Member Tim Knoll (right) and his guest, Al Connell, of Morris, emerged as the champions of the Member-Guest Tournament played at the Luverne Country Club over the weekend. Knoll and Connell rallied from a three-stroke deficit on Sunday to earn a berth in a playoff, which they won to take top honors in the net better ball event.
By John Rittenhouse
An outstanding comeback on Sunday followed by a successful playoff hole led a team to its first Member-Guest Tournament championship at the Luverne Country Club over the weekend.
Member Tim Knoll and his guest, Al Connell, Morris, saved their best golf for the last two rounds of play during the 36-hole, net better ball tournament.
Knoll and Connell recorded an 11-under-par net 61 during 18 holes of play Sunday to move up from a tie for fifth place after Saturday's rounds into a tie for first place with member Jeremy Sudenga and his brother, Jason, who now lives in Sioux Falls.
When Connell registered a net birdie on the first playoff hole, and Jason Sudenga's seven-foot, downhill putt for birdie slid off the mark on the LCC's No. 1 green, the championship trophy belonged to a pair of first-time champions during the 21st version of the event.
No team shot a score lower than a net 64 during both days of the tournament, but Knoll and Connell needed a 61 to earn a shot at the championship Sunday.
When Saturday's opening 18 holes of play were complete, it was the Sudenga team and member Darwin Elbers and guest Keith Boeve (Maple Grove) leading the pack with a net 64s.
Member Dan Serie and guest Chad Wallace (Omaha, Neb.) were one-shot off the pace with a net 65, while member Don Klosterbuer and guest Craig Boysen (Montevideo) finished the day in fourth place with a net 66.
Connell and Knoll, member Bob Frakes and guest Joe Vanderburg (North Arlington, Texas), member Jeff Rollinger and guest Cory Norman (Sioux Falls), member George McDonald and guest Gary Hestness (Audubon), member Pat Strassburg and guest Andy Noll (Fairmont) and member Roger Tollefson and guest Tom Brakke (Deephaven) all finished four shots behind the leaders with net 67s Saturday.
The Sudengas played well enough Sunday to match the net 64 score they recorded on Saturday, but it wasn't good enough to best the hard-charging team of Knoll and Connell.
Both teams ended up with net 128s at the end of regulation play, which set the stage for a playoff.
Jason Sudenga, a scratch golfer, received no handicap strokes for the par-4 first hole, while each of the other three players in the competition had the benefit of receiving a one-stroke handicaps.
Both Connell and Jason Sudenga were safely on the green in two shots. Connell completed the hole with two putts, which gave him a net birdie. Sudenga had a chance to prolong the playoff with his downhill attempt for birdie, but his putt ended up being a narrow miss.
Serie and Wallace showed some improvement Sunday, which led them to a third-place finish. They followed their net 65 Saturday with a net 64 Sunday, leaving them one shot away from joining the playoff with a net 129.
Elbers and Boeve shot a net 66 Sunday after sharing the lead with a net 64 Saturday. They placed fourth overall with a net 130.
Tollefson and Brake and member Steve Smedsrud and guest Troy Veld (Adrian) ended up tied for fifth place with net 132s.
Although their team title hopes slipped away during the playoff, the Sudengas played well enough as individuals to draw more attention to their games.
Jeremy Sudenga walked away with the low-net title with a 133 tally. Wallace was four shots off the pace with a net 137, and member Nate Skattum was third with a net 139.
Jason Sudenga finished two strokes off the pace in the low gross competition.
Serie (72-74) and Norman (73-73) shared top honors in the gross competition with two-over-par 146 tallies. Jason Sudenga was third with a four-over-par 148.
The Derby, a nine-hole competition which follows the first 18 holes of net better ball play Saturday, was again a portion of the Member-Guest Tourney.
Ten members and 10 guests who recorded the lowest gross scores formed the field for nine holes of alternate-shot play, which features one team being eliminated at each hole.
The two teams remaining after eight holes of play consisted of member Tim Connell and Noll, and Jeremy Sudenga and Bill Wallace, the guest of Tom Serie, from Montgomery, Ala.
When the team of Connell and Noll recorded a par on the par-4, ninth hole, it was good enough to eliminate Sudenga and Wallace.
The Dave Lammert Memorial Tournament kicked off the annual Member-Guest weekend on Friday.
The 18-hole handicap tournament serves as a fund-raiser for the Luverne Dollars for Scholars Chapter.
Paula Lammert ended up winning the 2002 version of the event by shooting a net 66.
Sue Skattum placed second with a net 67, while Melissa Sterrett and Mark Iveland (Lincoln, Neb.) share fourth place with net 68s.
Frakes finished in fifth place with a net 69.