BROOKINGS – The Professionals took seven of 10 singles matches against the Amateurs on Sunday at Brookings Country Club to win the SoDak Cup.
The final score was 10-10, but the defending champions retained the Cup as they were victorious by an 11-9 margin last year.
Winning singles matches for the Pros were Jason Sudenga 6-and-4 over Michael Hoxter, Danny Sinksen 6-and-5 over Trevor Tobin, Levi Pearson 3-and-2 over Andrew Welk, Steve Klock 3-and-1 over Brookings’ Scott Holm, Jason Young 3-and-1 over Brookings’ Brian Berkenhoff, Drew Trautman 1-up over Charlie Jacobson and Andrew Bauer 1-up over Brookings’ Brodie Hullinger.
Sudenga won five of the first six holes, including Nos. 5-6 with birdies. He also took the eighth and ninth to go 6-up.
Sinksen won Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13 – all with pars – to turn an all square match into the 6-and-5 triumph.
Pearson moved ahead 1-up with a par at the third hole and never trailed. He never led by more than two until parring the 16th for the 3-and-2 win.
Klock birdied the opening hole and also never faced a deficit. He won Nos. 6, 9, 11 and 12 to grab a 6-up advantage and then hung on down the stretch.
Young won five of the first eight holes, including the sixth with a birdie. Berkenhoff took the ninth and 10th, but Young bounced back by winning the 11th with a par. Berkenhoff cut the deficit to 2-up at the 16th, but Young sealed the deal on the next hole.
Trautman won the 18th with a birdie 4 to complete his come-from-behind victory over Jacobson. Jacobson was victorious on the first, second and fourth holes with pars; dropped the seventh to a par; but won Nos. 8 and 9 with pars to go 4-up. Trautman made a birdie 3 at the 11th and then took Nos. 14-16 with pars. The players halved the par-3 17th.
A pair of late birdies lifted Bauer over Hullinger, as he made a 3 at the 16th and a 2 on the 17th after winning the 15th with a par to go from 2-down to 1-up. Both players parred the 18th. Hullinger birdied the second to win the hole, but Bauer moved 1-up with birdies at the fourth and sixth. Hullinger was victorious on the eighth (par), 10th (birdie), 13th (par) and 14th (birdie) to go 2-up. Bauer took the 11th with a bogey.
The Ams’ three victories came from Chris Mithelman 6-and-4 over Joe Benedict, Chris Long 3-and-2 over Dustin Kriech and Michael Keeton 2-and-1 over Jason Crisp.
Mithelman parred Nos. 7-12 to turn an all square match into a 6-up lead. He lost the 13th but sealed the victory with a birdie 4 at the 14th.
Long trailed by three after five holes and was 2-down at the turn before winning the 10th, 11th and 13th with pars, the 14th with a birdie and the 16th with a par to close out the match.
Keeton won Nos. 1 and 2 with pars and never trailed. Crisp won the fourth, Keeton the fifth, Crisp the sixth and Keeton the 12th.
Trautman, a Clear Lake native and the head pro at Madison Country Club, Mithelman, of Sioux Falls, and Long, of Garretson, were the only unbeaten golfers in the field. Each finished 2-0-1.
In Saturday afternoon’s Chapman action, the Professionals and Amateurs split 2.5-2.5.
For the Pros, Crisp and Kriech topped Berkenhoff and Holm 3-and-2 and Sinksen and Trautman edged Keeton and Jacobson 1-up.
Crisp and Kriech birdied the first and fourth to move 2-up. The BCC duo pulled within one on three occasions, the last coming after a deuce at the par-3 13th. However, the Pro team won the 14th with a bird and the 16th with a par to complete the win.
Sinksen and Trautman won the first and third with birdies, while Keeton and Jacobson took the second with a bird of their own. The Pro squad went 2-up with a par on the sixth, the Ams pulled within one by birdieing the eighth, the Pros again went two up with a bird on the ninth, and the Ams squared the match with pars at the 11th and 13th. Sinksen and Trautman made a birdie on No. 14 and didn’t drop another hole (both teams bogeyed No. 17).
Both teams in the Pearson/Sudenga versus Long/Welk match made four birdies but the final one proved to be the biggest as the Amateur squad salvaged a halve with a 4 at the 18th. They also won the 17th, making par.
Birdies were the winning scores on Nos. 2-6 as Bauer and Young were 1-up. Hoxter and Mithelman took Nos. 9, 14 and 17 with pars to take the match.
Hullinger and Tobin never trailed and went 3-up with birdies at the ninth, 13th and 14th holes. Benedict and Klock birdied No. 16 to stay in contention before both teams bogeyed the 17th to finish the match.
Tobin was a starter for the Jackrabbits on both their Summit League championship teams (2015 and 2016).
The Amateurs led 7-3 after Chapman play as they cruised through four-ball action by a 4.5-.5 margin Saturday morning.
Klock and Trautman earned the only points for the Professionals by halving Holm and Mithelman. Klock’s lone birdie of the match put his squad 1-up through two holes. Mithelman made a birdie at No. 7 to square the match. The Amateur team took the 11th with a par and the Professionals won No. 17 with a par. All four players parred the 18th.
Welk and Hoxter both birdied the first to go 1-up and parred the third to move 2-up. Welk’s birdie gave the Ams a 3-up lead. The deficit never dipped below 2-up, and Welk and Hoxter won the 15th and 16th with pars to close it out.
Tobin birdied Nos. 8-10 (Jacobson also birdied the eighth) to give his team a 3-up lead. A birdie at No. 13 by Jacobson and a par at the 14th ended it.
Berkenhoff got his team off to a solid start with a birdie at the first and Long made six red numbers after that, four of which led to winning holes.
Hullinger helped him and Keeton go 1-up with birdies at the fourth and fifth holes. Both players parred No. 6, Keeton parred No. 8 and Hullinger parred No. 9 to make it 4-up. Hullinger dropped in a bird at the 10th to extend the margin. Crisp birdied the 12th and parred Nos. 13, 16 and 17 (Kriech also parred the 17th) to cut the deficit to one. Keeton pitched in for birdie on the final hole to secure the 2-up win.
That Amateur duo won the SDGA Two-Man Mid-Amateur Championship three weeks prior in Aberdeen.
Notes
• It marked the first time the SoDak Cup was contested at the BCC.
• It was the third SoDak Cup appearance for Holm (2-5-2, 1-2-0 singles), the second for Hullinger (4-2-0, 1-1-0 singles) and the first for Berkenhoff (1-2-0, 0-1-0 singles).
• Eight current BCC members have competed in the SoDak Cup, the others being Matt Einspahr (10-8-2, 2-5-1 singles), Todd Hofland (0-2-1, 0-1-0 singles), SDGA Hall of Fame member Pat Lockwood (10-5-1, 5-1-0 singles), Bill Scholten (4-1-1, 2-0-0 singles) and Hak Steen (1-1-1, 0-0-1 singles).
• The Professionals won back-to-back SoDak Cups for the first time since 2009-10. They took the first three Cups between 1997-99.
• The Amateurs lead 14-7 all-time. They won 2000-08 and 2011-15.
• 2017 marked just the second time the teams have tied, the other coming in 2004 when they matched at 8-8 at Hillcrest in Yankton and the Amateurs retained the Cup
• Also making their debuts were Professionals Trautman and Bauer, and Amateurs Hoxter, Tobin, Welk and Mithelman.
• Young made his 17th career SoDak Cup appearance to extend his record. The Golf Club at Red Rock PGA Professional, who is from Pierre, has a career record of 16-27-8, including an 8-8-1 mark in singles play. He carried Robert Williams to the 1992 SDGA Two-Man Championship title.
• Keeton, a five-time SDGA winner, is 11-6-1, Jacobson, the captain this year, is 10-4-1 and Long has a 9-6-3 mark in SoDak Cup play.
• Kriech lost a singles match for the first time in six appearances.
