Top seed goes down in Senior quarterfinals

Haugen knocks off Johnson to keep run alive

By Jared Rubado jrubado@echopress.com

Chris Haugen’s last seven holes in the Men’s Senior quarterfinal round were something to remember.

JT Johnson went into the qualifiers as one of the favorites, and he proved it by earning medalist honors. But even he couldn’t slow down Haugen — the 2017 and 2018 division champ — on the back nine. The 25th seed birdied five of the last seven holes to punch his ticket to the semifinals.

Waiting for him is another familiar name in Mike Herzog, who survived a match against Mark Knutson. The Herzog family is well represented once again this year, with Madison still alive in the Women’s Championship and Michael in the Men’s Regular Division.

Mark Lindberg and Mark Frie make up the other semifinal match heading into Friday’s final four showdown. Here’s how the Men’s Senior quarterfinal round shook out from the first tee.

Haugen def. JT

Johnson, 5-3

JT Johnson didn’t have his typical precision, but it might not have mattered if he did. Chris Haugen took a one-hole lead to the turn after a birdie on No. 9 and never looked back.

Haugen birdied on back-to-back holes after the turn before sinking two more on Nos. 14 and 15 to clinch the upset.

Despite four bogeys on the front nine, Haugen finished the 15-hole round at one-underpar.

Johnson opened his round with four straight bogeys but was even par the rest of the day. He erased two back-nine bogeys with birdies on Nos. 10 and 14.

Herzog def. Mark

Knutson, 3-2

Mike Herzog and Mark Knutson each had a bogey-free back nine, but Knutson needed a little more.

Herzog started his day with back-to-back birdies to go up by one. Another birdie on No. 6 put him 2-up before Knutson’s double bogey on No. 9 put Herzog in firm control of the match.

Both golfers started the back nine with a pair of pars and birdies on No. 12. Knutson bird- ied No. 14 but couldn’t find any more magic to keep his title hopes alive. Herzog finished two-under-par through 15 holes while Knutson was even.

Lindberg def.

Mike Johnson, 6-4

There wasn’t an ounce of daylight for Mike Johnson in his match against Mark Lingberg.

After Lingberg bogeyed No. 2, he went on to birdie five holes in a 6-4 victory. In the 14-hole round, Lindberg was 4-under-par, with birdies on Nos. 5, 9, 11, 13 and 14.

Johnson has nothing to hang his head about after falling to Lindberg. A pair of bogeys on Nos.

1 and 2 were his only blemishes in an otherwise promising round. Lindberg will take on Mark Frie for a chance to clinch a spot in the final.

Frie def.

Frieburg, 1-up

Down by a hole with only 18 to play, Richard Frieburg’s late birdie would typically be enough to force a playoff. But a clutch birdie at the hands of Mark Frie ended the match in regulation.

Frie and Frieburg saw one-hole-leads disappear six times on Thursday afternoon with neither golfer ever building more than a one-hole advantage. Frieburg was up and down all day. Despite birdies on five holes, he finished the round 1-over par.

With the match squared to start the back nine, Frie’s seventh consecutive par gave him a 1-hole lead. However, a bogey on No. 12 squared the match again. After a birdie to retake the lead on No. 14, Frie bogeyed again on Nos. 15 and 16 to square the contest.

Frieburg made backto-back bogeys of his own on Nos. 16 and 17 to hand the lead to Frie once again. Both birdied No. 18 – resulting in a 1-up victory to Frie.

Frie will take on Lindburg Friday afternoon.

Hoops. Two birdies and two pars put Champlin’s chances out of reach. Hoops finished the round two-under-par through 13 holes.

Petersen def. Paulsen, 4-3

A shaky start didn’t deter Andy Petersen from taking care of business against Nick Paulsen.

Petersen trailed by one after four holes with two pars and a pair of bogeys on the scorecard. He then sank back-to-back birdies on Nos. 5 and 6 before another on 8 to take a three-hole advantage to the turn.

Petersen didn’t let Paulsen back into the match. He shot an evenpar six holes on the back nine to take home a 4-3 victory. Peterson finished 1-under-par through 15 holes played.

Dan Johnson def. Heimsness, 8-7

Dan Johnson cruised through his second round match against Eric Heimsness on his way to an 8-7 victory.

Johnson birdied the first hole before adding another on No. 6. Despite a pair of bogeys on Nos. 7 and 10, Heimsness struggled to capitalize on them– leading to Johnson’s dominant victory. Johnson was even-par through the 11 played holes on Thursday afternoon.

Schomer def. Sieve, 4-2

Daryl Schomer struggled to pull away from Patrick Sieve early on, but a flawless back nine punched his ticket to the quarterfinals.

Schomer birdied No. 1 before a par on No. 2 gave him a two-hole advantage. Sieve got one back with a par on No. 4 before Schomer’s birdie on No. 5 doubled the lead again. Sieve was able to cut the lead to one two more times before the turn, once with a birdie on No. 8.

Schomer parred the first four holes on the back nine but didn’t make up any ground. Sieve bogeyed No. 10 before birdying No. 12. Schoemer got in on the birdie action on Nos. 14 and 15 to take a threehole advantage. His par on No.16 clinched the win.

Troy Johnson def. Marlow, 6-5

Troy Johnson continued his mastery of AGC Thursday, closing out his match against Chad Marlow after just 13 holes.

The second seed, Johnson didn’t lose a single hole to Marlow. He jumped out early with a birdie win on No. 2 and followed it with a par win on No. 3. Johnson added two more holes to his lead on the front nine, Nos. 5 and 7 with pars, to go 4-up at the turn.

Marlow could only match Johnson’s pars on the next two holes before Johnson notched a birdie win on No. 12 and also took No. 13 for a 6-5 victory.

Stout def. Fingalsen, 3-1

Breton Stout built a solid lead in the early going but then had to fend off a furious comeback on the back nine to edge Dave Fingalsen, 3-1.

Stout, the 23rd seed, won five of the first six holes, dropping only No. 2 to Fingalsen’s par. Stout’s streak was highlighted by a birdie and four pars.

Up by five at the turn, Stout appeared to be headed for a quick victory, especially when he added a bogey win on No. 10. But Fingalsen, the 26th seed, wasn’t through yet.

Fingalsen won No. 11 with par, No. 12 with bogey and No. 13 with par to slash the lead in half. After halving No. 14, Fingalsen pulled to within two with a par win on No. 15. But Stout hung tough, matching Fingalsen’s bogey on No. 16 and taking No. 17 to seal a 3-1 victory.

Sauer def.

Heimerman, 4-3

A strong start – winning four of the first six holes – propelled Joe Sauer to a 4-3 victory over Tom Heimerman.

Sauer took the first lead with a par win on No. 2. Heimerman answered with a par win on No. 3 but then it was Sauer’s turn. He reeled off three straight wins, taking Nos. 4, 5 and 6 with bogey, par, birdie.

Suddenly down by three, Heimerman drew closer with a par win on the 8th hole but Sauer came right back with a par on No. 9 to go 3-up at the turn. Sauer added a birdie win on No. 10 but Heimerman made things interesting again with a birdie on No. 12 to slice the lead back to three.

After swapping pars on No. 13, Sauer added another birdie win on No. 14 and matched Heimerman’s par on 15 to seal a 4-3 win.

Bisson def. Cota, 2-1

In one of the division’s closest matches of the day, sixth-seeded Chad Bisson outlasted 11th-seed Jeffry Cota to win 2-1. Bisson won three holes on the front – Nos. 1, 8 and 9 with pars. Cota was held to just one win, a par on No. 5.

Ahead by two at the turn, Bisson doubled his lead with par wins on Nos. 11 and 12 but Cota came back, winning No.

12 with an eagle and No. 13 with par to slice the lead to two.

Bisson took No. 14 with par but Cota’s birdie won the next hole. The match ended after 17 holes, giving Bisson a 2-1 victory.