It was 1982 all over again.
"You dirty dog, you," Mike Podolak said, rushing over to exchange handshakes and rib jabs with Todd Schaefer.
At 9:50 a.m. today at Fargo Country Club, two dirty dogs, the best of friends, will square off in the finals of the North Dakota state match play golf tournament. It will mark the third match-play title meeting between the two, and closer to the umpteenth time overall (as exact years and dates seem to have been blended together en route to mid-amateur status).
How have all those previous collisions ended?
Let's just say that while the 49-year-old Podolak owns four North Dakota match play and seven state stroke-play titles, Schaefer, 40, is without one of either.
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"Not many guys can get by Mr. Podolak," said Schaefer, a resident of Grand Forks. "I'm not ashamed of that at all.
"I'm just the second-place guy."
Sort of, though he does have eight state best-ball titles, two North Dakota Opens and one KX Amateur to his credit. And he flexed that ability again on Saturday.
Down two holes through 10, Schaefer rallied to beat Mark Olhauser of Bismarck 3 and 1 in the quarterfinals. He then topped Peder Nyhus -- at 19 the youngest semifinalist by more than 20 years -- 4 and 3.
Though he swung as smooth and easy as the Red River, the University of North Dakota grad said he felt lucky to even survive the first round in which he trailed by a hole heading to No. 18.
"I don't know if I'm happy about anything, really," Schaefer said. "I didn't have my top game, but I grinded well."
Ditto for Podolak, who beat Cole Hornstein 5 and 4 in the quarterfinals before upending fellow Oxbow Country Club member Dave Barge 3 and 2 in the semis.
The combo of 90-plus degree heat and an erratic driver left Podolak sweating like an NBA big man as he left the course.
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"I wasn't sharp," he said.
"You hit a bad shot and you just have to go find it and hit it again."
The result: four bogeys, two birdies and a new fan.
"Mike is an awesome player," said Nyhus, a graduate of Jamestown High and a sophomore-to-be at California Lutheran. "You can learn a lot from how he holds his composure, and his course management is really good.
"It's helpful."
That's why Podolak is the most winning amateur golfer in state history. And one more match-play title would tie him for the most all-time.
His first title came against Schaefer, his more recent title came against Schaefer in 1997 -- nearly 20 years later.
"As old as we're getting we can still compete -- he can still compete," said Schaefer, 0-3 overall in the state match-play finals. "I don't do as well as I used to, but I still like to try."
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Today, two dirty dogs, still the best of friends, meet again.
Just like old times.
"He's got his sights set on winning the thing," Podolak said. "And I'm going to try and get in his way -- in a very friendly way."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Terry Vandrovec at (701) 241-5548
