Minnesota Golfer - Spring 2010 - 29

And the University of Minnesota hopes to
build on its history of success while hosting
the championship tournament.
By Mike Fermoyle
Les
Bolstad
T
he Big Ten Conference Golf Championships
are returning to the Twin
Cities this spring-and for the fi rst
time in more than 80 years, the
University of Minnesota will play
host on a course other than the University's
Les Bolstad Golf Course. When the Big Ten
championship begins on April 30 this year, the
golfers will instead tee off at Windsong Farm,
in Independence.
When the Big Ten was last played here in
1999, Minnesota fi nished just three strokes
behind fi rst-place Northwestern. That was
certainly a respectable showing, but the Gophers
had come into the tournament ranked
No. 7 in the country and were favored to win.
What's more, their lineup featured a sophomore
from Australia named James McLean,
who had won the NCAA individual championship
the year before. He was considered a
favorite, too.
Northwestern, ranked No. 13, was able to
upset the Gophers thanks in large part to Luke
Donald's 67 on the fi nal day. Donald would go
on to win the 1999 NCAA individual crown
a couple of weeks later at Hazeltine National,
and eventually established himself as a PGA
Tour winner as well. But as it turned out, neither
he nor McLean won the Big Ten individual
championship that year. Michael Harris
of Michigan and Larry Nuger of Illinois-not
exactly a pair of household names -were the
co-medalists in 1999.
Although the results in '99 were somewhat
disappointing, the Gophers have generally exThe
most memorable Big Ten tournament
played in Minnesota was in 1972. Not only did
the unheralded Gophers win the team championship,
but in one of the all-time great Cinderella
stories of Minnesota golf, Jim Bergeson
set a 36-hole scoring record on the second day
and won the individual championship.
Dave Haberle, a two-time All-American for
the Gophers, had won the individual Big Ten
crown at Ohio State the year before. But that
'71 team had fi nished eighth, and Haberle had
graduated, which meant that the prospects
going into the 1972 season didn't look all that
great for the Gophers.
There were, however, two future Minnesota
perienced success when the Big Ten has been
held in their back yard.
The University's fi rst turn to host was 1929,
when the tournament was played at Interlachen
Country Club in Edina. Les Bolstad
won his second conference championship in
three years at that tournament and led Minnesota
to its fi rst team title as well.
Nine years later, the Big Ten Championships
were played for the fi rst time at the University
Golf Course-the course that would later
have its name changed to honor Bolstad, after
the former Gophers star served as the team's
coach from 1946 until 1976. Again, Minnesota
won the team championship.
Golf Hall of Fame members on the roster that
spring: Rick Ehrmanntraut and John Harris. It
was during the 1972 college season that both
of those players began to establish their nowimpressive
credentials.
Ehrmanntraut was a junior who hadn't really
cracked the tournament lineup during his
fi rst two years at Minnesota. But he played
surprisingly well during the team's annual
trip to Texas in March, even though his only
practice for four months prior had been limited
to hitting balls in one of the back rooms of
Memorial Stadium. Then he won the Illinois
Invitational in April.
Harris, who would win the Big Ten individual
crown in 1974, was a sophomore in '72. He
didn't get off to as quick a start as Ehrmanntraut,
but he made a strong showing at the Big
Ten and wound up in third place. Ehrmanntraut
fi nished right behind him in fourth.
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27
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