Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 3 September 2023

 For the first time since the week of Scottish Open, there were multiple Upper Midwest connections in tour golf playing in Europe, and both made the cut at their respective events. But before we get into Umcees abroad, I'd like to recap what happened at the CRMC Championship in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota with special attention given Upper Midwest connections in action there.

With the PGA Tour on its fortnightly hiatus following the Tour Championship and the Korn Ferry Tour taking another week off beyond that stretch until its Finals resume with the Simmons Bank Open, I was able to shine my stateside spotlight on the CRMC pretty brightly, especially since it is the final regular-season event in the history of the PGA Tour Canada. Chinese prospect Yi Cao ran away with the title by eight strokes (-22), soaring from #55 to #9 in the Fortinet Cup and having a legitimate chance at a double bye in Q-school proper (that is, excluding prequalifying, which begins next week at three sites with five more over the following two weeks).

For the Umcees in the field, it wasn't nearly so rosy. Among players who didn't withdraw, Matt Boldy of the NHL's Minnesota Wild finished dead last on +19 at the cut; but he was just doing it for fun, I guess, since he was on a sponsor's exemption. Tom Lehman Jr fared better, but his +4 didn't cut it either. Blaine, Minnesota's Caleb VanArragon, who plays collegiately for the Valparaiso Crusaders (unless they changed their nickname), fared even better but missed the cut by a single stroke on +1. The most heartbreaking finish for any Umcee was reigning Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Thomas Longbella, whose streak of seven straight cuts made ended when he failed to break par on the closing par 5, also finishing +1, and he fell just outside the top 25 to #26 on the points list.

That left four for the weekend. Harrison Ott had a chance to secure his status for 2024 on the new PGA Tour Americas, but mediocre +1 rounds on Thursday and Saturday meant even a final-round -3 couldn't save him from having to go back to Q-school this fall. A double bogey on 15 Sunday also didn't help. George Kneiser may have seen his hopes of direct entry into Final Stage die with a poor final-round +2. He should have enough points to make Second Stage, though. Derek Hitchner had impressive middle rounds of -4 on Friday and Saturday, but a moribund 70 on the par-70 course actually dropped him to #45 on the list (from #38). Still, he has PGA Tour U privileges to fall back upon, assuring him of playing Second Stage, too. The tragic irony of the best performance from an Umcee at the CRMC, though, was that it wasn't enough to secure a spot in Calgary this week. Jordan Hahn of Janesville, Wisconsin, who in fact is a former Wisconsin Badger, tied for 15th and jumped from #86...to #63. Only four points shy of making the final Fortinet Cup Championship! What one shot can do.

The only other Umcees in tour golf last week played in Europe. Angus Flanagan, who played collegiately at Minnesota, made the cut at the Indoor Golf Group Challenge in Sweden. Unfortunately, the break from playing that proved his ally at first--a long break due to a waterlogged course--ultimately proved his enemy, as he suffered six bogeys against only one birdie on Sunday, as he played 25 holes each of the last two days of the tournament. At least he can say he's four for four on the Challenge Tour. But there was one Umcee who not only made the cut, but truly showed up at the weekend, to post his second-best European Tour result of the 2023 season. As one of the current "big three" Umcees along with Tom Hoge and Troy Merritt, this week's Upper Midwest Connection of the Week needs no introduction...

Erik van Rooyen.

The former Minnesota Gophers golf captain from South Africa captures his second such honour after a T8 at the Omega European Masters in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. (Yes, that's the crazy outfit he wore for his final round Sunday.) Even his worst round, which went down Friday, broke par with a -1 on 69 strokes, and he made the cut with two strokes to spare. Again, though, the weekend saw him truly kick butt with eight birdies Saturday to move from 33rd to 16th on the leaderboard. Then, on Sunday, he had his best round of the week with a -5, suffering only one bogey at No 2. He even got an eagle at 14 and closed with a difficult sand shot to find the green in regulation within a few feet of the hole. I saw the latter shot on the NBC Sports website since the linear Golf Channel was covering the Walker Cup (whose previous edition had involved Flanagan during his time with the Gophers, as he played for the British Isles). It was a much-needed top-ten showing for van Rooyen, who had slipped to #235 in the world rankings and is now #211, and he climbed to #149 in the Race to Dubai. He joins Longbella as the only two-time recipients of the Upper Midwest Connection of the Week plaudit.

This week is the final week before the PGA Tour commences its first true fall series since 2012, the year before it adopted the short-lived wraparound schedule that expired with this year's Tour Championship. In the meantime, though, we have the PGA Tour Canada's swan song in Calgary at the Fortinet Cup Championship to follow. Three Umcees made it in Kneiser, Longbella and Hitchner. Meanwhile, on the European Tour, the Irish Open takes over the K Club in County Kildare, Ireland, with van Rooyen and Tom Hoge as the Umcees at that event. Finally, as of this writing, Flanagan has an outside chance at making the Challenge de Espana. He was a high alternate, but he is also playing a Clutch Pro Tour event in his native England, which might create a scheduling conflict for him. Stay tuned.

Edward the Scop

Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 27 August 2023

 Originally, I was going to post this yesterday, as I usually need some time to assess the candidates for Upper Midwest Connection of the Week, but I had a long day yesterday and needed some rest. As I write, I just got done helping livestream the third episode of Ahsoka. I told you I'm a nerd!

Anyway, it was a bit feistier last week than the previous two weeks, as the PGA Tour Canada returned to action for the final three weeks of its existence. Even so, there were only seven men Umcees eligible for last week's honour, along with Kate Smith and Kim Kaufman, winners of the plaudit the last two weeks. A pittance by normal standards, but let's run down the list.

Three of the Umcees--Frankie Capan III, Will Grevlos and Derek Hitchner--missed the cut. Capan is in danger of having to play a second season on the Korn Ferry Tour, though he shouldn't have to compete against the reshuffle, and he might even have to start in Second Stage of Q-school, the way things are going for him. Grevlos will have to First Stage to get any privileges on so much as the PGA Tour Americas for next year, but Hitchner is guaranteed Second Stage because of his PGA Tour U finish (#14). All three were out of the running for Upper Midwest Connection of the Week.

Of the six who made it, Kaufman wasn't that impressive at the Circling Raven Championship in Worley, Idaho, near Coeur d'Alene, only mustering a T63 and pocketing $749. Her final-round 75 was her worst of the week. Back on the men's side of things at the Manitoba Open in Winnipeg, George Kneiser of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin broke 70 the first two days but settled for par Saturday and suffered a +1 Sunday to finish T37. He remains 16th in the Fortinet Cup. His fellow-Wisconsinite Harrison Ott of Broomfield had a similar weekend showing, although his first two rounds were each one stroke better than Kneiser's corresponding performances, earning him a T28 and improving his Fortinet Cup standing to #62 with one last chance to retain his card this week at the CRMC Championship in Pequot Lakes, Minnesota. Returning to the ladies' side, Kate Smith wasn't so lucky, improving each round of the aforementioned Circling Raven Championship from 71 Friday to 70 Saturday and 68 Sunday, but she slipped to #17 in the Race for the Card somehow.

That leaves two Umcees who reached the top 15 at the Manitoba Open to vie for the weekly plaudit. These guys were the tie for 11th. They both hail from Wisconsin--one from Chippewa Falls, the other from Janesville. Both went to Big Ten schools for university, as one left the Dairyland for Minnesota, while the other stayed home and made the short jog to UW-Madison. One reached the top 25 in the Fortinet Cup, while the other gave himself an outside hope of making it to next week's PGA Tour Canada swan song. But when it came to choosing an Upper Midwest Connection of the Week, I knew I had to pick the more milestone-based achiever. Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for...

Thomas Longbella.

With all due respect to Jordan Hahn, who also tied for 11th, Longbella figures to carry more weight in Q-school when that rolls around and going forward. The reason? Longbella's performance lifted him into the top 25 at #22, and since he was all but guaranteed to make the grand finale in Calgary, he'll have two opportunities to consolidate a first-stage bye for the second year running. The CRMC Championship is just a few hours' drive from his alma mater, and the Fortinet Cup Championship doesn't have a cut. To make a long story short, Thomas Longbella has truly merited to become, in the short history of this blog, my first two-time Upper Midwest Connection of the Week.

This week, in addition to the Pequot Lakes event, both European Tour Group top-two tours will feature Umcees in their respective fields, and both are former Minnesota Gophers. Angus Flanagan tees off at the IGG Challenge in Sweden at 7:30 local time Thursday (12:30 Twin Cities/11:30pm Wednesday western Dakotas), and Erik van Rooyen follows suit an hour later at the Omega European Masters in Crans Montana, Switzerland (8:30 local/1:30 Twin Cities/12:30 W Dakotas). This will give fans of these golfers something to get up for during the fortnight in which both the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour are off. Are y'all insomniac enough?

Edward the Scop

Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 6 August 2023

 First off, apologies for not posting earlier this week. My Mondays have become increasingly hectic with driving range and other practice, and I had been shorted on sleep the night before. Perhaps the desire to play D&D again has cost me some rest, as I haven't been able to indulge in it since 20 April. The NFL Draft was a week later, followed by my trip to see one of my best friends in Philadelphia for a few days the week after that. Also, I was following the Leagues Cup last night, as Minnesota United won a second straight penalty shootout, this time over Toluca. I told you I like soccer as well as golf! The Loons are now only two wins away from next year's Concacaf Champions Cup, one of which would have to come over Nashville. In any case, at least until the end of my league season, I will probably post more often on Tuesdays than Mondays.

But back to golf. Last week was the conclusion of the FedEx Cup regular season, and as expected, (at least) two of the big three Umcees are going to the FedEx Cup Fall, which starts next month with the Fortinet Championship. Erik van Rooyen missed the cut by two strokes, and Troy Merritt, who did make the cut but stumbled on Sunday, saw his streak of five straight playoff qualifications come to an end--and not just because of the stricter criteria for qualifying. On the Korn Ferry Tour, Monday qualifier Andre Metzger, who has some connection to the Sioux Falls area, missed the cut despite a -3 Friday, while Frankie Capan III failed to improve in the order of merit, remaining at #38.

It was at the Windsor Championship on the PGA Tour Canada in its last week before a fortnight's hiatus, then, that top-level Umcee performances were to be found last week. We start with Monday qualifier Van Holmgren. Originally from Plymouth, Minnesota and a graduate (I think) of Wayzata High School, Holmgren went to North Dakota State for a few years before transferring to Florida Gulf Coast University. Did you know that, at 6'8", he is the tallest player in PGA Tour Canada history? He started out strong, posting -5 and -2 rounds on the workweek before struggling with a +4 weekend. Next, Jordan Hahn (no relation to James) hails from Janesville, WI and went to the nearby University of Wisconsin. He broke par all four days but only mustered -1 Sunday and finished T44.

Two other Minnesota connections finished much higher up the leaderboard Sunday. Derek Hitchner, native of Minneapolis and alumnus of Pepperdine, was a PGA Tour U third team laureate this past spring by finishing 14th on that list. This ensures he'll start Q-school in the second stage rather than the first regardless of where he finishes this season. He broke 70 all four days, highlighted by a 6-under 65 Friday. But given a Fortinet Cup rank of 35th, it's unlikely over the last three events of the season that he'll crack the top five to skip second stage, which renders a top-25 finish in the list irrelevant for this season. Fortinet Cup placement is relevant, though, for this week's Upper Midwest Connection of the Week...

Thomas Longbella at the Windsor Championship.

Thomas Longbella.

Moving to #26 in the Fortinet Cup and to the cusp of the top thousand in the world rankings, the Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin native and University of Minnesota product saved his best for last, carding a bogey-free -7 Sunday, including five birdies on the back nine. He could have cracked the Fortinet Cup top 25 if he'd taken better advantage of the par fives, as he missed birdies on two of the three, but he's still got time to secure a second straight first-stage bye, as he has made six successive cuts on PGA Tour Canada. He'll look to keep working toward that goal over the last three events--the Manitoba Open in Winnipeg, the CRMC Championship in Brainerd, Minnesota (yes, PGA Tour Canada runs an event stateside) and the Fortinet Cup Tour Championship in Calgary.

As for next week's honour, there'll only be four Umcees up for it, two of whom--Tripp Kinney of West Des Moines, Iowa and the aforementioned Andre Metzger--got in via open qualifying. There are also two regulars: Tom Hoge, who returns to action after sitting out the last two weeks, his spot in the FedEx Cup playoffs secure, and Frankie Capan III, who resumes his quest for a PGA Tour card at the Pinnacle Bank Championship.

Edward the Scop