Warian Is Medalist & Gophers Are Team Champs at Highland Meadows
April 16, 2024
By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org
EDINA, Minn. – Surrendering a late lead for the second time in two weeks must’ve seemed like a cruel flashback for Frankie Capan Wednesday during the final round of the 117th Minnesota Golf Association Amateur Championship.
Capan was unable to bounce back from a pair of mid-round bogeys at last week’s Minnesota State Open, and watched as University of Minnesota golfer Angus Flanagan pulled away with a two-stroke victory.
Entering the final 18 holes with a four-stroke lead, Capan was bounced from the top of the leaderboard with back-to-back bogeys late to relinquish his lead once again. This time however, Capan flipped the script by rallying with a pair of birdies to hold off the surging duo of Andrew Israelson and Van Holmgren to collect his first state victory and a little redemption as well.
“It always feels good to win and hoist a trophy at the end of the day, but I wish I had a couple shots back,” Capan said following his final round Wednesday. “The game is feeling good and after last week, I really wanted this one. Angus put together a very good final round and ended up shooting the course record. I put together really good golf and just got beat. It was tough to get over last week, but this one feels really good.
“It was a very up-and-down round today. I started off with a par and then birdied two—made a nice little 40-footer, but wasn’t really able to get anything going until later in the round. It was a little frustrating because it was a lot different than the first two days. I was playing well and hitting good, consistent shots and making birdies on the easier holes."
After lengthy putts to start, Capan was unable to make any substantial putts for the next 14 holes. Bogeys at four and six trimmed Capan’s lead to one over Holmgren, but he rolled in a short birdie at the eighth to turn at 11-under for the championship.
A two-putt birdie at the par-5 12th stretched Capan’s lead to two, but he would run into trouble at the 13th by putting his second shot into the water. Limiting the damage with a bogey, and clinging to a share of the lead, Capan bogeyed the par-4 14th to fall one back.
Capan responded by sticking his approach inside of six feet at the 15th and rolled in his birdie look to pull even with Holmgren. Finding the rough left of the 16th fairway, Capan took control by hitting one of his best shots of the tournament. From thick grass Capan chopped his approach to 25 feet and drilled his birdie chance to take sole possession of the lead.
“Walking up the 16th green I had a smile on my face because I had a good feeling I’d make that putt,” said Capan.
With back-to-back bogeys by Holmgren on the final two holes, Capan carded a pair of routine pars to clinch the victory, setting a tournament record in relation to par at 12-under 204.
Capan, a North Oaks, Minn., product, played two seasons at the University of Alabama but will transfer to Florida Gulf Coast University later this year with Wednesday’s counterpart, Holmgren and Winona State University transfer Brady Madsen.
Asked how the decision to transfer came about, Capan replied, “I chalk that one up to Van—he’s really good at recruiting. Florida is a great place and I’ve always felt as though I’d eventually like to move there, assuming I go on to play professional golf. After I made the decision to leave Alabama, he and I went down to Florida Gulf Coast and checked it out and felt it was the best place for me.
“Van and I have a nice little rivalry growing right now. He and I are playing two more tournaments this summer, so we’re looking forward to that. He and I are best of friends—I’ve known him since I was six or seven. Both of our games are in good shape and we can’t wait to get down to Florida and tee it up.”
Prior to his win Wednesday, Capan notched four top-10 finishes during his first two seasons for the Crimson Tide. Last summer he advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 117th Western Amateur Championship at Point O’Woods Golf and Country Club.
In 2016 he won the AJGA Junior Puerto Rico Open and was invited to the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open, where he missed the cut by one stroke. He earned medalist honors and the team title the following year at the Toyota Junior World Cup in Japan. During his senior year at Southwest Christian Academy near Phoenix, Ariz., Capan carded a 59 to claim the individual title by 10 strokes.
Capan qualified for three U.S. Junior Amateur Championships and three straight U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championships, winning the national tournament with partner Ben Wong in 2017 at Pinehurst. He was named the MGA Junior Boys’ Player of the Year later that year. He will make his first appearance at the U.S. Amateur Championship next month at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore.
Entering Wednesday’s final round eight shots off the lead, the defending MGA Players’ champion Israelson posted a tournament-low 7-under par 65, that included a stretch of five birdies in a seven-hole span to quietly finish in second place at 10-under par 206—without the longest club in his bag.
“I didn’t have a driver. I broke it mid-round yesterday and I got a couple new shafts in there last minute, but they’re not what I need, so I only hit that a handful of times today. It was probably a good thing because I was hitting a lot of fairways and hitting a lot of really good wedges. I rolled the putter really well—I changed the putter, too,” Israelson laughed, “I honestly probably should’ve putted with that putter all week. I’m kind of kicking myself now, but I missed a 4-footer on 17 for birdie and another inside of 10 feet on 18.
Israelson played the second and third rounds of the tournament without a bogey.
“I’m excited where my game is at and happy I was able to come out and play well," he said. "I wish I would’ve played the course more, so I should’ve been a little more prepared—that’s probably the one regret from the week, but I played as smart and well as I could have.”
Playing his first 12 holes in 3-under Wednesday, Holmgren moved to 11-under with his birdie at the par-5 13th and would take the lead momentarily when Capan made bogey at the 14th. But the chance of a second title in three seasons was dashed with two bogeys on the final two holes as Holmgren would card a final-round 70 to finish in a tie for third with Sammy Schmitz and Trent Peterson at 9-under 207.
Edina Country Club played host to the event for the first time in 34 years this week. Dave Nordeen posted a 2-over 218 to win the championship in 1986.
The 118th MGA Amateur Championship will be played July 19-21, 2021 at Rush Creek Golf Club in Maple Grove, Minn.
April 15, 2024
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