Helminen Survives Sorenson Charge, Wins 4th Tapemark Title

June 11, 2017 | 16 min.

By Mike Fermoyle (mikefermoyle@gmail.com)

WEST ST. PAUL -- What it came down to Sunday during the final round of the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am was that Ryan Helminen and Jeff Sorenson had done this before, and Jon DuToit hadn't. 

Helminen is former University of Wisconsin golfer whose roommate was John Carlson. Carlson is the Minnesota men's coach these days, but he's also a former two-time Tapemark champion, and it was he who suggested to Helminen about nine years ago that he should try to get into the field at Southview Country Club. Helminen took him up on the suggestion and won the Tapemark the first time he played  in the tournament, in 2010. He won again in 2013 and claimed his thrd Tapemark title in 2013.

On Sunday, he won for the fourth time, thanks to a final round of 4-under-par 67. That gave him a 54-hole total of 203, a one-stroke victory over Sorenson -- and $6,000. 

It wasn't exactly a mistake-free round. Helminen got into trouble a few times -- most notably on the 17th and 18th holes -- but the eight-time Wisconsin PGA Player of the Year managed to get out of jail when he needed to, and he didn't suffer a single bogey on Sunday.  During the entire three-day tournament, he made only two bogeys. Basically, that was the difference between him and everyone else.

"This is a fairly short course," he said of Southview, "but it's not easy. The greens are tricky, and you see a lot of three-putts. You don't have to tear it up to win. The winning score is going to be pretty much the same each year -- somewehere between 10 and 13 or 14 under. What you have to do is take advantage of the par-5's and not make any big mistakes on the other holes. You have to stay below the hole most of the time and try to avoid three-putts at all costs." 

Which is a pretty good description of what Helminen did over the weekend. 

Sorenson, 38, who won the Tapemark in 2009 and has had multiple top-5 finishes, used much the same formula.

There was a delay of a little more than two hours as a result of the severe thunderstorms that hit the Twin Cities on Sunday, and tournament officials were forced to employ a shotgun start for all the leaders. Sorenson began his round on the fourth hole, a 470-yard par-5 and promptly made an eagle. He then bogeyed the 210-yard, par-3 fifth.

"That was the hole that cost me the tournament," he said. "I bogeyed it all three days. But then, it's a hard hole." 

The bogey at No. 5 was his only bogey of the round, and the five-time -- and reigning -- Minnesota PGA Player of the Year bounced back with a birdie at the 476-yard, par-5 sixth. Then he settled in and had the feeling that he was trying to bore the course to death as he made 10 pars in a row. At that point, he was four behind Helminen, who was in the group right behind him.

"I was hitting good shots," he said, "but I wasn't getting close enough for tap-in birdies, and a lot of my putts were just missing."

But then, he got on a roll that took him all the way to the clubhouse. The 490-yard, par-5 17th was playing longer than usual because of all the rain that had soaked the course, and very few players were reaching the green in two. Sorenson was one of the few, and he two-putted for a birdie. He then pitched close for another birdie at the 481-yard, par-5 18th, and after parring the first and second holes, he hit a wedge shot close at the 371-yard, par-4 third and capped off his 66.

With that, he matched Casey Vangsness for the low score of the day (Vangsness tied for 10th overall, at 210). But it turned out to be one too many, because it gave him an aggregate of 204.

"Ryan got me again," Sorenson jokingly lamented afterward. "But I can't be all that disappointed. I thought I played well, and 9 under's not a bad score."

Another reason for Sorenson to be satisfied with the state of his game is that he's upright these days, and three years ago he wasn't. He had the same surgery on his back that Tiger Woods had during the summer of 2014. 

As for Tiger these days, Sorenson speculated: "He tried to come back to soon. He just didn't give his body time to heal. He was going at the ball full throttle, and you can't do that. For a long time, I was just bunting 260- and 270-yard drives out there, taking it easy with fairway woods and long irones, and not trying to do too much if my ball was in thick rough. It wasn't that much fun to play like that. But I knew I had to be patient if I was going to make a full recovery."

It wasn't until nearly two years after his operation, in early 2016, that Sorenson pronounced himself "basically back to normal." 

"I do a lot of stretching," the Minikahda teaching pro noted, "and anything else I can to keep myself as flexible as possible. So far, so good. It's nice to be able to be able to do the things now that I used to do. But you always have to be careful."       

The third main actor in the Day 3 Drama at Southview was Jon DuToit, a 23-year-old first-year pro from Chaska. He was the leader after each of the first two rounds, but he got off to a shaky start on Sunday. 

"I was nervous," he admitted. 

The former State Amateur champ got off to a great start on Friday, going 6 under in a five-hole span from the second through the sixth, on his way to a 63. In that round, he birdied the fourth and eagled the sixth, and on Saturday he eagled the fourth and birdied the sixth while shooting 70 in winds that were gusting up to 30 miles per hour.

In addition to the State Am, DuToit won the State Open while he was an amateur. But now he's playing against the pros for money, which is a different thiing altogether. On Sunday, he had a chance to make four times as much as he had earned in any other tournament he's ever played in, but he failed to take advantage of the par-5's. Having playing them in 8 under during the first two rounds, he was only 1 under on the 5's in the final round.

He didn't lose any ground in the first seven holes, but he didn't gain any, either. He failed to birdie either the fourth or the sixth, and he closed out the front nine (he started on No. 1) with bogeys at the eighth and ninth holes.

Those bogeys knocked him out of the top spot on the leaderboard. He was 7 under for the tournament as he made the turn, and Helminen had gotten to 9 under. 

The back nine was a different story for DuToit, as he  regained the form he had shown the first two days, at least from tee to green. Unfortunately, for the most par, his putter did not participate in the revival.

"He played great on the back nine," said Bruce Haselrud, one of DuToit's playing partners (Haselrud shot 73 on Sunday and finished eighth among the amateurs). "He hit it pretty close on just about every hole, but he kept burning the edge of the cup with his putts. The putts that had gone in the first two days were lipping out today."

DuToit hit a wedge close enough to coax a putt in at the 331-yard, par-4 12th. But he just missed putts in the 10-to-15-foot range on each of the next three holes and then pushed a 3-metal tee shot into the trees at the 446-yard, par-4 16th and couldn't save his par. He came up just short of the green with his second shot at the par-5 17th, and hung another birdie putt on the edge from 12 feet. Finally, at the par-5 18th, he got a 10-footer for birdie to drop.

It wasn't enough to catch Helminen, and Sorenson's birdie on his final hole a few minutes later lifted him into sole possession of second place, but it did give DuToit sole possession of third place at 205, which was worth $1,585.

This was the second event DuToit has played in Minnesota since turning prefessional, and he's had top-5 finishes in both. A month ago, he tied for fifth in the Minnesota Golf Champions, and made $1,500.

"I played pretty well this weekend," the 2012 state high school champ said, "and I learned a lot. You just have to keep putting yourself in these situations. That's how you get better, and how you learn to win."

Finishing right behind DuToit, tying for fourth at 206 were seven-time Tapemark champ Don Berry and Ross Miller. Berry has been playing in the Tapemark for 30 years (he won for the first time in 1988), and the 74 he shot in the opening round on Friday was his worst at Southview. But he came back with the best round of the tournament, a 64 in the high winds and heat on Saturday. On Sunday, he was in position to challenge for an eighth Tapemark crown but his putter wasn't cooperating. After making a 2-footer for birdie at the 330-yard, par-4 12th, he had birdie putts inside 12 feet five times in the last six holes -- plus a 15-footer at No. 14 -- and he missed them all. The result was a 68. 

Miller shot 69. 

Mitchell Holcomb posted a 69, as well, and finished sixth at 207. 

Helminen began his Sunday round on the second hole, and he followed his game plan. After starting off with two pars, he hit a 6-iron second shot onto the green at the par-5 fifth and two-putted for a birdie. Two holes later, at the par-5 sixth, he hit a 5-iron second shot to the fringe of the green and two-putted for another birdie.

The 42-year-old teaching pro at Ridgeway CC got what he considered a bonus when he birdied the 363-yard, par-4 eighth hole, which features a green with a major tilt from left to right. 

"I hit a great wedge shot just below the hole, which is where you need to hit it on that green," he said, with a hint of a sigh of relief. "I made a great stroke from 6 feet and was pretty pumped about making a birdie there. If you make a birdie at No. 8, you're definitely picking up a shot on the field." 

His last birdie came at the 157-yard, par-3 15th. Helminen hit a 7-iron to 6 feet, and rolled it in to get to 10 under. 

As he teed off at the par-5 17th, he was almost certainly thinking about making a birdie there and at the par-5 18th. Instead, he found himself struggling to make pars. 

An errant tee shot at the 17th prevented him from going for the green in two. His lay-up left him a little more than 100 yards, and he was stunned to see his wedge shot from there land on the back fringe and hop into the rough on top of a mound behind the green. 

"That was a big mistake, a really big mistake," he said.

His short game came to the rescue, however, and he hit a nifty little flop shot to 3 feet and made the putt for par. 

His tee shot at the 18th carried nearly 300 yards -- but it was 20 yards right of the fairway, and he had to punch out of the trees to about 70 yards short of the green. From there, he hit an indifferent pitch that left him with a 40-foot putt for birdie. That birdie putt had a big left-to-right break. Helminen overplayed the break, and left himself with a treacherous 4-foot, sidehill slider for par. 

"That putt was the tournament, right there," he suggested. "That was the last place I wanted to leave it, because if you miss the 4-footer, it just keeps going, maybe 6 or 8, or 10 feet past the hole, and you end up four-putting." 

Helminen made the putt, and then followed the harrowing par on 18 with a routine two-putt par on No. 1, his last hole. 

Scott Fenwick, the long-hitting, 49-year-old Southview club champion, birdied two of the par-5's (Nos. 4 and 17), but he also birdied two of the par-3's (5 and 10) on Sunday on the way to a 68, and he won the Men's Amateur Division by three strokes over Ryan Gallagher with a 215.

Lisa Grimes has an impressive golf resume, beginning with a state high school individual championship in 1978 (when her name was Lisa Kluver), the second year that the Minnesota State High School League sponsored a golf tournament for girls. The Alexandria GC teaching pro has also won three State Opens, and on Sunday she won the Tapemark Women's Division for the second time with a 1-under 70 -- despite making a double-bogey 7 at the sixth hole.

Of course, it helped that she birdied all three of the other par-5's.

Julie Hennessy, another former state high school champion, finished second with a 73. 

Hailey Boner, like Fenwick a Southview member, was the low amateur with a 77. Mary Sweeney of Hillcrest was second with a 79. 


MINNESOTA PROFESSIONAL GOLF

Tapemark Charity Pro-Am

At Southview Country Club

Par 71, 6,121 yards

Final results

Professionals 


1. Ryan Helminen, Ridgeway CC (Wis.)      $6,000       67-69-67--203

2. Jeff Sorenson, Minikahda                        $2,700       70-68-66--204

3. Jon DuToit, Chaska Town Course           $1,585        63-70-72--205

T4. Don Berry, Edinburgh USA                    $1,212        74-64-68--206

T4. Ross Miller, Dellwood                            $1,212        65-72-69--206

6. Mitchell Homb, Unattached                         $995       68-70-69--207           

T7. Tim Brovold, Bunker Hills                         $808       67-69-72--208

T7. Chris Meyer, Southview                           $808        68-71-69--208

9. Robert Bell, Pierz Municipal                       $650       67-72-70--209

T10. Brandon Sletmoen, Fargo CC               $454        70-71-69--210

T10. Brent Snyder, Troy Burne                     $454         68-71-71--210

T10. Casey Vangsness, Minnewaska          $454         68-76-66--210

T10. Josh Whalen, Elk River GC                  $454        72-69-69--210

T14. Thomas Campbell, Bolstad/University  $315        71-71-69--211

T14. Brian Seiwert, Burl Oaks                       $315        67-68-76--211

T14. Jon Trasamar, Unattached                    $315       73-66-72--211

T14. Eddie Wynne, Bolstad/University          $315        66-72-73--211                                                    


Amateur leaders

1. Scott Fenwick, Southview                        73-74-68--215

2. Ryan Gallagher, Chomonix GC                 68-76-74--218

3. Andy Paulson, Oak Glen                           72-73-74--219

4. Tony Vincelli, Unattached                          72-79-70--221

5. Mark Thompson, Southview                     69-78-76--223

6. Scott Gordon, Mendakota                        74-79-72--225

7. Willie Wilson, Forest Hills CC                  78-74-75--227

8. Bruce Haselrud, Southview                      80-75-73--228                     


Team leaders

1. Seiwert, Traeger, Grove, Jones              -59

2. Homb, Hapka, Lesch, Glass                   -57

T3. DuToit, Haselrud, Hooker, Kowalski      -54

T3. Kroetsch, Shepard, Sullivan, Irwin         -54


WOMEN'S DIVISION

Professionals


1. Lisa Grimes, Alexandria GC            $1,000     70

2. Julie Hennessy, Lewiston                   $500      73

T3. Angie Ause, Oak Marsh                   $300      74

T3. Carolyn Barnett-Howe                     $300      74

T3. Katie Detlefsen, Somerby               $300       74

6. Martha Nause, Mendakota                $100       77

7. Kristi Meyer, Wayzata                        $100      78

8.  Lori Money, Deer Run                       $100      86

9. Kathy Swanson, Minnesota PGA       $100      88

Amateurs

1. Heiley Boner, Southview                                 77

2. Mary Sweeney, Hillcrest                                 79

3. Taylor Drenttel, Southview                              80

T4. Vicki Burns, Bolstad/University                    85

T4. Mallory Drenttel, Southview                         85   

Women's Teams

1. Swanson, Fraser, Mullen, Chernos             -19

2. Grimes, Steinke, Honsa, Zweber                -16

3. Detlefsen, Sillerud, Fenwick, Neska           -15

4. Hennessy, Drenttel, Drenttel, Drenttel        -14


 

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