By Leah Herzog
WEST ST. PAUL, Minn. – The windy conditions made for a challenging final round at the 2024 Minnesota PGA Foundation Pro-Am presented by Blaze Credit Union.
Michael Schmitz came into the final round with a 2-shot lead over Andrew Israelson.
Israelson had a slow start to the day and shot 2-over par on his first nine.
“I was fairly frustrated,” Israelson expressed, “And bogeyed the first two holes.”
Israelson holed out from 97 yards for eagle on hole 3 to give him the momentum he needed to make a charge for the title.
Israelson found luck working for and against him throughout the day.
“It was a grind out there.” Israelson concluded.
With just four holes to play, Israelson sat 3 shots back from Michael Schmitz.
On his 15th hole (#7), Israelson caught a bad lie in the greenside rough after his attempt to go for the par 5 in two. After hitting a pitch the best he could, he made a two putt par.
Israelson knew he still needed to do more in order to catch Schmitz with only a few holes to play.
In the group behind, Schmitz made an unfortunate bogey on his 14th hole (#5) and proceeded to find trouble on the next hole which resulted in a double-bogey.
While Schmitz was having a rough finish, Israelson continued to play with everything he had.
Israelson made an incredible 30 foot putt for birdie on his 16th hole (#7) to go to 2-under par in his round and 9-under par total.
Continuing to give himself a run at the title, Israelson pulled out driver on his 17th hole (#8), which is a risk-reward tee shot.
After almost chipping in for eagle, he made a tap-in for birdie to get to 10-under par for the tournament.
Israelson went into the last hole with a three shot lead over Schmitz.
After Isrealson parred his last hole, he was able to lock in the 2024 Minnesota PGA Foundation Pro-Am professional title.
On the other side of the course, Smed/Burleson/Retka/Kennedy continued to hold their lead for the team contest. They ended up winning by one shot at 39-under par. Snyder/Wood/Wood/Honsa took runner up at 38-under par.
Justin Burleson’s 6-over par round of 77 clinched the amateur victory by just one shot over Joe Honsa, who shot a 2-under par 69 in the final round to finish at 2-over par total.
NOTEABLES
There were only two other players who shot rounds underpar other than Israelson and Honsa in the final round. Brady Swedberg had a nice round of 2-under par to shoot a 69, while Ross Miller carded a 1-under par 70.
Savannah Nelson was the low Women’s Professional.
Don Berry earned Senior Professional low honors after a three day total of 69-69-74–212 (-1).
2024 MINNESOTA PGA FOUNDATION PRO-AM
SOUTHVIEW COUNTRY CLUB
WEST ST. PAUL
6,062 YARDS, PAR 71
FINAL ROUND RESULTS:
TEAM CONTEST:
1. Smed/Burleson/Retka/Kennedy (-39)
2. Snyder/Wood/Wood/Honsa (-38)
T3. Israelson/Flynn/Larson/Busho (-37)
T3. Wynne/Dew/Angell/Kane
5 Sorenson/Daniels/Bosshart/Tufvander (-35)
6. LaCoursiere/LeBlanc/Huebsch/Hayne (-33)
T7. Pluth/Armstrong/Roberts/Bliss (-32)
T7. Berry/Irwin/Clark/Sullivan (-32)
9. Campbell/Haslerud/Kowalski/Gustafson (-31)
10. Shafranski/Grove/Grove/Eilers (-30)
PROFESSIONAL CONTEST:
1. Andrew Israelson 67-68-68–203
2. Michael Schmitz 67-66-72–205
3. Ross Miller 70-68-70-208
T4. Grant Shafranski 68-69-72–209
T4. Scott Cole 67-71-71–209.
6. Brady Swedberg 70-71-69–210
T7. Trey Fessler 70-70-71–211
T7. Thomas Strandemo 71-69-71–211
T9. Brent Snyder 70-69-73–212
T9. Don Berry 69-69-74–212
T9. Thomas Campbell 65-71-76–212
AMATEUR CONTEST:
1. Justin Burleson 66-71-77–214
2. Joe Honsa 72-74-69–215
T3. Logan Mitchell 77-75-75–227
T3. Eric Hayne 74-78-75–227
5. Michael Ingeman 77-76-77–230
6. Jake Erickson 75-75-82–232
T7. Robert Dew 79-73-84–236
T7. Steve Busho 74-76-86–236
For complete tournament results go to: https://mnpga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/mnpga24/event/mnpga2416/contest/17/leaderboard.htm