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Monday-Saturday, July 22-27, 2002 | |
| Bemidji Town & Country Club, Bemidji, Minnesota | ||
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| Birchmont Home | Bemidji Town & CC Home | The Vandersluis | ||
| 2001 Men's Championship | ||
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| David Schultz captures Birchmont Men's Title | ||||
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BY JOHN J. McRAE The Pioneer of Bemidji BEMIDJI, Minn. It's becoming a trend? a talented young golfer comes to town, looking to vacation a bit and play in The Birchmont. The philosophy worked for 2000 champion Jay Cavanagh, who "relaxed" his way to the title. This year it's David Schultz of Fargo. "I heard about the tournament from a high school teammate," the recent Fargo South grad said. "I had the week open and decided to come over. It sounded like fun." Fun it was as Schultz blitzed through the field to become the 2001 Men's Championship Division winner.
In the opening round match Schultz was four under par en route to his victory. He kept the hot hand going in the final, taking an early 4-up lead at the turn. He was three under at that point, including birdies at one and seven, and an eagle three on the par 5 fourth hole. His lone miscue came when he bogeyed the sixth. The players halved the par five tenth with birdie and Schultz moved the advantage to 5-up with a routine par at the par 3 11th hole. Jenkins then made a run to get back in contention, winning the 12th hole when Schultz got into some rare trouble. The champ hit his tee shot in the trees on the right side of the fairway and his second shot, a low runner, scooted over the green. An attempt to clear a tree fell short and Schultz conceded the hole. After halving the 13th hole, Jenkins got it back to 3-down with a par at the par-3 14th hole as Schultz failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker. Jenkins comeback hopes evaporated, however, when he hit his tee shot out of bounds on the par-5 15th hole. Schultz responded by calmly hitting his drive in the middle of fairway, placing his second shot just short of the green and chipping up to five feet. Jenkins' chip for par rolled by the hole and he conceded the hole, and match, to Schultz. On his way to the championship, Schultz defeated Kern Anderson of Alexandria 2-up, Bemidji's Bob Brink 3-2 and Andy Doeden of Fargo 2-1. In his first ever Birchmont, and any resort tournament for that matter, Schultz said he felt comfortable with all phases of his game all week. "I was really relaxed out there the whole time," he said. "Maybe that's the attitude I need to have for every tournament." The Birchmont was the third tournament in as many weeks for Schultz. He won a Junior PGA event in Brainerd three weeks ago, and returned from the Western Junior Open in Tennessee (where he finished 42nd out of 156 golfers) just in time for The Birchmont. "It was great coming here and getting together with friends," he said. "It really turned out to be a golf tournament and vacation wrapped into one. I really enjoyed the course and the people here were great. It was a great time all the way around." Schultz concluded his high school golf career last spring, helping Fargo South claim the North Dakota state title and individually having the low scoring average in the state. After playing in the Pine to Palm in Detroit Lakes in a couple weeks, Schultz will head to Colorado State where he's accepted a gold scholarship. "I'm really looking forward to college golf," he said. "It's going to be a lot of work, but that's all right. It's going to be great to have a fall season." Schultz said he had a feeling The Birchmont might turn out positively for him when he played a practice round at Bemidji Town and Country Club the day before qualifying. "I saw there were a number of holes that played left to right," he said with a smile. "And that's the only way I can play." View 2001 Men's Championship Brackets |
