By Nick Hunter
MAPLE GROVE, Minn. – Adding another chapter to the Herron family’s book of Minnesota golf Wednesday at Rush Creek Golf Club, University of New Mexico golfer Carson Herron fired a final-round 64 before surviving a playoff against defending champion Caleb VanArragon and Max Tylke to claim the 107th Minnesota State Open.
Herron rolled in his downhill birdie chance from six feet on the second playoff hole to capture his third and biggest state victory to date.
“A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into this one because I haven’t won in a while and I didn’t really expect to win,” Herron said after his win Wednesday. “I probably played my best round of golf ever, and to win in a playoff was icing on the cake.
“Countless hours and a lot of work goes into it. Once you do it, you can appreciate the grind and how it feels to get it done. It was great to put myself in this position and build here in the future.”
Following his final round 64 Wednesday, Herron received words of advice via text message from father, Tim, who’s playing in the PGA Tour Champions’ Kaulig Companies Championship in Ohio this week.
“He said to be prepared for playoff mentality, and I came in with the mindset to play aggressively,” the younger Herron said. “My dad’s been a huge inspiration for me. He’s the one who pushes me to get better and we practice a lot together—it’s priceless and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Beginning his final round six shots off the lead Wednesday, Herron quickly went to work by sinking his birdie opportunity at the second before stringing together six birdies over a seven-hole span beginning at the par-4 fifth to eliminate a five-stroke deficit.
Following a lengthy weather delay, Herron failed to get up-and-down to save par at the 13th, but rolled in consecutive birdie putts at the 17th and 18th to take the clubhouse lead at 10-under.
Herron’s par putt from eight feet found the bottom of the cup on the first playoff hole for a spectacular sand save after struggling to get out of a fairway bunker with his second.
Spinning his approach to six feet on the second playoff hole, Herron converted one final birdie chance to seal the championship.
“I hit the ball really well all tournament, but the first two days, I was getting impatient with the putter and trying to force putts to go in. It doesn’t work that way,” Herron said. “Today I kept giving myself good chances.
“I’m proud of how I fought and gave myself a chance. I got better every round and had a strong finish today.”
In addition to his victory Wednesday, Herron will earn an exemption into next month’s PGA Tour Americas CRMC Championship at Cragun’s Legacy Courses—site of Herron’s most recent victory at the Minnesota PGA Junior Match Play Championship in 2020.
This season for the Lobos, Herron finished third on the team with 39 rounds played, and posted a scoring average of 72.33 while claiming four top-10 finishes.
During his first two seasons at New Mexico, Herron appeared in 25 events and tallied 35 rounds of even par or better. He was named the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year in 2022.
“I’ve been playing well in college and putting myself in position in those fields and those types of events help to build resilience and grit, which helped with this,” Herron said. “
In special company, Herron now joins his great-grandfather, Carson Lee Herron, who won the Minnesota State Open in 1932 at Minneapolis Golf Club.
Looking to become the first player to win back-to-back Minnesota State Open titles since former University of Minnesota golfer Ben Greve in 2016-17, VanArragon opened the championship with consecutive rounds of 2-under 70 before climbing the leaderboard early in the final round Wednesday by sinking four birdie chances during his opening nine.
The former Valparaiso University golfer and Blaine High School standout rolled in a 10-footer for birdie at the par-3 12th, and followed it with another birdie at the 13th to reach 10-under for the championship.
Unable to get up-and-down for par at the 14th, VanArragon gave back a shot with bogey, but bounced back by converting his birdie chance at the 16th to reclaim a share of the lead by posting a final round 66.
During the playoff, VanArragon’s birdie chance stopped inches from the cup at the first before leaving his birdie putt well short of the hole on the same line at the second playoff hole.
Finishing as low professional Wednesday, VanArragon took home a check for $13,500 in prize money.
“[The money] is some consolation, but hats off to Carson, he played so good in the playoff by coming back from a couple of rough shots and getting up-and-down,” VanArragon said following his round. “He’s well deserving after how well he played this week.
“I scored well for how I played the first two days. I had some issues with tee shots for the first round and a half. My drives about halfway through the round yesterday were a lot more dependable. I was really happy I was able to grind through it and put up some good scores.”
Coming up just short again Wednesday, Tylke has now claimed four runner-up finishes over the past two seasons.
Earlier this year Tylke and partner Ryan Tschann finished second at the Minnesota Public Golf Association Four-Ball Championship at Oak Glen Golf Course before Tylke fell to Trent Peterson at the Minnesota Golf Association Mid-Players’ Championship at Deacon’s Lodge in June.
Tylke fired a 4-under 68 during the opening round Wednesday, and finished with back-to-back rounds of 69 to force his way into a playoff.
Missing the ninth green with his approach against Herron and VanArragon, a missed bogey putt on the first playoff hole eliminated him from contention.
The 108th Minnesota State Open will be played at Rochester Golf and Country Club.
THE 107TH MINNESOTA STATE OPEN
RUSH CREEK GOLF CLUB
MAPLE GROVE, MINN.
7,290 YARDS, PAR 72
WEDNESDAYS’ FINAL RESULTS
1. Carson Herron, Wayzata CC, 72-70-64—206
T2. Caleb VanArragon (p), Bunker Hills GC, 70-70-66—206
T2. Max Tylke, Legends Club, 68-69-69—206
T4. Thomas Campbell (p), Swing Lab Performance Golf, 71-68-69—208
T4. Ross Miller (p), Dellwood CC, 67-72-69—208
T4. Rylin Petry, Deacon’s Lodge, 69-70-69—208
T4. Jacob Skarperud, Fargo CC, 68-68-72—208
8. Jacob Pedersen, Windsong Farm, 73-68-68—209
T9. Muzzy Donohue (p), North Oaks GC, 72-72-66—210
T9. Robert Bell (p), University GC, 73-69-68—210
T9. Andrew Israelson (p), Minneapolis GC, 70-70-70—21
0 T9. Sam Udovich, Southview CC, 70-71-69—210
T9. Brady Madsen (p), Eagle Creek GC, 69-72-69—210
T9. Tyler Leach (p), Kilkarney Hills GC, 68-68-74—210
For complete tournament results go to: https://mnpga.bluegolf.com/