Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2019 - 22

and then turned pro. He has won 15 times since then, including
two Tapemark Charity Pro-Am titles. Smith was an AllAmerican
at Minnesota, and he was the one who made the putt
that clinched the Gophers' NCAA team championship in 2002.
He, too, turned pro and played on the Nationwide Tour-now
the Web.com Tour-nearly making it to the PGA Tour.)
Minnesota fi nished fi fth as a team at the 2018 Gopher Invite,
17 shots behind Oklahoma. That may sound like a lot, but
it's not-especially when you consider that the Gophers' best
player last year was Angus Flanagan, and he had his worst fi nish
at Windsong, tying for 64th. Flanagan was a freshman, and that
was his fi rst college tournament. Seven months later, he tied for
medalist honors at the Big Ten Conference Championships. If
Minnesota is going to challenge teams like Oklahoma and Texas
for the title, they will need strong performances once again
from Johnson and Long and from Thomas Longbella, who fi nished
18th last year.
The most star-studded Gopher Invitational fi eld was probably
the one that assembled at Spring Hill in 2012. Kent State's
Corey Conners won the fi rst of his two individual medals that
year. (He was the medalist again in 2013.) Until this year, that
name wouldn't have meant much. Then he won for the fi rst time
on the PGA Tour, at the Valero Open in May, with a remarkable
fi nal round of 66 that included 10 birdies, 4 bogeys (in a row)
and only 4 pars.
Cal was the 2012 team champion, and the Bears claimed the
next three places in the individual standings behind Conners.
Max Homa and Michael Kim tied for second, and their teammate
Brandon Hagy fi nished fourth. Homa won the 2013 NCAA
individual championship; Kim won the Haskins Award for player
of the year; and Hagy was named freshman of the year.
What's more, an SMU player with some strange ideas about
golf named Bryson DeChambeau fi nished seventh. He would
eventually become the third Gopher Invitational alum to win
the NCAA (LSU's John Peterson, who played at Spring Hill in
2010, was the fi rst; Homa was the second) and the third to win
the U.S. Am (following Knost and Kraft). He's since won multiple
tournaments on the PGA Tour.
Pretty much lost in the shuffl e at that 2012 tournament was a
kid from Spain playing in his fi rst tournament as a freshman for
Arizona State. Not many people paid any attention to him. For
one thing, he could barely speak a word of English. For another,
he shot 81-73-78-232 and tied for 41st.
His name was Jon Rahm. MG
With 9 great courses,
we're above par!
Home of the
3M Open
PGA Tournament
July 4-7, 2019
1. Brightwood Hills Golf
bit.ly/2TCFaXx
2. Bunker Hills Golf Club
bunkerhillsgolf.com
3. Chomonix Golf Course
chomonixgolf.com
4. Green Haven Golf Course
greenhavengolfcourse.com
5. Island Lake Golf Center
islandlakegolf.com
6. Majestic Oaks Golf Club
majesticoaksgolfclub.com
7. TPC Twin Cities
tpc.com/tpc-twin-cities
8. Victory Links Golf Course
victorylinks.nscsports.org
9. Rum River Hills Golf Club
rumriverhills.com
tcgateway.com
22
MINNESOTAGOLFER Summer 2019
mngolf.org

http://www.Web.com http://www.bit.ly/2TCFaXx http://www.bunkerhillsgolf.com http://www.chomonixgolf.com http://www.greenhavengolfcourse.com http://www.islandlakegolf.com http://www.majesticoaksgolfclub.com http://www.tpc.com/tpc-twin-cities http://victorylinks.nscsports.org http://www.rumriverhills.com http://www.tcgateway.com http://www.mngolf.org

Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2019