Defending Champ Gregory, Rose and Anderson Among Unbeaten to Start MGA Senior Players' Championship

June 14, 2021 | 4 min.

 
By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org
 
 
  BIWABIK, Minn. – Playing in just his third senior event in the state this week, Jay Gregory notched a pair of victories Monday as he looks to defend his title at the 22nd Minnesota Golf Association Senior Players’ Championship at The Quarry at Giants Ridge.
 
Gregory defeated Jerry Rose last fall to claim his first state title at Cannon Golf Club, and continued his strong play Monday by earning victories against Tim Holland and Scott Hinners on the first day of competition.
 
New to this season’s championship is a round-robin format, comprised of eight pools of four players playing a total of three matches before the winner of each pool advances to the quarterfinal round late Tuesday.
 
“Great golf course, but it got really windy during the second nine of the first round,” said Gregory, the 40th-ranked senior golfer in the Official World Golf Rankings. “The greens are big, they’re undulated and they’re fast. You can definitely get in trouble if you get off line in that long stuff.
 
“I had pretty good control of the golf ball today, I hit my irons pretty good and putted pretty well. The wind was tough—I hit a lot of different shots to keep the ball out of the wind and out of trouble.”
 
A native of Lineville, Iowa, Gregory carded a single birdie during his opening round Monday where he downed Tim Holland, 4 and 3. During his second match against Hinners, Gregory managed a 2-up lead through nine holes and would win the match with a par on the final hole for a 1-up victory, claiming two full points during the first two rounds.
 
“I didn’t give [Hinners] anything. We had a good match and we both played really well,” Gregory said. “I missed a couple that I should’ve made inside of 10 feet for birdie, but you’re not going to make them all.
 
“I’m guaranteed to get into a playoff for the [quarterfinal round], but I can’t really think about that. I’ll go play and try to hit some good golf shots.”
 
Gregory will face Dave Steingart during the third round of pool play early Tuesday.
 
John Anderson, winner of the 2009 Minnesota Senior Open, got past David Kokesh, 4 and 2, during Monday’s opening round before defeating Scott Hogan, 4 and 3, to go undefeated during the first day of play.
 
“I made a few pars, got an early lead and played pretty steady,” Anderson said. “On this golf course, you can par people to death. If you get off line, you’re in trouble—there’s no transition area. You’re either in play or in the junk, and the wind was howling out there. Par is your friend on this course.
 
“My putting wasn’t very good, but I kept the ball in play enough that, fortunately, putting wasn’t too big a concern.”
 
Anderson will square off against John Mugford early Tuesday during the final round of pool play.
 
Last season’s runner-up and past champion Jerry Rose picked up two wins during the day round of competition Monday, defeating Carl Horsch during Monday’s morning round before cruising during his afternoon match against Steve Case, 7 and 5. Rose will face Tim Maaske during the final round of pool play early Tuesday.
 
Rose defeated Leif Carlson to win the 2017 championship at St. Cloud Country Club, on his way to the first of four consecutive MGA Senior Men’s Player of the Year honors.
 
J.T. Johnson also picked up both possible points during the first two rounds Monday, defeating
Tim O’Neil during the opening round, 4 and 2, and would have little trouble during the afternoon session, beating two-time champion Steve Whittaker, 5 and 4.
 
Johnson will face Mark Capece during Tuesday’s morning session, looking to advance from pool play to the quarterfinal round.
 
Victories over Tom Ryan and Tom Smith Monday gave Rick Frieburg a perfect record on the opening day and he will now face off against 2017 MGA Senior Amateur champion David Haslerud, who also won his first two matches of the championship.
 
Jim Lehman, winner in 2019, earned a half point during his opening match against John Sexton, but rolled in three birdies during his second-round match against Jeff Teal to earn a full point during Monday’s afternoon session.
 
Defending MGA Senior Amateur champion notched an early 1-up victory over Jay Coatta early Monday, and would salvage a half point against 2018 champion David Rehfeldt.
 
Tee times for the final round of pool play for the 22nd MGA Senior Players’ Championship begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday at The Quarry at Giants Ridge.


 

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