Capan and Wong Headed to U.S. Four-Ball Championship Along with Christopherson and Wynia

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  STILLWATER, Minn. – Minnesotan Frankie Capan met Shuai Ming Wong at a golf tournament in Florida when both were just 7 years old,  and since then, the two have remained close friends and played in numerous tournaments together.

Capan and Wong, now 15, fired a 9-under par 63 Monday at StoneRidge Golf Club to earn medalist honors as well as a spot in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship next May.

“We thought we had a pretty good chance coming in,” Wong said Monday, “We both came off of a good summer—[Capan] has a AJGA win and I was playing well, so we had quite high expectations.”

“[Wong] shot 66-65 in his last event, so he’s playing really well,” Capan added about his playing partner. “I had a rough start today and he saved me on the first two holes. I got into a groove and had a lot of shots inside three feet and he was making everything.”

Capan, North Oaks, Minn., captured the 2015 American Junior Golf Association Target Junior Championship by one stroke in August, while Wong, from Houston, Texas, won the 2015 Shell Houston Open Junior Championship two weeks ago, carding a final-round 65 to set a tournament record as he finished at 11-under par 205 to win by 11 strokes.

A total of 50 two-person teams comprised the qualifying field Monday, playing for two spots to next spring’s championship, which will be played May 21-25 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y.

“It means a lot [to qualify], because of our friendship, but it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Wong said. “It’ll be a cool experience.”

“I think it gives us confidence and it’ll be a lot of fun playing at Winged Foot,” Capan said.

Teeing off on the ninth hole Monday, Wong rolled in a six-foot putt for par on the opening hole that got momentum going early before the two carded birdies at the 11th and 13th holes to move to 2-under for the round.

Back-to-back birdies at the 15th and 16th holes put the pair at 4-under par before adding another birdie at the par-4 18th to make the turn at 5-under par.

Wong rolled in a sliding putt for par from 10 feet on the first hole before Capan chipped in for birdie at the second, putting the pair at 6-under for the day.

During a practice round Sunday, both Capan and Wong made bogey at the par-4 fifth hole and used previous knowledge to better their score Monday.

“We hit really good drives, we were both dialed in, and [Capan] hit a really good shot pin-high right to about 30 feet and I took dead-aim to 15 feet. He was feeling his putter right then and his putt went in. I was relaxed for my putt and knocked mine in as well, for fun,” Wong said. “That was a pretty big birdie.”

Wong put his approach to five feet at the sixth hole and the two carded their eighth birdie of the round to move to 8-under before Wong sank his 20-foot birdie at the seventh to finish the day at 63.

“Yesterday we shot 64 with a bogey on [No. 5] so we had a pretty good idea of where we might be at, but we didn’t try to think about it much and just wanted to have fun out there and play our best,” Wong said.

Capan caddied for Wong during the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship before both players qualified for the event in 2014.

Erik Christopherson and Adam Wynia carded an 8-under par 64 Monday to earn the second and final qualifying spot as the two recorded 10 birdies and two bogeys on the scorecard.

Both Minneapolis, Minn., natives, Christopherson and Wynia got off to a fast start with back-to-back birdies on the first and second holes to quickly jump to 2-under for the round.

Rolling in a birdie chance at the fourth hole, Christopherson and Wynia moved to 3-under before carding a bogey at the par-4 sixth hole.

The pair would finish strong on the front nine by adding birdies at the seventh and ninth holes to turn at 4-under.

Christopherson and Wynia carried a hot streak to the back nine Monday as they carded four birdies over the first five holes to climb the leaderboard, getting to 8-under after 14 holes.

Dropping in a birdie at the 17th would get the two to 9-under, but a bogey on the final hole would put Christopherson and Wynia in second place at 8-under par 64.

Christopherson previously qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship in 2009 and 2010.

Eric Deutsch (Rochester, Minn.) and Shane Sigsbee (Las Vegas, Nev.) finished as first alternates, while Blake Onkka (Prior Lake, Minn.) and Topher Baron (Plymouth, Minn.) finished as second alternates.