Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2017 - 6

FRONT
BY THE NUMBERS
Champions Roll
A look at local tournament winners throughout Minnesota history.
T
he Minnesota Golf Association has been holding golf
championships since 1901, and the number of tournaments
per season has grown immensely since those
early days. Together with the PGA
Section, the MPGA and the MGA
(after the merger with the MWGA
and MWPGA), these tournaments
translate to quite a few of champions
who get crowned each fall.
Some of those champions are familiar
names such as Claudia Pilot
(13 wins) or Lester Bolstad (10)-
both of whom have certainly fi lled
trophy cases in their time. Other
golfers have fewer but no less impressive
wins. For example, Champions
Tour player and 1996 British
Open champ Tom Lehman won
fi ve state titles in Minnesota before
heading off to the PGA Tour, and
Patty Berg had three local victories
before launching her illustrious career.
Still,
there are some names and
* BY JOSEPH OBERLE *
Harrison " Jimmy " Johnston, who set a record with seven consecutive
MGA Amateur match play titles.
On the women's side, the top winners are Bev Vanstrum with
17 state titles, and Joan Garvin
right behind her with 16. That
pair is followed by Nancy (Harris)
Blanchard and Gertrude (Boothby)
Dansingburg with 11 and Beatrice
(Barrett) Altmeyer with 10.
When you consider combined
Harry
11
numbers that stand out. With 17,
George Shortridge leads the way
for most victories by a professional golfer, garnering the lion's
share of his wins in the Minnesota Section Championship
(eight in match play and six in stroke). Shortridge bests local
pros Don Berry at 15 wins and Joe Coria with 11 titles.
A couple prolifi c amateur winners include Harry Legg, who
among his 11 wins won 10 MGA Amateurs (match play), and
TITLES
4
Number of titles held
by Minnesota's more
prolifi c golf
course
architect,
Joel
Goldstrand.
6
MINNESOTAGOLFER Fall 2017
15
Number of golfers
with double-digit wins
(eight women and
seven men).
regular and senior women's tournaments,
no golfer has more trouble
fi nding trophy case room than
Leigh Klasse, who won her 25th
individual title in September (the
2017 MGA Women's Senior Amateur)
and is showing no signs of
slowing down.
On the youthful end of the specLegg
trum
are rising amateur stars such
as 21-year-old Sarah Burnham,
who has already compiled eight
state wins in her short career, and
University of Nebraska sophomore
Kate Smith, a fi ve-time
state high school champ who just
claimed her fi rst MGA Women's Amateur Championship.
Perhaps the most versatile golfer on the list is Charles " Pat "
Sawyer, who won one high school title, two state juniors, and
then compiled seven state titles as an amateur and later as a
professional, including four MGA Amateurs and three State
Opens-the most since Jimmy Johnston.
10
7
Most victories in the
same tournament-
held by Harry Legg
(MGA Amateur, match
play) and Gunnard
Johnson (Minn. PGA,
stroke play).
Number of wins by
men golfers who have
written for Minnesota
Golfer magazine:
Mike Fermoyle
(four) and Mike
Barge (three).
www.mngolf.org
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2017

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