Official Publication of the 101st Annual Resorters Golf Tournament • Echo Press
Wednesday,August3,2022
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VOL. 85, NO. 2 MEN’S CHAMPS
ADAMS BACK FOR ANOTHER RUN Resorters veteran joins two others in shooting 7-under in qualifying By Eric Morken emorken@echopress.com ate Adams of Maple Grove has been playing at the Resorters Tournament in Alexandria since he was 9-years old. He is a three-time junior champion at the tournament and has been a consistent threat in the Men’s Championship Division since taking second in 2018 in a 1-up final against Brian Choe. Now in his 12th year playing the Resorters, Adams does not mince words when talking about what it would mean to him to finish on top of this men’s field. “More than anything in the world,” Adams said. “It chokes me up just talking about this event, just because I’ve been here with my family forever. It’s just so much fun. I love it here, and if I could ever have the honor of winning this tournament, my golf career would be complete.” Adams positioned himself to make another run at it this week as he heads into match play on Wednesday afternoon as the No. 1 seed. Gunnar Broin, a native of Chanhassen, and Gavin Cronkhite of Lakeville joined Adams in shooting 7-under through the two rounds of qualifying. Adams won a scorecard playoff between the three to earn the top seed. Braeden Sladek, 17, of Alexandria took the second seed as the defending
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champion. Broin is the third seed, and Cronkhite is seeded fourth. A total of 11 players finished at under par through the two days. Lincoln Johnson, a University of Minnesota golfer and Resorters regular looking for his first Men’s Champ title, shot 5-under. The cut to make the championship flight was a 149. It just so happens that Nicholas Adams, Nate’s brother, won a playoff to grab the 32nd seed. They will play each other in the first round on Wednesday. Nicholas won two straight titles in the Men’s Regular Division before moving up to Men’s Champs this year. Nate Adams and Cronkhite are college teammates. They are part of almost half a dozen men’s golfers from North Dakota State University who are playing in this year’s tournament. Adams, who will play two more seasons at NDSU, has been a catalyst in getting more guys from the Bison to Alexandria each year. “Since I’ve been here for so long, guys have asked me on the team, ‘Do you like playing it? Is it a fun tournament? Should I play?’ It’s an easy, ‘Yes, you gotta play in the Resorters if you’re free.’ It’s so much fun,” Adams said. “Not just the golf, but everything else around it…It’s a serious golf tournament for us because we want to do well, but the fact that it’s such a relaxed vibe out here makes it a lot
Eric Morken / Alexandria Echo Press
Maple Grove native Nate Adams, second from right, shakes hands with Gavin Cronkhite of Lakeville after their Men's Championship Division qualifying round on Aug. 2, 2022. Adams and Cronkhite are college teammates at North Dakota State University, and both finished at 7-under 137 through the two days of qualifying at this year's Resorters. Lincoln Johnson, second from left, shot 5-under. All three figure to be in the mix to make a deep run this week when match play gets going on Wednesday afternoon. easier to play.” Adams shot a 66 during his first round of qualifying before finishing with a 71 on Tuesday. He carded a total of 11 birdies, and said a lot of that had to do with his familiarity at AGC. “If you can get off the tee well here, the course gets real easy just because you have so many shots from 60, 70 yards into these par fours,” Adams
said. “Players like us, we work on those religiously. It’s a very comfortable shot to have. I’ve always been so big on my putting, and the way these greens are, it’s hard to miss these putts. The greens are so true. They roll great, and I’ve been playing on them for so long now.” Cronkhite’s experience at AGC could not be any different
than Adams. Sunday was his first time playing the course, but his first round was a 5-under 67. The junior at NDSU came back with a 70 on Tuesday. He had 10 birdies throughout the two days. Cronkhite said he got some help navigating the course for the first time from Nicholas
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