Pine to Palm Spotlight Vol. 70 No. 3

84th PINE TO PALM

Sp tlight VOL. 70 NO. 3

DETROIT LAKES, MINNESOTA • SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016

Tanner Lane

GUNDERSON REAL ESTATE CO.

This Calls For A Bump and Run. Open daily at 11 a.m.

218.847.1949 2000 Long Bridge Rd Detroit Lakes www.longbridgedl.com

Tom Hanson passed away during the 2015 Pine to Palm. Tom was my business partner and dear friend. I miss him daily.

The sponsorship of the Pine to Palm 2016 Spotlight is dedicated to Tom and his memory.

Remember: Press, roll and re-roll!

Enjoy the Spotlight and Tournament.

Mike Gunderson

714 Lake Avenue • Detroit Lakes, MN 56501 218.847.1028 • www.gundersonrealestateco.com

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Saturday, August 13, 2016 SPONSORED BY ZORBAZ & GUNDERSON REAL ESTATE COMPANY

L-R: Beau Hanson, Connor Holland, Will Czeh and Tanner Lane all picked up victories Friday at the 84th Annual Pine to Palm championship title.

Tanner Lane caps Friday’s play with wild finish

BY ROBERT WILLIAMS rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com

Detroit Lakes’ native Tanner Lane was a fairway over on the final hole, 178 yards from the 18th green on the sixth hole, and stuck a nine iron that rolled to within 20 feet, setting up a birdie putt to defeat University of Minnesota’s Justin Doeden and give a loud throng of supporters a wild finish at day two of match play at the Pine to Palm golf tournament in Detroit Lakes.

“It was the best birdie of my life,” said Lane. “Below the hole is where you want to be and I decided to put it right at it and hit it up the slope and see what happens and it went in. It was fun to do.

I love this tournament and was happy to be able to pull one out tonight.”

Lane got off to a slow start, but started his back nine with a birdie on hole 10. He was two-down on 14 but finished par, birdie, par, birdie to win.

“I wasn’t swinging it well right away, so I figured if I could just hang on for a bit and ride it through, get to the back and hit some shots. Fortunately, I did.”

Minutes before Lane came to 18th green, 16-year-old Lincoln Cizek of Shakopee finished his round with an impressive 3&1 victory over Matthew Sieg in a battle of two of the bigger upset winners from Thursday.

Cizek controlled the match leading 3-up after five and 2-up at the turn

and keeping a buffer the rest of the way shooting five under for his round.

“I wasn’t hitting anything stiff yesterday; today everything was right on it,” Cizek said. “It felt good.”

Cizek is the youngest player to advance to the sweet 16 Saturday.

“I’m pretty stoked,” he said.

North Dakota State’s Connor Holland, the 2011 champion, defeated Nick Olsgaard 2-up continuing a week of consistent play.

“I just knew to keep grinding and never quit,” Holland said.

The duo were all square with three to play. Holland had a big birdie on 17. He’ll face Gopher Peter Jones Saturday.

Jones duked it out with local Ben Mallow in a 1-up victory.

“I just wasn’t making a lot of mistakes,” Jones said.

Mallow was sunk by bogeys on the back nine while Jones continued to follow his aim over the past four days of making smart choices on the tee and steering clear of trouble.

“I had one bogey on the front and just made a lot of pars,” said Jones. “I’ll just stick to my game plan of making smart decisions. I’ve been hitting driver really well this week. When you get in the trees here bogey, double come into play.”

Wisconsin’s Ben Skogen had a tight battle with incoming Gopher freshman Gus Minkin winning 1-up to move on in

the tournament.

The two were all square on 17. Skogen won with par on 18 to Minkin’s bogey.

“I came away with one,” said Skogen.

“I’ve been playing really confident, but towards the end I felt a lot of pressure.

I made some mistakes I won’t make tomorrow.”

Will Czeh and Colton Murphy got off to a hot start with each golfer putting a string of four birdies together in a quick start on the front nine. Czeh was 1-up at the turn and built his lead to 3-up on 14 prevailing 4&2.

“I had to battle pretty hard for that one, to be 1-up,” Czeh said.

Detroit Country Club has been a friendly course to Czeh who posted his best scores here during high school and continues to be a threat each summer at the Pine. A recent change in putting style has helped get him back on track.

“The putter is rolling good right now,” he said. “I haven’t putted good for the last few weeks. This week I opened my face a little bit more and I’m starting to see lines and roll puts in.”

The 2012 champion Beau Hanson had his hands full with Marc Vincelli, moving to the sweet 16 with a 1-up victory. Hanson led most of the match by a one to two hole margin.

“It was kind of a battle; I was fighting off a lot of birdies from him.”

Vincelli’s birdie on 16 evened the match and the two came to the 18th

AWARDS

Quarter Century MIKE CONNER, LEFT, AND RALPH HOOPER, RIGHT, were recognized at Thursday night’s banquet for a quarter century of participation at the Pine to Palm golf tournament.

green square. Hanson escaped with a tap in for the win.

“The longest tap in of my life,” he said. “I just didn’t even take a practice swing. Just got up there and hit it. No worries.”

Top seed Charlie Duensing cruised to a 6&5 victory over no. 33 Chris James.

Ninth-seeded Jordan Hahn had the most lopsided win of the day 7&6 over no. 41 Greg Melhus.

Gopher Grady Meyer advanced with ease in a 6&5 win over Bill Carlson.

Nick Myhre had a mild upset as the 19-seed taking out no. 14 Matt Rachey 3&2.

Gopher William Leaf, seeded 48th, had a big win over no. 16 Michael Abrahamson 5&4.

More success for the Gophers came in a 3&2 Riley Johnson victory over Michael Kosiek.

No. 4 Dan Johnson defeated Cade Montplaisir 2&1; No. 10 Brandon Sletmoen finished with a 1-up victory over Hunter Thorsen.

Saturday’s matchups: Duensing vs Leaf in an all-Gopher battle; Minnesota’s Riley Johnson takes on Badger Jordan Hahn; Concordia’s Cade Montplaisir and Gopher Grady Meyer; Bemidji State’s Will Czeh and 16-year-old Lincoln Cizek; Gopher Peter Jones vs.

NDSU’s Connor Holland; University of Omaha’s Brandon Sletmoen and Beau Hanson, and Tanner Lane vs. Jon Miller.

The chance of two holes in one in a single round are approx 67 million to 1.

Tiger Woods was only 8 when he got his first hole in one.

Saturday, August 13, 2016 SPONSORED BY ZORBAZ & GUNDERSON REAL ESTATE COMPANY

BRADY OPHEIM

MATT JOHNSON

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MITCH BUBOLTZ

Mid-Am

Top three seeds absent from Mid-Am semis 2016 MID-AM

BY ROBERT WILLIAMS

CHAMPIONSHIP

rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com

The two remaining seeds were both eliminated from the Pine to Palm Mid-Am quarterfinals to join defending champion Kent Spriggs on the outside looking in.

Matt Johnson is the highest remaining golfer at no. 4 after a 2&1 victory over Paul Uithoven spoiling the possibility of a Uithoven/Uithoven final.

No. 7 Scott Uithoven advanced with a 1-up victory that took out the second seed Jim Mikkelson.

Brady Opheim needed extra holes to foil a possible Johnson/ Johnson final defeating JT Johnson 1-up.

Matt Johnson will face no. 9 Mitch Buboltz. Buboltz won the all-Detroit Lakes battle with no.

16 Aaron Burnside after a 1-up victory that went the distance.

“I didn’t golf my best,” Burnside said.

KENT SPRIGGS

BURNSIDE 1-UP

AARON BURNSIDE JASON JUSTESEN

BUBOLTZ 1-UP BUBOLTZ 1-UP

MITCH BUBOLTZ MATT JOHNSON

JOHNSON 1-UP

DARREN HALEY

DUANE SIVERSON

JOHNSON 2 & 1 UITHOVEN 3 & 2

PAUL UITHOVEN JIM MIKKELSON TODD WAWERS

MIKKELSON 6 & 4

2016 Champion UITHOVEN 1-UP

SCOTT UITHOVEN UITHOVEN 2 & 1

BEN JURGENS JT JOHNSON KEVIN SWENSON

JOHNSON 3 & 2 OPHEIM 1-UP EXTRA HOLES

MICHAEL MELHUS

SCOTT UITHOVEN

BRADY OPHEIM

OPHEIM 1-UP

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Saturday, August 13, 2016

2016 PINE

CHAMPION CHARLIE DUENSING DUENSING 5 & 4 TANNER KRETCHMAN

DUENSING 6 & 5

LUKAS DAVISON JAMES 2 & 1 CHRIS JAMES MICHAEL ABRAHAMSON ABRAHAMSON 4 & 3 JUSTIN NELSON

THE BEST AP PROACH AT THE P IN E TO PALM.

LEAF 5 & 4

THOMAS LONGBELLA LEAF 1-UP WILLIAM LEAF RILEY JOHNSON JOHNSON 5 & 3 AUSTIN RENE

JOHNSON 3 & 2

MICHAEL KOSIEK KOSIEK 1-UP EXTRA HOLES ANDREW ISRAELSON JORDAN HAHN HAHN 5 & 4 ALEX KOOPMEINERS

HAHN 7 & 6

THOMAS STRANDEMO MELHUS 5 & 3 GREG MELHUS DAN JOHNSON JOHNSON 3 & 2 LUCAS JOHNSON

MONTPLAISIR 2 & 1

CADE MONTPLAISIR MONTPLAISIR 1-UP JORDIE SIVERSON BILL CARLSON CARLSON 6 & 5 LUCAS JOHNSON

MEYER 6 & 5

GRADY MEYER MEYER 6 & 5 KYLE JANDRO WILL CZEH CZEH 3 & 1 MASON FIDDLE

CZEH 4 & 2

COLTON MURPHY MURPHY 3 & 1 JON RUBIS PAT DEITZ SIEG 1-UP MATTHEW SIEG

CIZEK 3 & 1

LOWER BRACKET

BLAKE KAHLBAUGH CIZEK 1-UP EXTRA HOLES LINCOLN CIZEK

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FIRESIDEDL.COM FINAL • SUNDAY,

Saturday, August 13, 2016

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E TO PALM

NSHIP FIELD

UPPER BRACKET

JONES 2 & 1

PETER JONES CALEB KETTERLING

MALLOW 2 & 1

BEN MALLOW JACKSON FOTH

HOLLAND 4 & 2

CONNOR HOLLAND ERIC HARRIS

OLSGAARD 1-UP

NICK OLSGAARD TANNER SCHNATHORST

HANSON 4 & 3

BEAU HANSON TIM SANFORD

VINCELLI 3 & 2

THYLER SCHLOTFELDT MARC VINCELLI

SLETMOEN 2 & 1

BRANDON SLETMOEN COY PAPACEK

THORSEN 3 & 2

JACOB DEHNE HUNTER THORSEN

SKOGEN 6 & 5

BENJAMIN SKOGEN JOEY WAGNER

MINKIN 5 & 3

ERIK WEISS GUS MINKIN

RACHEY 2 & 1

MATT RACHEY ALEX GABRIEL

MYHRE 4 & 3

NICK MYHRE ANDREW PASSANANTE

DOEDEN 4 & 3

JUSTIN DOEDEN AUSTEN STROM

LANE 2 & 1

RICH KUHN TANNER LANE

SWENSON 5 & 4

CHRIS SWENSON AARON SMITH

MILLER 5 & 4

BRYANT BUCKELLEW JON MILLER

JONES 1-UP

HOLLAND 2-UP

HANSON 1-UP

SLETMOEN 1-UP

SKOGEN 1-UP

MYHRE 3 & 2

LANE 1-UP

MILLER 3 & 2

AUGUST 14 • 2:45PM

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Saturday, August 13, 2016 SPONSORED BY ZORBAZ & GUNDERSON REAL ESTATE COMPANY

KEITH AASEN

JOE DOUGHTY

MARC REDMAN

Seniors

Top seeds advance to Senior division final four

BY ROBERT WILLIAMS

2016 SENIOR

rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com

The four remaining players in the Pine to Palm Senior division come from the top five seeds with defending champion Keith Aasen at no. 1 taking on no. 5 Joe Doughty in Saturday’s first semifinal.

Aasen has five consecutive match wins at the Pine to Palm and picked up his fifth in a hurry defeating no. 8 TL Solien 6&4.

The other semifinal features a matchup between no. 2 AJ Greff and no. 3 Marc Redman.

Both players won their quarterfinal matches handily.

Greff defeated no. 10 Chuck Wiger 6&4, while Redman took care of no. 11 Mark Doyle 4&3.

Doughty had the closest quarterfinal match with no. 4 Dan Drenth and kept the final four from being the top four seeds with a 2&1 victory.

CHAMPIONSHIP KEITH AASEN AASEN 3 & 2

TIM CARLSON TL SOLEIN

AASEN 6 & 4 SOLIEN 3 & 2

SCOTT LINNEROOTH DAN DRENTH DRENTH 3 & 2

JAMES REMER JOE DOUGHTY

DOUGHTY 2 & 1 DOUGHTY 2 & 1

DAN ELTON

2016 Champion

AJ GREFF GREFF 2 & 1

RUSS NEWMAN

GREFF 6 & 4

MARK FERRELL CHUCK WIGER

WIGER 1-UP EXTRA HOLES

MARC REDMAN ROBERT SCHULTZ

REDMAN 5 & 4 REDMAN 4 & 3

JOHN BERG

AJ GREFF

MARK DOYLE

DOYLE 2-UP

Saturday, August 13, 2016 SPONSORED BY ZORBAZ & GUNDERSON REAL ESTATE COMPANY

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L to R, Tessa Witham, Lauren Kjonaas, Bella Ward, Aidan Saunders, Jett Parker, Kru Parker, Sirus Sargent, Mikkel Heinlein, Griffin Lindbergh, Sully Braaten, Breck Gatheridge, Luke Tobkin, & Max Vincelli

Five-time champion Chuck Renner, left, and Doug Gillund work the putter magic during Friday’s match play.

Super Seniors

Renner extends streak to 22 matches

BY ROBERT WILLIAMS rwilliams@dlnewspapers.com

Despite a less than enthused level of confidence during the qualifying round, five-time defending champion Chuck Renner continues to be unbeatable in Pine to Palm Super Seniors winning his 22nd consecutive match Friday defeating 2010 champion Paul Krueger by a score of 3&1.

Renner used a strong front nine and was ahead comfortably 5-up after 11 holes.

He will face Ronald Vincelli in a nine versus five-seed semifinal battle Saturday. Vincelli defeated Bob Jamison 2&1.

The other semifinal features the Doug G.’s; no. 10 Doug Gillam and no.

14 Doug Gillund.

Gillund defeated no. 15 Doug Hiney 1-up on the 19th hole after controlling the match early.

“I was well in the lead; he brought it back in the end,” Gillund said.

The winning stroke was a 30-foot uphill putt on the first playoff hole, the testy par-3 eighth.

“I had him beat way before that, but it was a very tough match,” said Gillund.

The putter has been the key for Gillund’s success this week.

“My putting has been fantastic,” he said. “Usually, I get the yips in this tournament. It was my putting that saved me the whole day.”

Gillam advanced with a 1-up victory over no. 15 Doug Hiney.

1ST ANNUAL WEE TEE TOURNAMENT

LAKEVIEW GOLF COURSE FRIDAY, AUGUST 12 We had 13 Junior participants, ages 5 to 7, golf in the 1st annual Wee Tee Tournament at Lakeview Golf Course.

The girls and boys played the junior tees on the front side. The reward for finishing was ice cream, a ribbon and a trophy for the winner. The weather was perfect, and we appreciated the support of the parents as their young ones were introduced to their first competition. Good sportsmanship

and fun was had by all.

In the boy’s division, Aidan Saunders of Fargo dominated the field with several pars and an excellent show of putting skills. Luke Tobkin of Detroit Lakes finished second.

In the girl’s division, Bella Ward from Climax, Minnesota, came in first while Lauren Kjonaas of Moorhead finished in second.

2016 SUPER SENIOR

CHAMPIONSHIP

BOB JAMISON

JAMISON 1-UP

JIM BROTHERS CLINT NELSON

VINCELLI 2 & 1

Wee Tee Champions Bella Ward, Climax, MN & Aidan Saunders, Fargo

VINCELLI 7 & 6

BOYS

RONALD VINCELLI PAUL KRUEGER

KRUEGER 5 & 3

JOE SAUER CHUCK RENNER

AIDAN SAUNDERS*............... 36 LUKE TOBKIN............................. 43 MAX VINCELLI.............................47 GRIFFIN LINDBERGH................ 49 SULLY BRAATEN......................... 50 BRECK GATHERIDGE.................51 JETT PARKER................................53 SIRUS SARGENT......................... 67 MIKKEL HEINLEIN.....................68 KRU PARKER................................74

RENNER 3 & 1 RENNER 2 & 1

RICK SMITH THOMAS WOOD DOUG HINEY

HINEY 1-UP EXTRA HOLES

2016 Champion

GILLAM 1-UP

GIRLS

TED HATLEN DOUG GILLAM

GILLAM 3 & 1

BELLA WARD*........................55 LAUREN KJONAAS...................... 59 TESSA WITHAM...........................61

STEVE SUNDBY DOUG GILLUND MICHAEL HOWELL BOB ERICKSON

GILLUND 6 & 4

*WINNER GILLUND 1-UP EXTRA HOLES

HOWELL 7 & 6

Boys thank each other after their round.

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Saturday, August 13, 2016 SPONSORED BY ZORBAZ & GUNDERSON REAL ESTATE COMPANY

Dave Hegge, far left, had honors and teed off first with his three sons Tom, John and Neal as the family foursome set off on their opening championship round at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. “I’m one happy dad,” said Dave.

CAST OF CHARACTERS — Photos by Robert Williams —

Ed Lambe, left, was sporting a rally cap for his brotherin-law Doug Gillam, right. It worked, Gillam advanced in the Super Senior division.

Super Senior Michael Howell attacks the fifth green with his own personal putting style during Thursday’s match play.

Bill Carlson, left, and his full-time caddy Eric Aughinbaugh wait at the fourth green during Friday’s championship match play.

Nashville’s David Trett throws a little body english on a drive during the second day of qualifying at the Pine to Palm.