By Leah Herzog
WEST ST. PAUL, Minn – Thomas Campbell made a noticeable appearance, in the windy conditions, after the first round of the 2024 Minnesota PGA Foundation Pro-Am presented by Blaze Credit Union.
Campbell immediately climbed up the leaderboard after being 6 under-par through 7 holes, with the help from an eagle on hole 4.
“I had a really hot start.” Campbell commented.
After Campbell’s hot start, he found his first mistake on hole 8 after 3 putting from five feet to make his first bogey in his round.
Par 3s being his strength on the back nine held Campbell together after a couple bogey errors.
Campbell found trouble on the 17th hole and proceeded to make a five foot putt to save par. The momentum after the par save led to another par on the last hole to finish the round at 6 under-par (65).
“The key was I only missed one fairway all day.” Campbell stated at the conclusion of his round.
Campbell ended his round by birding three out of the five par 3s.
Campbell’s strong round positioned himself with the early lead over contenders, Andrew Israelson, Derek Holmes, Michael Schmitz, and Scott Cole who all finished with 4 under-par 67s.
Multiple teams are in the mix after Friday’s round. Smith/Irwin/Darling/Boutin finished with the low team round at 18 under-par. Right behind, Smed/Burleson/Retka/Kennedy finished with a smooth 17-under par team score. Justin Burleson led their team with nine birdies and carded a 5 under-par 66, which places Burleson in the Amatuer lead by six strokes.
Tee times will begin at 7:00 AM tomorrow off hole 1 and 10.
2024 MINNESOTA PGA FOUNDATION PRO-AM
SOUTHVIEW COUNTRY CLUB
WEST ST. PAUL
6,062 YARDS, PAR 71
FRIDAY’S FIRST ROUND RESULTS:
TEAM CONTEST:
1. Smith/Irwin/Darling/Boutin (-18)
2. Smed/Burleson/Retka/Kennedy (-17)
3. LaCoursiere/LeBlanc/Huebsch/Hayne (-16)
T4. Baldus/Brainerd/Brainerd/DeMeuse (-15)
T4. Campbell/Haslerud/Kowalski/Gustafson (-15)
T6. Ebner/Urban/Dahl/Hagel (-14)
T6. Holmes/Lemke/Grimsrud/Sheehan (-14)
PROFESSIONAL CONTEST:
1. Thomas Campbell 31-34–65
T2. Andrew Israelson 34-33–67
T2. Derek Holmes 35-32–67
T2. Michael Schmitz 33-34–67
T2. Scott Cole 34-33-67
T6. Jack Ebner 36-32–68
T6. Grant Shafranski 33-35–68
T8. Chris Borgen 34-35–69
T8. Jack Hiemenz 34-35–69
T8. Don Berry 35-34–69
T8. Lucas Johnson 35-34–69
AMATEUR CONTEST:
1. Justin Burleson 35-31–66
2. Joe Honsa 38-34–72
T3. Steve Busho 38-36–74
T3. Eric Hayne 35-39–74
T3. Shawn Messner 39-35–74
T6. Jordan Hagel 36-39–75
T6. Bruce Haslerud 39-36–75
T6. Jake Erickson 37-38–75
9. Drew Jacklitch 40-36–76
For complete tournament results go to: https://mnpga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/mnpga24/event/mnpga2416/contest/13/leaderboard.htm