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Monday-Saturday, July 26-31, 2004 | |
| Bemidji Town & Country Club, Bemidji, Minnesota | ||
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| Birchmont Home | Bemidji Town & CC Home | The Vandersluis | ||
| 2004 Senior Men's Championship | ||
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| Bemidji's Simenson wins senior title 2 and 1 over Bryant Barnes | ||||
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BY JOHN J. McRAE The Pioneer of Bemidji BEMIDJI, Minn.
"I'm tired," he said. "This tournament was a lot more strenuous than I thought." Simenson claimed the crown Saturday with a well-fought 2 and 1 win over longtime Birchmont competitor Bryant Barnes of Prairie Village, Kan. "He's just too good of a player for me," said Barnes, who played great golf on his way to the final. "We could play 10 times and he'd beat me eight or nine." Barnes could have been buried early as Simenson came out of the chute strong. But Barnes withstood the storm and kept battling before running out of holes. The early part of the final match belonged to Simenson. The BTCC member reported he hit a lot of good shots in taking a 3-up lead at the turn. Barnes actually started faster, with a birdie on the third hole to go 1-up. But Simenson, who's known as a great ball-striker got in a groove, with birdies on four, five and seven to take a 2-up advantage. He extended the lead to 3-up with a par on the eighth hole. After halving the next two Simenson went 4-up with a par on the par three 11th hole. At that point it looked like the match was going to be over early. The tournament tested Barnes hung in there, however, and won the 12th and 15th holes to close to within two. Barnes had a chance to make it even closer, untypically missing a five foot putt to win the hole. "He's so good around the greens," said Simenson, "I was really surprised he missed that putt." The eventual champion then hit two good shots on 17 to be looking at sure par. Barnes wasn't able to win with birdie and the match was over. The victory concluded a strong week of play for Simenson who truly earned the title by going through a series of tough players. He started out with a 4-3 win over tournament veteran Glen Hasselberg of Staples and then dispatched consistently tough division player Lyn Ellingson of Grand Rapids. In the semifinals Simenson defeated defending champion Jeff Tweeton of Perham, yet another strong player. "I'm not used to playing that many highly competitive matches in a row," Simenson reported. "I'm starting to think there's more pressure in match play that medal play … especially when a guy doesn't play many tournaments anymore. "We used to play all over in area tournaments. We don't do that anymore; it's become all scramble tournaments and playing rounds with friends." Despite the tough competition Simenson said he had a very enjoyable week. "There's no doubt I had a lot of fun, too." Bemidji's Bruce Simenson watches his putt on the fifth green during the Birchmont's senior division championship Saturday. View 2004 Senior Men's Championship Brackets |
