Pat Thomas, the defending champion of The Forum All-City golf tournament, got a major challenge in Friday's opening round. And it came from his college teammate.
Thomas needed three playoff holes to defeat Brock Buckellew to keep his title hopes alive at The Meadows golf course in Moorhead. Buckellew, a Moorhead High School graduate who is a teammate of Thomas at the University of North Dakota, hit his tee shot out of bounds on the No. 3 hole and eventually conceded the match.
"I didn't want to see the match end the way it did, but that's golf," said Thomas, a Fargo Shanley graduate. "It was just unfortunate."
Buckellew, who grew up playing at The Meadows, had a long day after he beat Darby Troftgruben in a one-hole playoff to qualify for the championship flight. Both golfers ended up tied for the 32nd spot with Friday-morning qualifying scores of 86.
"It's been a long day," said Buckellew, who normally cards a par 72 score at The Meadows.
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Both Thomas and Buckellew bogeyed the first playoff hole. On the par-four No. 2, Buckellew drained a 12-foot birdie putt.
"I thought I had it locked up then," Buckellew said.
But Thomas answered by sinking his 10-foot, winding, downhill putt to send the match to a third playoff hole.
"It was the best putt I hit all day, by far," said Thomas, who battled Buckellew for spots on the UND golf team.
"He's a good player. You usually don't expect to play someone like that right away. I knew it would be a tough match."
Moorhead's Zach Kappes, who will be a junior at Concordia, took the top honors in Friday morning's qualifying round firing a one-under 71. Kappes, who works in the pro shop at The Meadows, carded a 65 on the same course earlier this year.
"I just played consistent tee to green," Kappes said. "I didn't get in trouble."
Kappes, who was Concordia's top golfer at this spring's MIAC conference tournament finishing 14th, held off Fargo's Matt Wrolstad in his first-round match, 3 and 2. Kappes won on holes 6 and 7 to close out the match against Wrolstad, who will be a sophomore at UND.
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"It was pars all day for us, I just made a lot of putts," said Kappes, who during his two previous Forum All-City tournaments has failed to advance beyond the Saturday afternoon match. "I'm looking to change that."
Friday's qualifying results
Pat Thomas automatic
Zach Kappes 71
Spencer Hilde 73
Logan Palmer 74
Aaron Johnson 74
Nick Olsgaard 74
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Dan Matheson 75
Trenton Olson .76
Pat Dietz 76
Charlie Erickson 76
Jared Cowden... 76
Brian Kibler .77
Conner Holland 77
Andrew Seaver 77
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Patrick McClellan 78
Jonathan Matter 78
Erik Wiess 78
John Sund 78
Joe Schornack 79
Bryant Buckellew 79
Micah Megorden 79
Nick Glass 80
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A.J. Greff 81
Jordan Weir 82
Tyler Rustad 82
Tyler Scholtfeldt 82
Jordan Seaverson 82
Jake Johnson 83
Brian Benson 84
Troy Breitenbach 84
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Matt Wrolstad 85
Brock Buckellew 86
Darby Troftgruben 86
Michael Nerby 87
Michael Ratajczak 87
Chris Clark 89
Casey Bartz 89
Paul Christianson 90
Matt Magnus 100
Championship flight match play first round
(1) Pat Thomas def. (32) Brock Buckellew, 1 up in 21 holes
(17) Erik Weiss def. (16) Jon Matter, 3 and 2
(8) Trenton Olsen def. (25) Tyler Rustad, 2 and 1
(9) Pat Deitz def. (24) Jordan Weir, 5 and 4
(29) Brian Benson def. (4) Logan Palmer, 2 up
(20) Bryant Buckellew def. (13) Conner Holland, 1 up
(5) Aaron Johnson def. (28) Jake Johnson, 6 and 5
(12) Brian Kibler def. (21) Micah Megoren (21), 4 and 3
(2) Zach Kappes def. (31) Matt Wrolstad, 3 and 2
(18) John Sund def. (15) Patrick McClellan, 1 up
(7) Dan Matheson def. (26) Tyler Schlotfeldt, 3 and 2
(10) Charlie Erickson def. (23) A.J. Greff, 1 up
(3) Spencer Hilde def. (30) Troy Breitenbach, 1 up
(14) Andrew Seaver def. (19) Joe Schornack, 2 and 1
(6) Nick Olsgaard def. (27) Jordan Siverson, 4 and 2
(22) Nick Glass def. (11) Jared Cowden, 2 and 1
Today's pairings
Championship flight
Hole No. 1
Pat Thomas vs. Erik Weiss, 7 a.m.
Trenton Olson vs. Pat Deitz, 7:10 a.m.
Brian Benson vs. Bryant Buckellew, 7:20 a.m.
Aaron Johnson vs. Brian Kibler, 7:30 a.m.
Zach Kappes vs. John Sund, 7 a.m.
Dan Mattheson vs. Charlie Erickson, 7:10 a.m.
Spencer Hilde vs. Andrew Seaver, 7:20 a.m.
Nick Olsgaard vs. Nick Glass, 7:30 a.m.
Championship consolation
Hole No. 10
Brock Buckellew vs. Jon Matter, 7 a.m.
Tyler Rustad vs. Jordan Wier, 7 a.m.
Logan Palmer vs. Conner Holland, 7:10 a.m.
Jake Johnson vs. Micah Megorden, 7:10 a.m.
Matt Wrolstad vs. Patrick McClellan, 7:20 a.m.
Tyler Schlotfeldt vs. A.J. Greff, 7:20 a.m.
Troy Breitenbach vs. Joe Schornack, 7:30 a.m.
Jordan Siverson vs. Jared Cowden, 7:30 a.m.
First flight
Hole No. 1
Chris Clark vs. Chad Mohagen, 7:40 a.m.
Michael Nerby vs. Kyle Ambrosie, 7:40 a.m.
Hunter Thorsen vs. Matt Magnus, 7:50 a.m.
Casey Bartz vs. Paul Christianson, 7:50 a.m.
Second flight
Hole No. 1
Darby Troftgruben vs. Terry Erickson, 8 a.m.
Logan Ness vs. Bruce Nelson, 8:10 a.m.
Andy Glass vs. Tom Sorenson, 8 a.m.
Tyler Rivard vs. Logan Arnold, 8:10 a.m.
Third flight
Hole No. 10
Anthony Cusher vs. Jason Miller, 7:40 a.m.
Rob Beer vs. Larry Sundberg, 7:50 a.m.
Alan Reep vs. Jerry Jacobs, 7:40 a.m.
Andrew Ingalls vs. Michael Ratajczak, 7:50 a.m.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Kevin Schnepf at (701) 241-5549
Schnepf's NDSU media blog can be found at www.areavoices.com
