Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 19 May 2024

 Having started a YouTube channel affiliated with this blog, I recently got clearance to add community posts, including polls. To that end, I decided to run a viewer/reader poll on people's opinion of who should be crowned Upper Midwest Connection of the Week. Although the poll is still running, I decided to cut off consideration for the "people's choice" alongside my own opinion.

Since YouTube limits polls to five choices but more than four Umcees made the cut at their respective tournaments (at least seven did), I took a representative sample of Umcees, basing my selections on the principle of one per event. In the end, Tom Hoge at the PGA Championship, Van Holmgren at the Korn Ferry Tour's AdventHealth Championship, Kim Kaufman at the Epson Tour's Copper Rock Championship and Thomas Longbella at the PGA Tour Americas' Inter Rapidisimo Golf Championship made the poll. By popular vote (if one vote counts as such, since that's how many I got), Van Holmgren was people's choice for the week. To his credit, unlike the other three finalists, Holmgren lacks full membership on the tour he primarily plays on these days but made the cut and finished in the top twenty and ties. This sufficed to get him into this week's Visit Knoxville Open in Tennessee, which is the third event in this reshuffle period. After next week's UNC Health Championship in Raleigh, North Carolina, the reshuffle falls again, and players will be ordered for priority reasons according to their points-list position. Holmgren is in a very good position to get more starts on the Korn Ferry Tour this year.

However, this is a time when expert or semi-expert opinions trump those of the crowd. See, I don't even consider Holmgren's performance the second-best of the week in tour golf. Two golfers from the Dakotas top my list. Kaufman had the better rank and moved up in the Epson Tour's Race for the Card with her simple T10, but given that she played just three rounds (the length of most Epson Tour events), she just loses out to...

Tom Hoge finished T23 at Valhalla (Fargo Forum).

Tom Hoge.

Hoge has made the cut at every PGA Championship since Harding Park 2020, and this year fit the bill as well. His finish of three-way T23 at Valhalla Golf Club was his second-best major finish ever only to a T9 at Southern Hills in 2022, also at the PGA Championship. He moved up to #21 in the FedEx Cup, and his OWGR remained at the minimum #60 to enter the U.S. Open, no qualifiers needed.

Speaking of U.S. Open qualifiers, another Umcee, Erik van Rooyen, secured his exemption straight to the event at Pinehurst as the fifth-leading FedEx Cup placement among those not yet exempt by any other category, including world rankings, after the PGA Championship. His T53 at Valhalla got him 10 FedEx Cup points, which enabled him to edge out Patrick Rodgers by about six points for the final spot for now.

Anyway, this week's action revolves mostly around the PGA and Korn Ferry tours. The Inter Rapidisimo wrapped up the Latin American Swing on the PGA Tour Americas, and a series of Q-school events follow to help fill fields for the North American (mostly Canadian with one U.S. event) Swing. As for the Epson Tour, it has the rest of the month off, both for Memorial Day and the week of the U.S. Women's Open, two weeks before the men's version (Kaufman did qualify for the former). Three Umcees--Hoge will be joined by Troy Merritt and Zach Johnson, both of whom are struggling to keep PGA Tour membership--will contest the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial National in Fort Worth, Texas. The aforementioned Visit Knoxville Open involves two more, as Holmgren is joined by Frankie Capan III, who missed the cut last week but remains in the top 30 of the KFT points list. The only other Umcee of note is O.J. Farrell, former Wisconsin Badger, who is on the Clutch Pro Tour in his native England. Farrell competed in European Q-school last winter but missed the 72-hole (out of 108 holes) cut, losing access to DP World Tour events and having few opportunities to play the Challenge Tour.

Edward the Scop

Update on the Blog and Kindred Activities

I know it's been a while since I wrote last, but there have been some developments here. Firstly, I now have a YouTube channel. On it you can find announcements in short-video form as to whenever I put out a new blog post, usually in advance of the same. From time to time, I'll put out longer-form content, but it's mostly going to consist of videos lasting no more than one minute each. It's taken some time to figure out a direction for the channel, but I plan to mostly use it to get people to read the Devilish Rake. There's still some sawdust, but it's coming along.

Anyway, to get you up to speed, the first Upper Midwest Connection of the Week I missed was Frankie Capan III. He secured the honours twice, at the LECOM Suncoast Classic and the Veritex Bank Championship, both on the Korn Ferry Tour. He set an official course record of -13/58 in his first round! Though he was unable to hold on in the face of Sweden's Tim Widing, who played this week's PGA Championship and made the cut at Valhalla (more later), FCIII still kicked ass, as this was his third straight finish in the top ten on the Korn Ferry Tour. It also secured his status as Upper Midwest Connection of the Month for April 2024.

The next week on the PGA Tour Americas, Thomas Longbella won the KIA Open in Quito, Ecuador for his first win that counts in the world rankings. Longbella is from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and attended the University of Minnesota, playing alongside Angus Flanagan and current Gopher star Ben Warian, among others. He sank an eagle at No 17 to take a one-stroke lead heading into the final round...which was cancelled due to rain and unplayable conditions. On the PGA Tour, they would have tried to play the final round and would've extended it to Monday if necessary. On developmental circuits, though, where the players are often stuck for money, the threshold for Monday finishes is stricter. Since so few were able to start that Sunday, the tournament was curtailed on 54-hole scores, which sufficed for Longbella to secure the win.

Last week, Erik van Rooyen secured Upper Midwest Connection of the Week honours for the first time since the Masters Tournament with his tie for fourth at the inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic. It was his third finish in the top ten on the PGA Tour this year. (For the record, the tourney was won by Chris Gotterup, who had previously been in the reshuffle but earned a trip to this past week's PGA Championship as a result.)

The next post deals with various tidbits on the week that was in tour golf, including (but NOT limited to) the second major of the year.

All-Umcee Team for 2024 Q1

With one-quarter of 2024 in the books, I thought I would release an All-Umcee Team based on the first three months of the year. Unlike the year-end All-Umcee team, there won't be a second team. The same goes for the midyear team, which will be released around the anniversary of the blog (early July), though that will feature honourable mentions. Furthermore, those named to the quarterly All-Umcee teams will be given with shortened criteria as to why they were named. With that said, here is my All-Umcee Team for the first quarter of 2024:

• Erik van Rooyen. Heading into this week's Texas Open, van Rooyen had missed the cut just twice in three months. He earned three Upper Midwest Connection of the Week honours for his efforts this quarter at the Sentry, the Mexico Open and (especially) the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches (all PGA Tour). He was also Upper Midwest Connection of the Month for January.
• Tom Hoge. The Upper Midwest Connection of Q1 for 2024 and also of the Month for February, Hoge got his first UMCOW honour at the American Express, then followed it up with back-to-back plaudits at Pebble Beach and the Phoenix Open. As if that weren't enough, Hoge also did well at the first two signature events of the year with a cut, although the week of the Genesis featured too few Umcees to warrant an Upper Midwest Connection of the Week, while maintaining strong iron play.
• Kim Kaufman. The only female golfer on this All-Umcee Team and Upper Midwest Connection of the Month for March after two top-ten finishes on the Epson Tour (the women's Korn Ferry Tour). On both occasions, she was Upper Midwest Connection of the Week. So far in 2024, she is off to a much better start than a year ago as she strives to make it back to the LPGA Tour for 2025.

Tom Hoge is my Upper Midwest Connection of Q1 for 2024. (AP)

• Derek Hitchner. The Minneapolis Blake School alumnus and former Pepperdine Wave has moonlighted on the Korn Ferry Tour, but it's on the third-tier PGA Tour Americas that he has made his biggest impact. The final Upper Midwest Connection of the Week for Q1 of 2024, who earned his plaudits by way of the Totalplay Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico, is off to an 11th-place start in the Fortinet Cup standings--the tour's points-based order of merit.
• Thomas Longbella. Between the former Minnesota Gopher from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and Frankie Capan III of North Oaks, Minnesota, who competes on the Korn Ferry Tour, it was a pretty tough decision as to whom to include and whom to leave out. In the end, FCIII's three MCs in four mainland Latin American starts were too much to overcome. Meanwhile, Longbella has quietly built a 17th-place start in the Fortinet Cup. While his performance at the aforementioned Totalplay Championship was overshadowed among Umcees by Hitchner's showing, it's expected that if Longbella keeps it up, he'll get to skip the first stage at Q-school this fall.

Edward the Scop

Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 31 March 2024

Last week in tour golf treated Umcees much better than the week before or the week before that. Though only seven Umcees were part of eligible fields, four made the cut and did so to the tune of top-20 finishes across the board. Two of these, in turn, recorded top 10s and moved into the top 1000 of the OWGR. In fact, we were close to having as many as SIX Umcees make the weekend, as Wisconsinites George Kneiser (Oconomowoc) and Emily Lauterbach (Hartland) MC by just one stroke each at the Totalplay Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico on the PGA Tour Americas and the Ford Championship near Phoenix on the LPGA Tour, respectively. Another Wisconsinite was also among the unlucky at the PGA Tour Americas event, as Harrison Ott of Brookfield missed out due to a ruinous Friday +5/76.

Of those who made the cut, Tom Hoge was the only one playing the PGA Tour's Houston Open. Playing in the same state (Texas) where he went to college (TCU), Hoge opened his week with a poor +1/71 Thursday. It was his third straight over-par round, dating to the Players two weeks before. But then Hoge put together his best round of the week, carding a -4/66 to make the cut with ease. Though to be fair, an even-par round would have sufficed to get him to the weekend. He then broke 70 again the next two days with rounds of 68 and 67. When the dust settled, Hoge had finished T14, inching up to #13 in the FedEx Cup. Unfortunately, the good showing wasn't good enough to make this week's OWGR top fifty; and since he isn't playing this week, his chances of a third straight Masters appearance are dead. Try again next year, I guess.

As for the Totalplay Championship, Matthew Walker of Ottumwa, Iowa was the least satisfactory, but he still mustered a T17 and moved up to #35 in the Fortinet Cup standings. A +1/72 Friday definitely kept him from doing even better. That leaves the two top ten finishers. Thomas Longbella had an improved finish, going under par all four days (even Thursday, when he was merely -1/70). But he only climbed to #17 in the Fortinet Cup. That means the final Upper Midwest Connection of the Week for March 2024 is...

(Golf Channel)

Derek Hitchner.

The Minneapolis Blake School product and Pepperdine alumnus has yet to win a PGA Tour pyramid event but had one of the best finishes of his short pro career so far, tying for third despite a rough final round of E/71. Indeed, had he even parred No 8 Sunday, he would have had his outright best finish ever as a professional. Of course, it is unlikely he would have beaten Jose de Jesus Rodriguez, who has established himself as the King of Atlas Country Club this decade, dating back to the PGA Tour Latinoamerica 2022 season. Even so, Hitchner's finish enabled him to soar to 11th in the Fortinet Cup standings (up from T59 coming in) and jump to #910 in the OWGR. It's too bad he won't have another chance for a couple weeks, as the circuit doesn't reconvene until the Brazilian Open the week after the Masters.

This week is a bit quieter, at least as far as the developmental tours are concerned. However, the PGA Tour will have three Umcees competing in the same event--the most since the Players three weeks ago--at the Texas Open. Though Hoge has eschewed his last opportunity for this year's Masters Tournament, Erik van Rooyen returns after a fortnightly hiatus, while Troy Merritt and Zach Johnson (both of whom took last week off) return to competing as well. In fact, Johnson is a past champ in San Antonio, having won in consecutive years (2008-09).

As for the developmental side of things, the Korn Ferry Tour finally awakens from its post-Latin American hiatus with the Club Car Championship. Only Frankie Capan III made the field, as Van Holmgren still hasn't benefited from the reshuffle that will follow the LECOM Suncoast Classic two weeks out.

Edward the Scop

Upper Midwest Connection of the Week Ending 24 March 2024

 It was another underwhelming week for Umcees on tour. Of the nine such players across three events--the PGA Tour's Valspar Championship, the PGA Tour Americas' Bupa Championship and the Epson Tour's Atlantic Beach Classic--only two (Thomas Longbella in the Bupa and Kim Kaufman in the Atlantic Beach) made it with room to spare. Two other PGA Tour Americas Umcees--Derek Hitchner and Matthew Walker--didn't know they'd be playing the weekend until Saturday because the second round was interrupted by darkness. Only when the cut reached +5 did they have assurance that they'd play on. The other five Umcees--Troy Merritt and Zach Johnson, both playing the Valspar; Wisconsinites George Kneiser and Harrison Ott, both at the Bupa; and Kate Smith-Stroh at Atlantic Beach--missed out on prize money. It's especially been a slow start for Smith-Stroh. She finished 19th in the Race for the Card last year, although she finished short of an LPGA Tour card in both that regard and Q-Series. But this year, she has made just one cut out of three events.

Of the four Umcees who did make the cut, the two who made it by the skin of their teeth failed to impress that much at the weekend. Thomas Longbella, native of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin and a former Minnesota Gopher, showed up in the final round in particular, posting by far his best round of the week (-4/68) to surge 26 spots to a T21 finish. This sufficed to help him climb to #1034 in the OWGR, though he will still likely have to enter local qualifying for the U.S. Open, if not the Open Championship. But it's clear that he was outshined by none other than...

(Source: Epson Tour)

Kim Kaufman.

For the first time in Devilish Rake history, a woman repeats as Upper Midwest Connection of the Week! The Clark, South Dakota native and thrice winner on the Epson Tour almost pulled off a fourth win on the circuit in her career. She got off to a fast start with rounds of -4/67 and -2/69 Thursday and Friday, respectively. Even Saturday, when she bogeyed twice in her first four holes, Kaufman held in there and got back to hovering around even par the rest of the day. Only a missed birdie at the last kept her from forcing winner Briana Chacon into a playoff. As it is, Kaufman is fifth in the Race for the Card now on 404 and two-thirds points, and she has jumped to #565 in the women's world rankings! While it's too early to say she'll be back on the LPGA Tour in 2025, things are definitely looking up for Kim Kaufman as we speak.

This week is a bit quieter on the tour scene. The Korn Ferry Tour is reaching the end of its March hibernation, while the Epson Tour goes into a hibernation of its own starting this week. Moreover, on the PGA Tour, Tom Hoge is the only Umcee participating in this week's Houston Open, as he returns to competition after the disappointment of TPC Sawgrass. He likely needs at least a third-place finish to reach Augusta National for the third year running or a win at next week's Texas Open, according to the Associated Press, for such a finish would get him into the top-50 OWGR category set for the Masters. Troy Merritt and Zach Johnson are sitting out this week, while Erik van Rooyen has no incentive to participate either, having won last November's World Wide Technologies Championship to qualify.

The PGA Tour Americas, though, will roll on to the Totalplay Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico at the Atlas Country Club, and the same five Umcees who played last week on the tour will also be involved in this week's event. The tour was originally supposed to go into hibernation as well until the Brazilian Open the week of the Masters, followed by the Termas de Rio Hondo Invitational in Argentina the next week, but unrest in Argentina forced the PGA Tour group to substitute a backup event. Lastly, Hartland, Wisconsin native Emily Lauterbach passed her open-qualifying test for this week's Ford Championship with a birdie at the first playoff hole. It will be her LPGA Tour debut.

Edward the Scop