Former winners in the mix to reclaim gold; Birchmont championship Saturday field set
Aug. 1—BEMIDJI — Two years removed from winning her first Women's Division title, seventh-seeded Morgan Hetletved is aiming for another Birchmont Golf Tournament championship.
She defeated third-seeded Anna Eckmann 3-and-1 on Friday morning in the semifinals. Hetletved took a 3-up lead to the turn and extended it to four with a par on No. 10. However, Eckmann had a charge, winning the following three holes to cut her deficit to one.
Hetletved and Eckmann matched scores on Nos. 14 and 15 before Hetletved birdied the 16th and made par on No. 17 to pick up the win.
She will square off against ninth-seeded Ava Olson, who beat No. 12 Lily Bredemeier 2-and-1.
Olson trailed by one after nine holes, but won the first two holes on the back nine to go 1-up. She doubled her lead with a par on No. 14 before Bredemeier got one back on the 15th hole. Olson made a birdie on No. 16 and a par on No. 17 to seal the win.
The Women's Division championship is slated for 1:15 p.m. on Saturday.
Much like Hetletved, Tory Johnson is also seeking his second Birchmont championship.
Johnson, this year's medalist, beat 14th-seeded Duane Wages Jr. 1-up in his semifinal match. Johnson didn't lead until the 18th hole.
Squared at the turn, Wages took a 2-up lead on No. 12 with a birdie. Johnson and Wages traded the next two holes before Johnson cut his deficit in half with a par on No. 15. Johnson leveled the match with another par on No. 17, then birdied the 18th hole to win the match.
Matt Norby also won his semifinal bout against eighth-seeded Jeff Thompson. Norby, the No. 4 seed, took a 3-up lead to the turn. He outlasted Thompson on the back nine to clinch a 2-up win.
The Men's Executive Division championship tees off at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Jon Sauer and Lucas Feterl battled it out for the honor of Men's Division medalist on Tuesday, shooting a combined 21-under par and claiming the top two seeds in the 32-player field when match play opened.
On Friday, both of them were defeated.
Ninth-seeded Landon Miller, a North Dakota men's golf commit, knocked off Sauer 4-and-3. Miller took a 3-up lead to the back nine and didn't lose a hole the rest of the way. He draws 13th-seeded and future UND teammate Nate Peyerl in the semifinals on Saturday.
Peyerl knocked off fifth-seeded Jake Skarperud in a tightly-contested 1-up match. Peyerl was 1-up after nine holes, but Skarperud's eagle on No. 10 squared the match. Skarperud took the lead with a birdie on No. 13 before Peyerl's birdie on No. 17 leveled the score again. On the 18th hole, Peyerl's par was good enough to advance.
Former Bemidji State men's golfer and current North Dakota State senior Rylin Petry, who won the 2020 Junior 17U Division championship, is two wins away from winning his first Men's Division crown.
Despite trailing by three after the 13th hole, Petry, the No. 11 seed, had a back-nine push in him. He carded four consecutive 3s, including a par on No. 14, an eagle on No. 15 and birdies on Nos. 15 and 16 to erase his deficit and take a one-hole lead. Petry matched Skarperud's par on No. 18 to advance.
While there's an all-UND battle in one semifinal, there's an all-NDSU battle in the other. Petry goes head-to-head with Bison teammate and Roseau native Max Wilson, who defeated Feterl 2-and-1.
After nine holes, Feterl trailed by four. He won four of the first five holes on the back nine to square the match. However, Wilson claimed two of the final three holes, including a birdie on No. 17, to qualify for the semifinals on Saturday.
The Men's Division semifinals are at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. The championship match commences on Saturday afternoon.
Three days after birdying the final two qualifying holes to claim the last spot in the Senior Division championship field, Curt Howard clinched a spot to play for his sixth Birchmont championship.
Howard has a pair of Senior titles and three Executive Division wins. He staged a late comeback to knock off 12th-seeded Mark Lindberg 1-up. Lindberg won Nos. 13, 14 and 15 to take a 1-up lead with three to play. Howard won the next two holes and made a par on No. 18 to win the match.
Howard draws Bemidji's Scott Hinners, the No. 10 seed who beat third-seeded Dale Finck 4-and-3. Hinners had a 3-up lead through nine holes, which ballooned to 4-up through 12. Hinners coasted the rest of the way to victory.
Howard and Hinners tee off at 12:50 p.m. on Saturday.
The first 2025 Birchmont champion was crowned on Friday night.
Cass Lake's Jaxon Brown defeated Bemidji's Owen Grand 3-and-1 in the nine-hole Junior 12U Division championship. Both players were squared through three holes. Brown went 1-up on No. 4, then won Nos. 7 and 8 to take home the win.
Brown defeated Bemidji's Jace Barnes 2-and-1 in the quarterfinals. He also knocked off McCoy Kuenzel 5-and-3 in the semifinals before beating Grand on Friday evening.
In the battle of Master's Division Birchmont Hall of Famers, Jeff Wiltse claimed the win. The No. 8 seed knocked off fourth-seeded Jeff Tweeton 5-and-3.
Wiltse went to the turn 2-up, then won the next three holes to start the back nine. Tweeton got one back on No. 13, but Wiltse's par on No. 15 locked up the win.
Wiltse, a four-time Senior Division champ and a three-time Master's Division winner, will play against the medalist. John McEnroe, the 1995 and 1999 Men's Executive Division victor, pulled out a 1-up win over Bemidji's Paul Iverson on Friday.
Iverson led by two holes at the turn, then engaged in a back-and-forth battle with McEnroe. Wins on Nos. 12 and 14 for McEnroe squared the match. He then birdied the 18th hole to advance to the title match.
The Master's Division championship is set for 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.
* Sunday: Birchmont Past Champions Dinner (Invitation only)
* Monday: Qualifying rounds for the Men's, Senior, Executive and Junior Divisions.
* Tuesday: Qualifying rounds for the Women's and Masters Divisions; second round of qualifying for Men's, Senior and Executive Divisions; match play begins for Junior 10-12 Division.
* Wednesday: Match play begins for all championship divisions. (Men's Letter Flights, Executive Regular and Junior 10-12 Divisions do not play.)
* Thursday: Match play continues for all championship divisions. (Women's Regular, Masters Regular and Junior flights do not play.) Annual Long Drive Contest at 7 p.m., Johnson 5 performs at the Clubhouse at 8 p.m.
* Friday: Match play continues for all divisions. (Junior Championship Division does not play.) Putting contest at 7 p.m.
* Saturday: Match play finals for all divisions. Award ceremony.
