the pins. With how well these greens are rolling, if you get it going, you can make some putts.”
 
Capan carded a final-round 68 to finish two strokes behind the University of Minnesota’s Angus Flanagan last week, despite a 66 to begin the championship. Teeing off on the 10th hole Monday, Capan started quickly again, rolling in three birdies over his first five holes before falling back to even par with bogeys at 15, 16 and 18.
 
Chipping in for birdie at the first, Capan moved back into red figures before sinking three straight birdies beginning at the par-4 third. Hitting a pitching wedge from 180 yards to 25 feet at the par-5 eighth hole, Capan sank his birdie chance and finished his day by rolling in a 12-footer for birdie on the final hole to shoot 66.
 
“I’ve been playing well lately, so it’s been nice to shoot another modestly low round today,” Capan said. “I was a little bummed that I didn’t win [last week], so there was a little more motivation for this week. A solid way to start and I’m looking forward to the next couple days.
 
“Making nine birdies in a round is always good, so that gives me some confidence moving forward. I putted a little better today than I did last week.”
 
Capan played two seasons at the University of Alabama, but it was announced Thursday that the 2017 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball champion will transfer to Florida Gulf Coast University for his junior season this fall. He will be joined in Fort Myers, Fla., by former North Dakota State University golfer Van Holmgren and Brady Madsen, who is transferring from Winona State.
 
Building on his strong performance at the Minnesota State Open last week, finishing sixth with three consecutive 69’s, Michael Schmitz was one of two players in the 156-player field to post a bogey-free round Monday at Edina Country Club.
 
“I birdied the first hole all three days at the [State Open] to get my feet wet and get going,” Schmitz said following his round Monday. “Today on one I knocked it in the bunker and ended up making a 12-footer for birdie, which felt pretty good. On two and three I made a couple 6-footers to keep going strong.
 
“I’d like to make a couple more birdies on the par-5’s, which I feel like you can really take advantage of, but I also found myself in a couple tricky situations and I was happy to get up-and-down.”
 
With three birdies through his first eight holes, Schmitz rolled in a 12-footer at the ninth to turn in 4-under before sinking another putt from outside 10 feet at the 11th to pull within one shot of the lead. Left of the 12th green in two, Schmitz chipped inside of four feet for his sixth birdie of the round, finishing his day with consecutive pars to earn a share of the first-round lead.
 
“I’ve been playing some solid golf the last few weeks. I recently moved to Chandler, Arizona in the last year, so I’ve had the opportunity to play all year round and it’s really helped me,” said Schmitz. “I feel like my short game has improved drastically over the last year.
 
“The wind was a big factor—my typical ball flight is fairly low and I went to [Winona State], so I’m used to playing in the breeze in Missouri and Iowa. I feel like it benefits me playing in the wind.”
 
A Bloomington Jefferson graduate, Schmitz collected five wins while at Winona, earning conference player of the year honors during his senior season. He’s placed inside the top-10 seven times at state championships since 2016.
 
Sigel, who earned Class AAA individual medalist honors while leading Minnetonka High School to the team title in 2016 prior to playing collegiate golf for the Jayhawks, began his opening round on the 10th tee Monday and carded an eagle at the par-5 12th hole, turning in 2-under.
 
The 2017 Mr. Minnesota Golf award winner, who’ll begin his senior season later this year, found his rhythm over the final nine holes, carding back-to-back birdies at the first and second before rolling in his third birdie of the day at the par-3 fourth to get to 5-under. Taking advantage of the par-5 eighth, Sigel carded one final birdie to move into a share of the lead at 6-under with a clean scorecard.
 
“I thought I played really well—the putter was hot. No bogeys with a lot of wind is a good round,” Sigel said. “I had some looks on my front nine, but didn’t really drop. I made really good par putts on 17 and 18 that got me going. Then my back nine I was lights out with the putter.
 
“I feel like my game is in a good spot and, obviously, I want to win the tournament, but I didn’t put any expectations on myself. Today I tried to stay patient—I knew it was going to be tough. Greens are fast, so you just have to put it in the right spots. Make smart decisions and I did that well today.”
 
Posting rounds of 5-under 67 Monday, Trey Fessler and Caleb VanArragon finished the opening day of competition in a tie for fourth place, one shot back.
 
The 117th MGA Amateur Championship continues Tuesday when the second round begins at 7:30 a.m. at Edina Country Club.
 

 

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