Wilcox Goes Wire-to-Wire to Claim First State Victory at MGA Senior Amateur

September 19, 2019 | 4 min.

 
By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org
 
 
  STILLWATER, Minn. – Despite his background as a former collegiate golfer, Trent Wilcox has shied away from competitive golf for a number of years, with the exception of a club championship now and again. Following the second round of the Minnesota Golf Association Senior Amateur Championship Wednesday at StoneRidge Golf Club, Wilcox confessed that his 15th round of the season was the most he’s played in well over a decade.
 
Playing in his first MGA senior event this week, the 55-year-old Wilcox survived a surge by 2017 champion David Haslerud during the final round Thursday, carding three birdies over his final six holes to earn a wire-to-wire, two-stroke victory for his first state championship win.
 
“This makes we want to play more. I’ll try to get more involved in MGA events and maybe some USGA events," Wilcox said after his victory Thursday. “I kept the ball in play and avoided the [double-bogeys]. I had one double all tournament, and on this course as tough as it is, that was fortunate. I putted streaky at times; I was doing well and then other times I wasn’t.”
 
Opening the championship with a round of 70 Tuesday, Wilcox maintained his lead over the field during the second round by shooting a 1-over 73 prior to darkness suspending play. Once the second round finished early Thursday, Wilcox carried a three-stroke lead to the final round at 1-under 143.
 
Haslerud played his first 18 holes at even par and was 1-under through 12 holes when play was suspended during the second round. Haslerud had the misfortune of restarting early Thursday and proceeded to bogey three of his final six holes to finish 36 holes in a tie for second with Tom Whaley at 2-over 146.
 
Rolling in birdie chances on his first two holes of the final round Thursday, Haslerud pulled within one of the lead before Wilcox sank a short birdie chance at the fifth to regain a two-shot advantage.
 
Early putting woes led to back-to-back bogeys at the fifth and sixth holes quickly erased Wilcox’s, but Haslerud ran into his own troubles with a pair of bogeys to close out the front nine two back of the lead.
 
Wilcox three-putted the 10th and 12th holes to once again fall into a share of the lead with Haslerud, but swung momentum in his favor with his biggest shot at the par-4 15th. Wilcox’s approach stopped four feet from the pin for a relatively easy birdie putt, while Haslerud was unable to get up-and-down for par from long and left of the green, resulting in a two-stroke swing.
 
“I’ve hit into that hole well all three days and you just have to trust it because the ball is going to bounces where you can’t see it, so you’ve just got to go over that hump and I hit a smooth [8-iron] thinking that was the club, and fortunately it was,” Wilcox said.
 
Looking to make a move late, Haslerud stuck his approach at the par-5 17th inside of six feet, but Wilcox answered by rolling his approach to a foot for a kick-in birdie to maintain a two-shot lead going to the final hole.
 
With a two-putt par on the final hole, Wilcox earned a two-stroke wire-to-wire victory for the first state victory of his career, finishing at even par 216.
 
“It was a little tight today—I wanted to keep loose with the swing, but it showed on the greens today. A couple of those long putts, I just couldn’t release the putter through. There were some subtle breaks and the pins were tucked in some interesting places.”
 
StoneRidge proved to be a formidable challenge this week as players fought strong winds during the first two rounds. Despite ideal scoring conditions during Thursday’s final round, all 48 players in the field posted a round of even par or higher as the course surrendered only three rounds below par the entire week.
 
A 55-year-old from Park Rapids, Minn., Wilcox played collegiate golf at both Wartburg College and Mankato State University before playing mini tours as a professional. Wilcox regained his amateur status in 2005, spending several years in the Phoenix area, eventually returning to Minnesota in 2011.
 
Thursday’s result is the third runner-up finish for Haslerud at the event over the past six seasons. Haslerud earned a four-stroke victory over Rose at Island View Golf Club in 2017.
 
“I lost that momentum—I had three bogeys,” Haslerud said of resuming the second round early Thursday. “My one and only three-putt of the tournament and two bad shots led to bogeys. I started out good today, but then leaked a little bit.
 
“My putting was really solid this week; I made a lot of five to 10-footers. I had probably four or five lip-outs that could’ve turned. I think I missed two fairways, but my mid-irons let me down a little bit. Trent was solid—he played well coming in and hit some good shots.”
 
Whaley, who entered the round tied for second with Haslerud at 2-over 146, fired a final-round 76 Thursday to place alone in third place at 6-over 222, while Jerry Rose carded a 73 during the third round to place fourth at 223.
 
The 2020 MGA Senior Amateur Championship will be played at Keller Golf Club.
 
 

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