Carlson and Murphy Share Early Lead at 54th MGA Four-Ball With Hayes and Muellerleile

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  DELLWOOD, Minn. – After Tuesday’s opening round of the 54th Minnesota Golf Association Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Dellwood Country Club, the team of Leif Carlson and Greg Murphy share the early lead at 3-under par 69 with the team of Mark Hayes and Patrick Muellerleile.

A total of 13 teams from Tuesday’s 32-team field now advance to the final round at 1-under par or better, while 23 teams from Wednesday’s 57-team field will move on to play the final round Thursday.

Carlson, Valleywood Golf Course, and Murphy, Keller Golf Club, got off to a rough start Tuesday by taking a double-bogey at the par-3 third hole before rolling in two birdies over the next six holes to get back to even at the turn.

Carlson dropped his birdie look at the 13th to get his team to 1-under for the championship before Murphy carded back-to-back birdies on the final two holes to put his twosome in the clubhouse with the early lead at 69.

“We started off poorly—we both put left swings on it on [No. 3] and hit it out of bounds and made double-bogey there. [Carlson] played the first nine holes really well and I played the second nine holes really well,” Murphy said following the round Tuesday. “The only bad swings we made were on [No. 3], after that we kept it in play and played well.

“Leif birdied the par-5 right after we made [double-bogey] so that kind of flipped the feeling and then he birdied nine to get us back to even. It’s funny because I was thinking about my high school tournament here and I went 43-34, which is the same thing I did today. It was ridiculous—the first nine holes nothing was working and the second nine, everything was going right,” Murphy laughed.

Hayes, Keller Golf Club, and Muellerleile, Eagle Valley Golf Course, started fast Tuesday with three consecutive birdies beginning at the par-3 third hole to quickly jump to 3-under for the tournament before running into trouble on the back nine.

The two gave stroke back at the par-4 11th with a bogey and added another bogey at the 16th before finishing strong with back-to-back birdies on the final two holes to card 69 and earn a share of the lead after the opening round.

“It was hard work—the course played plenty tough, the wind especially on the back side,” Hayes said after his round Tuesday. “Birdies are always key in this, the two bogeys are tough, but that’s all part of it too. We left some out there and made some we shouldn’t have, so it goes both ways. We played hard and scrambled.”

“We putted well and chipped well because I missed a lot of greens and I was able to get up-and-down several times to save par,” Muellerleile said. “I was really happy being at 3-under after the turn and I was hoping we could duplicate that, but then it got tougher.”

A total of six teams finished Tuesday’s first round tied for third at 2-under par 70, while another five teams survived the cut at 1-under par 71.

Another 57 teams will tee it up Wednesday with the next round scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. at Dellwood Country Club.