By John RittenhouseA pair of first-time champions were crowned at the conclusion of the annual Member-Guest Tournament played at the Luverne Country Club Saturday and Sunday.The father-son team of Don and Tom Cashin prevailed in a sudden-death playoff against brothers Jeremy and Jason Sudenga to take top honors in the 2003 version of the event.Playing under the quota point-scoring format for the first time since 1997, a playoff became necessary when Cashins and Sudengas completed 36 holes of play with plus 10 1/2-point efforts.Tournament officials opted to use a net team scoring total to break the tie. The Cashins prevailed by completing the first playoff hole with net nine strokes compared with net 11 produced by the Sudengas.Member Don Cashin and guest Tom Cashin (San Francisco, Calif.) formed one of 20 two-man teams in the 36-team field to finish with plus points at tournament’s end.The Cashin’s, however, had to come from behind to win their championship.Member Dave Gangestad and guest Doug Hart (Spencer, Iowa) set the pace during the first round of the Quota Tournament Saturday.Of the 22 teams to finish the first day with plus points, Gangestad and Hart led the pack with 14 points.Four teams were tied for second place behind Gangestad and Hart with 11 points when play was complete Saturday.The Cashins and the Sudengas were involved in the second-place deadlock. Member Gary Golla and guest Dave Steele (Castle Rock, Colo.), and member Dan McGuire and guest Mark Iveland (Lincoln, Neb.) also scored 11 points as teams Saturday.While Gangestad and Hart came up eight points short of meeting their quota Sunday to slip back in the field, the Cashins and Sudengas missed meeting their scoring quota by one-half of one point. Both teams sported 10 1/2 point totals, setting up the sudden-death playoff won by the Cashins.Consistent play by member Darwin Elbers and guest Mike Koepke (Sioux Falls) allowed them to place third in the Quota Tournament.Elbers and Koepke scored three points Saturday and three and one-half points Sunday, giving them a six and one-half point total for 36 holes.Gangestad and Hart finished fourth with six points.Member George McDonald and guest Bob Fliechtner (Fargo, N.D.) placed fifth with five and one-half points.The Cashins may have denied the Sudengas a Member-Guest team title, but Jason Sudenga (Sioux Falls) proved to be the best player on hand for the two-day event by shooting a one-over-par 145 to win the tournament’s low gross championship. Jason shot a one-under-par 71 Saturday before turning in a two-over-par 74 Sunday.Member Roger Tollefson emerged as the tournament’s low net champion. Tollefson shot a net 71 Saturday and a net 69 Sunday for a net four-under-par 140 overall.Two more events were staged during the course of the Member-Guest weekend.The Derby title went to member Dan Serie and Adrian’s Dean Elias, the guest of Denny Holtrop.The Derby field is made up of the 10 members and 10 guests who shoot the lowest gross scores during the Quota Tournament on Saturday.The members and guests form two-man teams that play nine holes of alternate-shot golf with one team being eliminated at each hole.After eight holes of play, Serie and Elias and the team of Jeremy Sudenga and Mark Iveland remained alive in the hunt for the title.When both teams made par on the ninth hole, Elias and Sudenga participated in a chip-off on the ninth green. Elias produced the shot that was closest to the pin, giving Serie and himself the championship.The Dave Lammert Memorial Tournament opened the Member-Guest weekend Friday.The 18-hole handicapped tournament serves as a fund-raiser for the Luverne Dollars for Scholars Chapter.LCC member Terry Johnson took top honors for the event with a net 66.McDonald placed second with net 68, while Tom Cashin and Tollefson tied for third place with net 70s.Don Cashin, member Mike Haakenson and Bill Wallace (Omaha, Neb.), the guest of Tom Serie for the Quota Tournament, tied for fifth place with net 71s.Members Paula Lammert and Gary Golla both shot net 72s.
