Haley Prevails in Playoff to Win 89th Minnesota State Junior Boys' Championship

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  WILLMAR, Minn. – In a matter of two short seasons, Carter Haley has quickly, and quietly, become one of the state’s best junior golfers.

In 2014 Haley led a young and inexperienced Mankato East team to its fifth state tournament appearance and, in the process, Haley carded a 71-73—144 to win the Class AA individual title.

A little over a month ago, Haley led an even younger Mankato East squad back to the state tournament and guided the Cougars to their first golf state team championship in school history, as he finished third individually (72-73—145).

With a birdie on the first playoff hole Tuesday at Eagle Creek Golf Club, Haley defeated Ethan Kraus and outlasted the best junior players in the state to claim the 89th Minnesota State Junior Boys’ Championship.

“This is awesome—you look up on the leaderboard today and there are a lot of good names up there and to know I beat all of those guys is pretty special,” Haley said after his win Tuesday. “Winning this is a huge confidence boost.”

Carter, Terrace View Golf Club, opened the championship on the tenth hole Monday with three birdies before a bogey at the 18th put him at 2-under at the turn.

Haley would manage one birdie with a single bogey over the final nine holes to card a 2-under par 70 and into a share of the lead with Krause and Ben Frazzini.

During the final round Tuesday, Haley opened again with three birdies to jump to 5-under for the championship before slipping at the fifth with a double-bogey. Haley rebounded with a birdie at the par-4 ninth hole to make the turn at 4-under par for the championship with nine holes remaining.

He continued to roll in his birdie looks with back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11 running into trouble late in the round Tuesday. A bogey at the 12th put Haley back at 5-under for the tournament as he rebounded again with a birdie at 13.

But Haley would bogey three of the final five holes to finish the day at 141 and into a playoff with Kraus.

With Kraus going left off the tee during the playoff, Haley wasted little time as he found the middle of the fairway before putting his approach to inside two feet. After Kraus scrambled to make par, Haley stepped up and rolled in his birdie chance to claim the title.

“I knew scores were going to be fairly low today, there were going to be a lot of birdies out there and it’s a fairly short course so there were going to be a lot of opportunities,” Haley said.

“My putter was going and I was able to make a lot of birdies, a lot of 12-footers were going in. I hit one [out of bounds on No. 5] and took a double-bogey but all of the birdies made up for it."

As Haley began to slip over the final five holes, Krause rolled in three birdies on the back nine Tuesday to keep the two extremely close. Haley had a short birdie putt on the final hole to win but was unable to convert, and a playoff ensued.

“It got a little crazy on the back nine,” Haley said. “I had a couple bogeys in a row that was a little deflating and then I was bummed I missed a short birdie putt that got us into a playoff, but I was able to get re-focused.”

Kraus, New Ulm Country Club, opened the championship with a 1-over par 37 on the back nine but heated up over the final nine holes, making four birdies with one bogey to finish the first round at 2-under with a share of the lead.

Despite two birdies and an eagle on the front nine Tuesday, Kraus would stumble to the turn at 2-over par with a bogey at No. 3, a triple-bogey on the sixth and a double-bogey at seven.

For the second straight day Kraus would cruise on the back nine as he rolled in three birdies to shoot 71 Tuesday and force a playoff with Haley.

“Yesterday I was hitting the ball well, hitting a lot of fairways and greens and making my putts,” Kraus said. “Today I knew I had to have a good round to win it and try to stay even with [Haley]. You could tell right out of the gates he was going to be the guy.”

“I went triple-double at six and seven and that really set me back, but other than that, I played pretty well,” he said. “[Haley] made a textbook birdie in the playoff so I couldn’t really ask for much more except for a win. It was a lot of fun.”

Derek Hitchner, the Minikahda Club, carded a final-round 70 Tuesday to finish third at 142, while first-round co-leader Ben Frazzini shot a 2-over par 73 Tuesday to finish fourth at 143.