Van Rooyen Shoots 64, Leads Hessels by 1 after 36 Holes

WEST ST. PAUL -- Erik Van Rooyen never got a chance to defend the Minnesota State Amateur championship that he won at Hastings Country Club in 2012.

After concluding his college career at the University of Minnesota by playiing in the NCAA tournament during the spring of 2013, he turned professional and went home to South Africa to play on the Sunshine Tour. 

But Van Rooyen is back in Minnesota this week -- he plans to be here for six weeks -- and he seems to be picking up right where he left off. Actually, he's playing even better than he did when he won the State Am.

He got off to a slow start Friday morning in first round of the 2016 Tapemark Charity Pro-Am, posting a 3-over-par 38 on the back nine at Southview Country Club. Since then, however, he's been virtually flawless. He zipped around the front nine in 31 to turn Friday's round into a 2-under 69, and on Saturday it was more of the same, as he put together one of the easiest 64's the Tapemark has ever seen.

Van Rooyen's 36-hole total of 133 (9 under) has him in the lead, one stroke ahead of New Richmond assistant Ian Hessels, who shot 67 for the second day in a row. Another stroke back, is the University of Minnesota men's golf team coaching staff -- head coach John Carlson and his assistant, Justin Smith -- both at 135, tied for third place.  

Carlson has won the Tapemark twice (2007 and '08), and he's probably been the most consistent top-5/top-10 finisher in the tournament over the past decade. His 69 on Saturday had that kiind of look to it. Very steady. Very solid. Starting on the back nine, he made 12 consecutive pars, then birdied the two par-5's on the front nine, the 470-yard fourth and the 476-yard sixth, added a birdie at the 363-yard, par-4 eighth, before making his only bogey of the day at the ninth (331 yards, par 4), the result of a three-putt. 

"I was pin high in two," he noted, "and that was a mistake. It's basically an automatic three-putt from there. You have to stay below the hole." 

Smith's round was more of an adventure. He bogeyed two of the first five holes, then went birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey from the ninth through the 12th holes.

"At that point, I was 2 over for the round and pretty frustrated," he admitted afterward.

The former Gopher All-American got things going in the right direction when he made a 12-footer for birdie at the 152-yard, par-3 13th. He followed that with a birdie at the 14th -- and then birdied the last four holes in a row. Suddenly, frustration had turned into a 68.

Troy Burne assistant Brent Snyder is alone in fifth at 136, after consecutive 68's, and there is a fivesome tied for sixth at 137 that includes seven-time Tapemark champ Don Berry, the head pro at Edinburgh USA, and mini-tour pro Chris Meyer, who has finished third and fourth in his only two Tapemark appearances.

Meyer's 69 on Saturday should probably have been better. He's one of the longer hitters in the tournament, averaging over 300 yards with his driver, and he was 7 under after 16 holes, with two short par-5's remaining. But he made a double bogey 7 at the 490-yard 17th and a par at the 481-yard 18th. So instead of being 8 or 9 under, as you would have expected him to end up, he's at minus 5 going into Sunday's final round.

Van Rooyen has concentrated his efforts since turning pro on becoming fully exempt for the European Tour. He's part of the way there, having earned conditional status. 

"I can play in the events that are co-sponsored (by the European and the Sunshine tours)," he explained Saturday.

As a result, he gets to play in the events that are early in the schedule, because they are contested in South Africa, but then he's locked out for pretty much the rest of the schedule. This year, for example, he was No. 44 on the 2015-16 European Tour money list after four tournaments, but he's played in only one event since the middle of January, and has dropped to No. 167 on the money list.

Nevertheless, his name is still prominent in a couple of the Euro Tour's statistical categories. In fact, Van Rooyen is No. 3 in Greens in Regulation with 78.5 percent -- he's behind only Rory McIlroy (81.5) and Ian Poulter (80.6) -- and he's No. 9 in Driving Distance with an average of 307.1 yards. McIlroy, for purposes of comparison, is No. 32 in that category with an average of 298.2.

Those stats were not a surprise to the guys who played with Van Rooyen the last two days. 

"He struggled the first nine," said Nathan Proshek, a former Minnesota State Four-Ball champion (with partner Jeff Pint). "Since then, it's been a clinic, an absolute clinic. If you wanted to know how you're supposed to strike a golf ball, this was it for the last 27 holes. Every shot goes where he wants it to go."

In those 27 holes, Van Rooyen has missed one green in regulation. That was No. 8 on Saturday. His shot from the left rough actually landed within a couple of feet of the hole, but it rolled over the green, and the result was a bogey. Van Rooyen's other bogey on Saturday was a three-putt at the par-3 10th. 

"It was an easy 64," Proshek marvelled, and the other two amateurs in Van Rooyen's group, Bennett Schroeder and Will Steinke, nodded in agreement. 

They all said Van Rooyen's score could have been three or four strokes lower, because he lipped out quite a few putts, beginning with the first three holes. But he began his descent under par with an eagle at the 470-yard, par-5 fourth, where he hit a 330-yard drive and a wedge from 138 yards to 12 feet. At the 476-yard, par-5 sixth, the drive is substantially uphill; so Van Rooyen's travelled a mere 305 yards there. He knocked an 8-iron on the green and two-putted for his first birdie of the day. 

(Last Monday, Van Rooyen was paired with golf's newest rising star, Bryson DeChambeau, and Sundance pro Aaron McClay in the U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying in Powell, Ohio. The 52-year-old McClay, who had never made it through Local Qualifying before in about 20 tries, said on Saturday that for him, the pairiing was the thrill of a lifetime. He confirmed that the flamboyant DeChambeau was every bit as good as advertised, and that the 63 he shot in second round was an absolute masterpiece. But he also noted that Van Rooyen, although he didn't qualify, was hitting his driver 20 or 30 yards past DeChambeau.)

With his length, Van Rooyen was hitting a lot of flip wedges to the par-4's at Southview, even when he hit hit irons off the tee. He made another birdie at the 375-yard, par-4 seventh hole, converting from 8 feet, and he hit a wedge to within 2 1/2 feet at the ninth for another birdie, after the missed-green bogey at the eighth. He then bounced back from the three-putt bogey at the 10th by hitting a 330-yard drive at the 11th and a wedge from there to 1 foot, for another tap-in birdie.

He capped off the round by hitting a 170-yard, uphill 7-iron to the front of the green at the 490-yard, par-5 17th and chipping to 18 inches, and a 165-yard, uphill 7-iron to 15 feet at the 481-yard, par-5 18th and then hanging that eagle putt on the edge of the cup. 

At Southview, when the greens are as fast as they are this weekend, the motto is "Long is wrong," and Van Rooyen said that was the reason for his bad first nine on Friday. 

"I was hitting the ball beyond the hole, and you just can't do that," he lamented. "After that, I've tried to make sure that I stayed below the hole. I'd rather have a 50-foot putt uphill than a 10-footer downhill. And sometimes being pin high on these greens isn't what you want, either. Below the hole is definitely the place to be." 

Hessels, spent nearly a decade playing various mini-tours -- he was No. 8 on the Dakotas Tour money list in 2012 with more than $20,000 -- and made several starts on the then-Nationwide, now-web.com Tour, has been an assistant at New Richmond since the spring of 2014. But he can still hold his own in tournament competition. He was seventh at the Tapemark last year, and so far this year he's following the standard method for success at Southview: Take advantage of the par-5's. 

On Friday, he made one birdie and one bogey on the non-5's and birdied all the 5's. On Saturday, he birdied both of the 5's on the front nine -- 4 and 6 -- and sandwiched a birdie at the 211-yard, par-3 fifth in between for a run of three in a row. The only stain on his front nine was a bogey at the par-4 seventh. He also bogeyed the par-4 11th, but he made up for that  with a string of four consecutive 3's that included birdies at the 12th (330 yards) and the 14th (386), along with pars at the 13th and 15th. 

His birdie at the 17th was his seventh in a row on the par-5's this weekend, but that streak ended when he parred the 18th. It was still good enough for another 67.

In the Women's Division, Martha Nause, the former LPGA Tour regular who has won the first two Women's Tapemark championships in 2012 and 2013, is in position to do it again. She put together a 1-under 70 iin Saturday's first round and has a three-stroke lead over Katie Detlefsen. Detlefsen tied Nause for first in the inaugural women's competition four years ago, but lost the title in a playoff.  


MINNESOTA PROFESSIONAL GOLF 

Tapemark Charity Pro-Am 

At Southview Country Club

Par 71, 6,121 yards

West St. Paul 

Second-round results

Professionals 

1. Erik Van Rooyen, Cape Town, So. Africa    69-64--133

2. Ian Hessels, New Richmond GC                 67-67--134

T3. John Carlson, Southview CC                       66-69--135

T3. Justin Smith, Bolstad/University                  67-68--135

5. Brent Snyder, Troy Burne GC                       68-68--136

T6. Don Berry, Edinburgh USA                          68-69--137

T6. Chris Meyer, Dallas Athletic Club                68-69--137

T6. Andy Rauscher, Blackstone CC (Ariz.)        71-66--137

T6. Jon Trasamar, Windsong Farm GC             67-70--137

T6. Josh Whalen, Elk River CC                         70-67--137

11. Dave Tentis, Troy Burne GC                        68-70--138

T12. John Cleary, Bolstad/University GC          70-69--139

T12. Ryan Helminen, Ridgeway CC (Wis.)        69-70--139

T12. Jeff Sorenson, The Minikahda Club           70-69--139

Amateurs

1. Sammy Schmitz, Southview CC                    73-69--142

T2. Scott Fenwick, Southview CC                      71-72--143

T2. Eric Hayne, Delwood CC                             74-69--143

T4.Bennett Schroeder, Windsong Farm GC      71-73--144

T4. Gary Thalhuber, Midland Hills CC                73-71--144

Women's Division 

First-round results

Professionals 

1. Martha Nause, Mendakota CC                       70 

2. Katie Detlefsen, Somerby GC                         73

T3. Angela Ause, Oak Marsh GC                       77

T3. Kristi Meyer, Wayzata CC                            77

5. Jody Christensen, Medina G&CC                  78

6. Kathy Swanson, Minnesota Section PGA      81

7. Kalynn Dolby, Mascoutin GC (Wis.)               83

8. Lori Money, Deer Run GC                              84

Amateurs 

T1. Taylor Drenttel, Southview CC                    81

T1. Kathryn Hauff, Oxbow CC (N.D.)                81

3. Jennifer Pederson, Southview CC                84