BLAINE, Minn. (Sept. 24, 2013) -- The foursome of J.T. Johnson, Trent Peterson, Mark Aldrich and Erik Christopherson got off to a great start to share the lead after the opening round of the 2013 Minnesota Golf Association Team Championship Monday at TPC Twin Cities.
The team was tied for the lead at 7-under par 137 going into the final day, and showed little signs of slowing down, shooting an impressive 10-under par 134 Tuesday to win the championship by two strokes.
Peterson, Valleywood Golf Course, played spectacular golf for the third consecutive day, beginning with a victory Sunday at the Minnesota Public Golf Association Combination Championship at Bunker Hills Golf Club.
On his own ball Peterson carded a 65 to singlehandedly lead the team to its first Team Championship victory.
“I started out and stiffed one on the first hole and [Peterson] took over, and it was lights out—absolutely lights out,” Peterson’s teammate J.T. Johnson said.
“We made one bogey, but I drove the ball great, I hit my irons great and putted great,” Peterson laughed after the win.
With half of the team starting on the first hole and the other half starting on the 10th, the team shot 5-under on both sides beginning with a birdie on the opening hole followed by an eagle on the third to quickly go to 3-under.
After a birdie at the fifth the team moved to 4-under before back-to-back birdies on the seventh and eighth put them at 6-under before a bogey on the ninth dropped them to 5-under at the turn.
Peterson, Johnson, Valleywood Golf Course, Aldrich, Mendakota Country Club, and Christopherson, Teemaster-Baker National, continued their relentless attack on the course as they started birdie-birdie-eagle on the final nine holes.
A bogey on the 14th hole put the team back to 8-under, but an eagle to finish the tournament put them at 10-under for the day and 17-under overall.
“The difference in our score and everyone else’s is that I don’t think we misread a putt,” Johnson said. “We read puts really well. I heard everyone say, ‘we couldn’t figure out the greens,’ but we did a great job of reading putts.”
After a 6-under 138 Monday, the team of Jordan Hawkinson, Jeff Pint, Jesse Larson and Sammy Schmitz played an impressive round as well but came up two strokes short as they finished Tuesday’s final round at 15-under 273.
“We didn’t make any putts,” Schmitz said. “I think we had about eight lip-outs—which pretty much sums up our day. I didn’t hit very many greens but it would’ve been nice to help [Pint and Hawkinson] out a little more because they played great.”
Hawkinson, Chisago Lakes Golf Course, Pint, New Prague Golf Club, Larson, LeSueur Country Club, and Schmitz, Valley Golf Course, quickly jumped to 3-under after two holes with an eagle followed by a birdie on the second.
With a birdie on the sixth the team moved to 4-under but another eagle on the seventh moved them to 5-under. The foursome would make birdie on the eighth hole, but gave a stroke back with a bogey on the ninth to make the turn at 6-under.
On the final nine holes the team would record four more birdies with one bogey to finish the tournament in second at 15-under (273).
Bob Auman, Joel B. Johnson, both of the Links at Northfork, Julian Ramirez, Riverwood National Golf Club, and Curt Carbaugh, Keller Golf Club, began the day tied for the lead but carded a 7-under 137 for the second consecutive day to finish the tournament in third at 14-under 274.
The team seemed to have everything headed in the right direction by making birdie-birdie-eagle on the first three holes but a bogey on the fourth dropped them back to 3-under for the day.
On the final nine holes the foursome would make two birdies along with two bogeys, but made a valiant effort late as they made back-to-back eagles to finish strong, but it wouldn’t be enough as they ended the tournament three strokes behind the leaders.
The foursome of Brad Deyak, Daryl Schomer, Geoff Martinson, and Phil Bell, all of Wapicada Golf Club, began the day even and carded a final round 11-under par 133 to finish in fourth at 11-under 277.
The winners from a year ago, Steve Chelsey, Dellwood Country Club, Tony Daffer, Hazeltine National Golf Club, David Anderson, Rush Creek Golf Club, and John Greenagel, Windsong Farm, finished tied for fifth place at 9-under par 279.