Three Minnesotans Qualify for U.S. Junior Amateur

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By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org


  HASTINGS, Minn. – The 2017 golf season is still relatively early, but Minnesotan Frankie Capan is having a year he won’t forget any time soon. In April Capan won his third American Junior Golf Association tournament, the Ping Heather Farr Classic.

He followed it by winning the 2017 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship with partner Shuai Ming Wong at Pinehurst three weeks ago. On Friday, Capan returned home from Japan after leading Team USA to the Junior World Cup title, earning individual medalist honors along the way.

Capan added another highlight to his season by shooting 6-under par 67 Thursday at Emerald Greens Golf Course to qualify for the 2017 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship along with fellow statesmen Lincoln Johnson and Jack Ebner.

Starting on the 10th tee Thursday, Capan rolled in four birdies on his front nine to start hot in wet conditions to turn at 4-under before recording birdie at the par-5 fifth.

Dropping a shot with bogey at the seventh, Capan finished on a high note by sinking his eagle putt from six feet on the final hole to share medalist honors with Johnson.

“I started off well and I was pretty consistent,” Capan said Thursday. “I made a lot of pars and took advantage of the par-5’s today—I was 6-under on five par-5’s, so that’s where I got all my birdies.

“I knew 4-under was likely leading or tied for the lead, so I felt pretty good going to the front. I felt coming into the day if you birdied the par-5’s and played the rest of the course consistent, maybe one or two under, that you’d do just fine out here. I actually thought six would win it. I ended up getting in, which is all that matters.”

Qualifying for his third U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, Capan hopes to improve on a performance from last year, in which he advanced to the Round of 16.

“I lost to Min Woo Lee, who ended up winning, in extra holes last year. This is by far my favorite junior event. To be playing again feels good and learning from my past two experiences, hopefully we can make it a little farther this time,” he said.

“My game feels good—I need to work on my driver a little bit going into the summer, but my short game feels good and my irons feel really good.”

With two tap-in birdies on the par-5’s on the opening nine, Johnson would turn at 2-under before building momentum quickly on the back. Johnson rolled in a 25-foot birdie at the 10th before carding back-to-back birdies at the 12th and 13th holes to move to 5-under for the round.

Johnson sank another long birdie chance at the par-3 15th and looked to finish strong with two par-5’s remaining.

“When I birdied 15 it got me to 6-under with two par-5’s left. Right there I knew I had a chance to go lower,” he said. “

After a tap-in birdie at the 17th, Johnson sat at 7-under, but a three-putt bogey on the final hole put him into a tie with Capan for medalist honors at 67.

“It was a gettable course and I knew that and I told myself to stay patient. I knew some putts would fall and if they didn’t—they didn’t,” Johnson said Thursday. “I was really happy with how my putter rolled today. I felt like I could stand over a putt and tell myself that it was going in.”

Johnson, Chaska, Minn., qualified for the national championship last year as well but failed to qualify for the match play portion of the tournament.

“It was an unreal experience—the USGA treats us like royalty out there, it’s unbelievable. I can’t wait for this year and what it holds," Johnson said. My goal is to make it to match play and try to compete. Last year I tried to take everything in, but this year I want to do my best to go farther. It’s about the mindset of how you come back from the bad shots and manage to keep a good round going.”

A birdie on the first playoff hole gave Jack Ebner the third and final qualifying spot Thursday as Ebner, Will Freeman and Luke Alexander all finished 18 holes of regulation at 5-under par 68.

Beginning his round on the 10th tee Thursday, Ebner started quickly with a birdie on the opening hole and added a second birdie at the 13th to move to 2-under before making a three-putt bogey at the 15th. He would roll in four birdies on his back nine to jump up the leaderboard to finish in a four-way tie for third at 68.

The 2017 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship will be played July 17-22 at Flint Hills National Golf Club in Andover, Kan.

Freeman, of St. Cloud Minn., and Alexander, Rochester, Minn., finished as first and second alternates, respectively.

Parker Reddig, a Minneapolis, Minn., native, carded a round of 68 June 12 at Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls, S.D., to earn a share or medalist honors and qualify for the national championship next month.