By John RittenhouseWhat was geared to be a brief family get-together turned into a championship weekend for Dave and Todd Iverson.Playing in the Luverne Country Club’s annual Member-Guest Tournament for the 10th year as a team, the father-son squad won the two-day Quota Tournament for the first time.Member Dave Iverson and his son, Todd, of Northfield, opened a big lead during Friday’s opening round of the tournament. They survived the second day of play to post a one-point win over member Steve Top and his Luverne guest, Tom Klein."We had a really good day (Friday), and we were able to hold on to that," said Todd Iverson, who loves to play in the tournament for a couple of reasons."It’s always a fun time, and it gives me a chance to come home," he added.During a first round that was bogged down due to a rain delay that lasted nearly four hours, the Iversons thrived as a team.The eventual champions recorded 17 points during the first day of play, opening a four-point advantage over their nearest challengers.A total of 21 of the field’s 36 teams finished the first day in plus side of the points standings, but it was the 17-point effort turned in by the Iversons that produced a commanding lead that eventually led them to their first tournament championship.Top and Klein, playing together in the event for the first time, compiled 13 points on Friday. They trailed the leaders by four points.Member Dan Kindt and guest Dave Kindt (Bruce, S.D.), and member Don Cashin and guest Tom Cashin (San Francisco, Calif.) shared third place after Friday’s rounds with 12 points. Member Jeremy Sudenda and guest Jason Sudenga (Sioux Falls), the defending champions from 2004, were seven points off the pace with 10 counters.The Iversons were unable to maintain their frantic scoring pace during Saturday’s second round of the tournament, but that seemed to be the theme of the day. Only ten of the field’s 36 teams were able to turn in plus-point performances during the final 18 holes of play.After losing four and one-half quota points on Saturday, the Iversons finished the event with plus 12 1/2 points. They ended up edging out Top and Klein, who finished in second place with 11 1/2 after dropping 1 1/2 points from their total on the first day.In the end, it was the consistent play of Dave Iverson that led the team to victory. While Todd carded 76- and 88-stroke rounds during the event, Dave was consistent with 81- and 80-stroke efforts."I normally don’t shoot that well," Dave Iverson admitted. "I’d like to think I can, but I usually don’t."While the Kindt, Cashin and Sudenga teams slipped back in the field Saturday, other teams climbed up in the standings.Member Wayne Zewiske and guest Curt Heydt (Sargeant) moved into third place in the final standings with 11 points, member Mike Haakenson and guest Jim Walker (Rogers) finished fourth with 9 1/2 points, and member Steve Smedsrud and guest Troy Veld (Lismore) placed fifth with 8 1/2 points.The Kindts placed sixth in the final standings with 8 points. Rounding out the Top 10 are member Tim Connell and guest Pat Connell (St. Paul) with 7 1/2 points, member Nate Skattum and guest Dallas Bullerman (Luverne) with 6 1/2 points, member Keith Boeve and guest Ed Boeve (Stillwater) with 5 points, and member Nate Golla and guest John Kvaame (Brainerd) with 4 points.Tim Connell and Dave Kindt captured individual titles during the Quota Tournament.Connell, who has won the LCC’s Men’s Club Championship three times, emerged as the tournament’s low gross champion. He shot a one-under-par 71 Friday and turned in a four-over-par 76 on Saturday to finish the event with 147 strokes.Jason Sudenga placed second with a 151 (74-77), and Kvaame finished third with his 155 (74-81).Dave Kindt, Todd Iverson and member Craig Nekali all finished the tournament with net 138s. Kindt was awarded the low net title based on his performance on the tournament’s handicap hole (the par-4 fourth hole).Friday’s rain delay set up a rain-shortened version of The Derby, an M-G event that annually is played after the first 18 holes of the Quota Tournament.The 10 members and 10 guests who recorded the lowest gross rounds during the first round of the tournament are asked to form two-player teams for a nine-hole, alternate-shot event.The Derby normally is a nine-hole event, with one team being eliminated at each hole. Friday’s delay shortened the 2005 version of the event to five holes, with three teams being eliminated on each of the first two holes of play, and one team bowing out of the field on the final three holes.Member Gary Golla and Adrian’s Dean Elias, the guest of Dennis Holtrop, captured The Derby title.A par on the final hole was good enough for Golla and Elias to best Tim Connell and Al Connell (Morris), the guest of Tim Knoll, who survived four holes of elimination play before registering a bogey during the final hole.
