Nick Schaefer wins The Birchmont

BEMIDJI, Minn. (August 2, 2015) – The Birchmont Golf Tournament concluded Saturday at Bemidji Town & Country Club in Bemidji, Minnesota. Players in the men’s championship division played 36-holes of stroke play to qualify for a round of 32 match play. Outlasting the field was Nick Schaefer of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Schaefer, a former golfer at the University of North Dakota, got off to a slow start in the championship match against Seth Hepper. Schaefer made four bogeys in his first seven holes and went to 3 down quickly. However, birdies on the par-5 ninth and 10th holes brought the match back to all square through 10. Hepper answered with birdies of his own on holes 11 and 12 and took a 1-up lead going into 18. With a chance to close out the match, Hepper bogeyed the par-4 18th and the match went to extra holes. Schaefer closed out the match on the 19th and took the championship.