4/29 - Round One

The Tri State Invitational was played for many years at the 6288 yard University of Minnesota Les Bolstad course. Last year the tournament was moved to the 6350 yard Hastings CC. Edinburgh USA GC in Brooklyn Park has hosted multiple LPGA events and the 1992 USGA Public Links Championship - it has the teeth to challenge the nations best.

The wind blew a little today, sometimes to 20+ mph. It made the course play shorter on some holes and longer on others. Today's wind direction combined with it's strength put some severe bite into the 6888 yard Edinburgh layout. For the Royals, Corey Muenzhuber led with a 78. Corey managed to settle into a nice rythym of pars and sand saves out of many of the 70 bunkers dotting the course. But ultimately the wind got him on the signature 17th island fairway hole. The resulting double bogey tarnished an otherwise solid round.

Mac Buege started with a birdie by running in a 20 footer on hole one. The third hole has water running dow the entire right side separating it from the par 3 eighth. Mac found the water not once but twice for a triple bogey seven. After converting one of three birdie opportunities he approached the eighth seemingly recovered from the mishap across the pond. No ball found the water, but the strengthening wind did push his tee shot OB and a couple more messy attempts resulted in another seven. Mac played his final ten holes even par and finished with a 79.

Jordan Rykal started strong, was even par through six holes, and finished with and 80. Morgan Rask was the other counting score at 86. The Royals total of 323 is just eight off the lead behind Eden Prairie and they are in a three way tie for third place after day one.

4/30 Round Two

Friday's windswept Edinburgh USA golf course turned into Saturday's Edinburgh USA land o' lakes as overnight soaking rains extended well into the second round of play. When the Royals teed off standing water and flowing rivulets were everywhere except on the greens, and that is what kept the course playable enough to allow the tournament to finish.

The conditions were less than ideal at the start, improved dramatically in the middle, but reverted to the winds of Friday at the end. The combined challenge of the weather conditions and strategic design of a championship golf course definitely favored the most tested, seasoned team and individuals. When it was over that was exactly the way it finally played out.

Eden Prairie unseated the Royals as Tri State Champions. The Eagles had been on the doorstep the last two years while finishing third. Their top two players are seniors with national playing experience and are signed to play Division One college golf next year. The depth of their team proved too much on two difficult scoring days and they, like Rogers did last year, destroyed the rest of the field by sixteen shots. The Royals did play solid golf on Saturday while improving by ten shots over round one. Their two day total of 323-313-636 helped move them into second place over the number one ranked Trojans of Wayzata.

Ironically, this was the third sixteen shot victory in as many elite Minnesota high school tourneys the last two years - the 2010 Tri State, 2010 AAA State Championship (won by Wayzata), and this year's event. The only team to finish first or second in all three is Rogers. They won last year at Tri State, finished second to Wayzata at 2010 State, and then second this weekend to Eden Prairie. Wayzata has a first, second, and third place finish. The EP Eagles have a first and a third - they did not advance out of sections last year and missed State. Rogers High School will never be spoken of in terms of the size or collegiate-like campus facilities of Wayzata and Eden Prairie but they have fared better than both at boy's golf since the beginning of 2010. The Royals experience and depth will suffer a bit with the loss of graduating senior McCabe Buege's national playing experience but the team has experienced great gains from being in first or second in the strongest tournaments Minnesota high school golf has to offer.

Corey Muenzhuber, with his strong early season play in 2011 and his second consecutive top twenty finish at Tri State (finishing ninth with a 78-77-155), is looking to fill the leadership role next year. He is flying under the radar for now in high school golf but that is soon to change. He will have to be considered a favorite in next year's Tri State. Corey's ability to keep the ball in play and his creativity around the greens was definitely on display at Edinburgh.

Much like Corey did last year, Jordan Rykal also had a strong performance in his first Tri State this weekend with a pair of 80's and a 25th place finish. He came away from the weekend feeling he left a few too many shots on the course by not capitalizing on some opportunities but the experience will help for next year. He continues to prove he is a strong player and is developing a consistency necessary for team competition.

Senior Phil Ballard was the fourth counting score in Saturdays second round with a 84. Phil did not play on Friday (teams have the option to substitute players for the second round of the tournament) and, as the first of the Royals on the course, was thrust into the event during the day's worst weather. His contribution was a key in helping the Royals overtake Wayzata for second place.

Morgan Rask was the other Royals golfer to play both rounds. A rough stretch on the pond-strewn front nine at Edinburgh in the driving rain derailed his round. Combined with a rules infraction on hole seven, Morgan would have had good reason to just endure the rest of the round but sometimes golf is played for pride and Morgan played well the rest of the day - a test of mental toughness that will serve him and the Royals well in the future.

As for Buege, he played 34 of the tournament's 36 holes at even par. He too, like Rask (except in Friday's first round), endured two, would-be tournament killing holes. Going into round two he figured a 69 was needed on Saturday to win. Far too many good players were ahead of him for an average round to make up a five shot deficit. Complicating matters was the team concept. Individual goals cannot be at the expense of team accomplishments.

Mac played steady through the four opening holes in the rain. The weather started to clear on the fifth but his tee shot found the water resulting in a bogey five. He made the turn at one over but birdies at the twelfth and thirteenth got him to one under par for the day. The wind had returned to Edinburgh at that point in his round. Turning into it, Mac hooked a tee shot left into the trees on the par five fifteenth. His punch shot hit an exposed root just ahead of the ball and fortunately kicked out to the fairway. The next shot again went left into the trees 90 yards short of the green. Mac caught another great break with a clean lie and view to the flag. He capitalized by hitting to six feet and making the putt for par. A big smile showed he knew he had just got away with one.

His even par finish and a 79-72-151 was the early, lowest posted score and it held up as the winds increased and most of the day one leaders struggled down the stretch. Mac finished in a tie with seniors Dylan Baker and Austin Wilson of Eden Prairie and for the second year in a row found himself part of a scorecard playoff at the Tri State Invitational. Last year he lost it to Patrick Johnson of Orono. This year the championship was his to keep by virtue of a par on the third hole counted.