October 2015 Official Publication

The Official Publication of the
Minnesota Section PGA
October 2015
What’s Inside?
Follow us on INSTAGRAM:
@MinnesotaPGA
NEW Minnesota Golf License Plate!
Year-to-Go Ryder Cup Event
Drive, Chip & Putt National Qualifiers

Section Updates
3………………………… NEW! Minnesota Golf License Plate
Tournament Information
4-8……………………… September 2015 Tournament Results
Announcements
9……………………….. “Year-to-Go” Ryder Cup Event
Junior Golf
10……………………… Fall Tournament Schedule
11……………………… Drive, Chip & Putt National Qualifiers

Join the Minnesota Section PGA and Minnesota Golf Association in supporting youth golf
initiatives by purchasing your new Minnesota Golf License Plate. The mission of the license
plate is to help support the Foundation's initiatives of free programs, services and resources
for youth golfers in Minnesota.
Buy a Golf License Plate to help grow the game that you love and support youth golfer
development in Minnesota. The License Plate Program aims to introduce and engage
individuals of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds to the game of golf by providing
instruction, education and playing opportunities throughout the State.
The Minnesota Golf License Plate Program will impact and enhance the lives of individuals
utilizing the game of golf—a game for a lifetime. The program will achieve its vision and
mission through fundraising programs and golf programming targeted to enhance individuals'
lives and better communities.
All proceeds raised through License Plate sales will support programs that encourage player
development all over Minnesota to help grow the game. These programs include the Fairway
Foundation, the First Tee programs of Minnesota, golf in schools programs, military programs
to benefit our armed forces, and Special Olympics Minnesota.
Please view online at the Minnesota DMV website or visit your local county DMV to
purchase!

September 2015 Tournament Results
Tournament Date & Host Course Champion
First Tee St. Croix Valley Pro-
Am
MN Senior PGA Professional
Championship
47 th Faribault Pro-Am
River Bend Business Products
Pro-Am
MN PGA Match Play
Championship
Cutter & Buck Facility Team
Championship
Luther Tour Championship
MN PGA Assistants’
Championship
MN Senior Match Play
Championship
September 2, 2015
Troy Burne Golf Club
Hudson, WI
September 8-9, 2015
Dellwood Country Club
Dellwood, MN
September 13, 2015
Faribault Golf Club
Faribault, MN
September 14, 2015
New Ulm Country Club
New Ulm, MN
September 15-18, 2015
Brackett’s Crossing Country Club
Lakeville, MN
September 21, 2015
The Classic at Maddens
Brainerd, MN
September 23, 2015
Windsong Farm Golf Club
Maple Plain, MN
September 28, 2015
Golden Valley Golf & Country Club
Duluth, MN
September 30-October 1, 2015
Edina Country Club
Edina, MN
Corey Johnson
Eric Rolland
(-2)
Don Berry
(-2)
Robert Cliff
Thomas Vizina
(-1)
Don Berry
(-5)
Matt Norgaard
(19 Holes over D. Berry)
Brischke/Travers (Tanners Brook GC)
Wynne/Jamieson (University GC)
(-5)
Don Berry
(-5)
Eric Rolland
(-7)
Don Berry
(19 Holes over M. Flaherty)

Golden Valley Golf & Country Club
September 28, 2015
Other qualifiers for the National Car Rental PGA Assistant Championship are Ben Meyers of
Medina G&CC, Brian Seiwert of Bearpath G&CC, & Julian Ramirez of Riverwood Nat’l GC

Dellwood, MN—The hot streak continues for Don Berry of Edinburgh USA as he claimed the Minnesota
Senior PGA Professional Championship for the second year straight after winning the Minnesota PGA
Professional Championship, for professionals both over and under 50, just a few weeks ago. Berry, along
with four others, will qualify for the Senior PGA Professional National Championship at Bayonet & Black
Horse in Monterey, California on Oct. 15-18. He will have the opportunity to qualify for both the PGA
and Senior PGA championships, an extremely impressive feat.
Berry began the day tied for the lead at 1-under with Mike Flaherty of University GC, who will be joining
Berry in California for the Senior PGA Professional National. Unlike Berry, Flaherty struggled early on in
his round including 5 bogeys on the front nine. He finished 4-over on the front but recovered nicely on
the back with a score of 3-under to put his round total at 1-over for the day and in a tie for second place.
Also finishing at a total of even par and in second place through 36 holes were Bill Israelson of Vintage
GC, Dale Jones of Mendakota CC, and Dave Tentis of Troy Burne GC. Jones and Tentis matched their first
day totals of even par while Israelson posted the final round low score of 2-under including only one
bogey to go with his three birdies.
Berry, Flaherty, Israelson, Jones, and Tentis are the five qualifiers from the Minnesota Section who will
travel to the Senior PGA Professional National Championship. The alternates are Craig Brischke of
Tanners Brook GC, Mike Barge of Hazeltine National GC, and George Smith of Second Swing.
Don Berry of Edinburgh USA
Dellwood Country Club
September 8-9, 2015

Lakeville, MN— Norgaard, the ninth seed in the tournament, had a first round bye along with the other top 27 seeds.
After that he faced the 24th seeded Matt Vandelac in the second round winning 7&6 comfortably, and 25th seeded
Brad Pluth in the third round also advancing 4&3. From the fourth round and beyond, Norgaard’s matches would
intensify and be anything but a walk in the park for the former two-time Assistants’ Section Player of the Year (2004,
2008). His last three match-ups were against familiar names in Eddie Wynne, Brent Snyder, and Don Berry; “Eddie,
Brent, and Don’s playing records in the Match Play have been very good as all three have won the event (Eddie & Brent
– twice) and Don – 5 times,” said Norgaard.
His quarterfinal match-up was against defending champion and last year’s Section Player of the Year runner-up Eddie
Wynne of University GC. The match proved to be as tough as advertised for Norgaard, but he prevailed on the first
playoff hole; “I made a 50 foot putt at the right time.” In the semifinals, it did not get any easier with Brent Snyder, a
participant in this year’s PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, awaiting Mr. Norgaard. This match was delayed four
hours after there was an excessive amount of rain and severe weather on what was supposed to be the last day of the
tournament.
This was not the only delay in the match as there was another stoppage on the 17th hole with both on their second
shots, but this delay may have helped more than hurt Norgaard. “Having the opportunity to think about it for a few
hours, I decided to hit a safer shot that would keep me in the hole. It turned out to be the correct decision as I was able
to get up and down for par to halve the hole and keep the match all square headed to the 18th hole.” Both players had
birdie putts on 18 with Snyder missing his 10-foot putt first, and Norgaard who had a similar line, nailed the 6-foot putt
to earn his spot in the championship match.
His storied tournament run had one more obstacle in the way, last year and likely this year’s Section Player of the Year
Don Berry, who was as motivated as ever to win this tournament considering his three consecutive championship
match losses in as many years. The match began in the afternoon after the semifinal matches concluded, but the
starting time was very late due to previous delays. Norgaard had experienced some struggles with his driver in previous
matches causing him to be hesitant with it until later in the match, “I didn’t hit the driver until the par 5, 14th hole. I hit
a good drive in the fairway that allowed me to get my second shot on the green. That birdie gave me a 1 up lead as we
had to suspend play due to darkness.”
They resumed play the next day, and Norgaard’s momentum and one shot lead did not last long, “Don chipped-in on
the 15th hole to square the match,” he recalled. The score would remain square after Berry bogeyed the 18th. On the
first playoff hole, Norgaard caught his big break he had been looking for after his two-putt for par; “Don came up just
short of the green on his approach and chipped up to 5 feet. After making these putts routinely throughout the match,
this one just missed.” This clinched Norgaard’s first major Section Title Victory in dramatic fashion.
Brackett’s Crossing Country Club
September 15-18, 2015
Matt Norgaard defeated Don Berry (19 Holes)

Edina, MN—(2) Don Berry of Edinburgh USA bounces back after a tough Match Play Championship loss
at Brackett's Crossing CC with a 19 Hole championship match victory at Edina Country Club in the 2015
Minnesota PGA Senior Match Play Championship. This is Berry's third victory in four years in this event
with his lone defeat coming at the expense of Dave Nordeen of Somerby GC last year. He finishes an
impressive campaign in the Senior events including wins in all three of the major events: Senior Open,
Senior Section Championship, and Senior Match Play.
Although Berry has experienced a large amount of success in all of his Senior events this season, he
really had to earn the Senior Match Play Victory against a worthy opponent in (4) Mike Flaherty of
University GC. Flaherty, playing in his first Senior Match Play Championship, got off to a solid start when
Berry bogeyed #2 and he parred to go 1 up. After that, Flaherty would never have the lead but still
managed to force extra holes. Berry dropped a 50-footer for birdie on #3 to pick up momentum on the
front nine, and another birdie for Berry on #8 would give him the lead 2 up at the turn.
Berry continued his strong play to begin the back nine as he went 3 up on #10 when Flaherty missed his
par putt. Just when it looked like Berry could walk away with a large victory, Flaherty fought back to
keep it close. Flaherty was just outside the fringe when he nailed a 45-foot birdie putt on the Par 3, #11
to bring the lead down to 2 up. That proved to be just the spark that Flaherty needed to get back into
the match; especially when Berry bogeyed the very next hole and the lead went to 1 up in favor of
Berry. It got even more interesting when Flaherty put his approach shot about 2-feet from the cup on
#14 and tapped in for birdie. Berry missed his birdie putt on #14 to make the match all square with four
to play.
On #16, it seemed as if Berry was in the midst of a significant collapse when his drive went out of
bounds on the Par 4. After his drop, he hit an incredible iron shot to about 10 feet and ended up halving
the hole. Flaherty and Berry parred #17 and #18 to send the match into a playoff. On the first playoff
hole, played on #1, Berry hit his approach shot about 12-feet from the hole while Flaherty saw his
approach miss the green by a few feet. Flaherty hit his third shot about 10 feet away, opening the door
for Berry. Don just missed his putt, making a par for the hole. Flaherty then had his 10-footer to force
another extra hole but came up just short.
Edina Country Club
September 30-November 1, 2015
Don Berry defeated Mike Flaherty (19 Holes)

Chaska, MN—This past week was a monumental experience for Golf within the state of
Minnesota as we hosted the Year-to-Go Ryder Cup event creating excitement and building off
of the buzz already surrounding the world renowned golf competition. Governor Mark
Dayton helped welcome both of the national and international Ryder Cup Captains, Davis
Love III for Team USA and Darren Clarke Team Europe. “I Mark Dayton, Governor of the state
of Minnesota, hereby proclaim the week of September 27-October 2, 2016 to be Ryder Cup
Week in the state of Minnesota,” announced Dayton at the welcome breakfast that was
hosted at the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis.
In addition to the welcome breakfast presented by the host venue of the 2016 matches, there
were several other highlights to the day including comments from both Ryder Cup captains
and PGA of America President Derek Sprague. Each captain took their turn praising the
history of the event, their excitement for the year to come and being able to compete for
their countries, and the honor bestowed upon them being named captain for their respective
teams.
Also speaking at the welcome breakfast were Presidents, CEO’s, and COO’s of the local sports
teams, including the Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Timberwolves, Minnesota Wild,
Minnesota Twins, and Minnesota Lynx. The respective local teams shared a welcoming
speech with the Ryder Cup captains as well as giving each of them a jersey of their team with
the last name of the captain on the back.
Love III closed his speech saying “Thank you all Minnesota, thank you for all of your support
and look forward to seeing a lot of you over the next year.”

Date Tournament Results
September 13
September 20
September 26-27
September 27
October 3-4
October 10
October 11
October 15-16
Fall Event – U of MN (Les Bolstad) GC
Saint Paul, MN
Fall Event – Cedar Creek GC
Albertville, MN
Fall Junior-Adult Championship
Coon Rapids, MN
Fall Event – Bunker Hills GC
Coon Rapids, MN
Fall Champions Showdown
North Oaks GC- North Oaks, MN
TPC Twin Cities- Blaine, MN
Fall Event – Pheasant Acres GC
Rogers, MN
Fall Event – Gross National GC
Minneapolis, MN
MEA Fall Classic
Keller GC- St. Paul, MN
Highland National GC- St. Paul, MN
Fall Champions Showdown Champs
Boys: Austin Meissner
Girls: Hannah Kohls
Boys: Brett Buckingham
Girls: Megan Welch
Boys: Lincoln & David Cizek
Girls: Grace & Andrea Kellar
Boys: Harrison Cooper
Girls: Hannah Kohls
Boys: Bobby Park
Girls: Sophia Yeomans
REGISTER
(Deadline 10/7)
REGISTER
(Deadline 10/11)
71-76-147
(+4)
*Won in
Playoff
81-73-154
(+8)
Bobby Park
Lake Elmo, MN
Sophia Yeomans
Red Wing, MN

Chaska, MN—The final event of the 2016 Drive Chip & Putt Championship within the Minnesota
Section has come to a close with the Regional Qualifier finishing up at Hazeltine National Golf Club on
Saturday, September 12th, 2015. There were a total of 81 participants who attended the Regional
Qualifier having qualified at their respective sites across the United States. At the event were both
boys and girls from the ages of 7 to 15 competing in four different age divisions: 7-9, 10-11, 12-13, and
14-15.
The top three players and performances were awarded in each of the three categories: Drive, Chip
and Putt as well as the Overall winners. The Overall winner in each gender and age division will move
on to play in the 2016 Drive, Chip and Putt Championship at Augusta National Golf Club on April 3rd,
2016; the weekend prior to the historic Masters Tournament. These eight players included Megan
Whittaker, Caleb Kimmel, Kaitlyn Hanna, Tate Herrenbruck, Kathryn VanArragon, JP Hepler, Avery
Zweig, and Sam Udovich. Most notably, Kathryn VanArragon (Girls 10-11 division) of Blaine, MN and
Sam Udovich (Boys 7-9 division) of Inver Grove Heights, MN will be representing the state of
Minnesota and the Minnesota Section in the national tournament.
Megan Whittaker
Elkhorn, NE
Caleb Kimmel
Olathe, KS
Kaitlyn Hanna
Omaha, NE
Tate Herrenbruck
Salina, KS
Kathryn VanArragon
Blaine, MN
JP Hepler
Overland Park, KS
Avery Zweig
Dallas, TX
Sam Udovich
Inver Grove Heights, MN