ALEXANDRIA —
It’s that time of the year again. Hundreds of golfers are set to flock to Alexandria on July 28-Aug. 3 for the 103rd Resorters Tournament.
Many of the later matches of the tournament went down to the wire, creating a unique atmosphere at the Alexandria Golf Club.
And this year, as always, the goal is to recreate that atmosphere and build upon the success of the last tournament.
With a talented and deep field, the 2024 Resorters Tournament seems destined to be another great one.
“It’s always the goal to keep the tournament going in the right direction and to keep that atmosphere going,” Kyle Lee of the Alexandria Golf Club said.
This year’s Resorters Tournament features many returning champions. This includes Jacques Wilson, the winner of the Men’s division in 2014 and 2023.
Wilson has picked up more titles since last August. Wilson won the South Carolina Match Play Tournament in June and shot 8-under to lead a
U.S. Amateur qualifying event
and qualify for the U.S. Amateur Championship, which runs from Aug. 12-18, 2024, in the Twin Cities.
Jacques Wilson
Lee said that when Jerry Rose took over as the chairman of the event, the mission was to draw more of the best amateurs to the event.
The tournament has done just that.
“He (Rose) wanted to bring some of the top talents from around the country here and bring them to this age-old tournament,” Lee said. “Years ago, we transitioned from strictly flights to open up this men’s championship division to have a cut that could’ve gone one of two ways: either people aren’t going to come, or it’s going to take it to the next level. It’s working, obviously, because we’re getting these kids from colleges to play. Jacques graduated college quite a bit ago and has been on many tours. He’s back playing in the amateur ranks and is succeeding. Another guy, Gunnar Broin, who isn’t playing this year, played last year and then in this year’s U.S. Open. He went from playing at the Alexandria Golf Club to playing in front of millions at the U.S. Open in less than a calendar year away. It says our tournament is packed, and these kids are coming from all over. It’s pretty special. The talent that’s coming to the Resorters is just amazing.”
A new contender has been added to the Men’s division this year, Lunden Esterline.
Esterline is already a three-time Resorters champion, having won a Junior 10-12 title in 2020 and the last two Junior 13-15 titles.
Esterline, who lives in Alexandria in the summer, has also made a name for himself at the high school level in Kansas. The soon-to-be sophomore at Wichita Collegiate High School won the 2024 Kansas State High School Activities Association Class 3A individual state title with a 36-hole total of 140 (10-under par). He won the Kansas Class 3A individual state title by 10 strokes.
Lunden Esterline putting in the ball on the No. 2 green at Alexandria Golf Club during the Junior 13-15 Division semifinals on Aug. 4, 2023, at the 102nd Resorters Tournament. Esterline is set to play in the Men’s Championship division in 2024.
Sam Stuve / Alexandria Echo Press
“He doesn’t lose that often,” Lee said. “Not only is he good as a teenager, but he’s competing well against 25 to 30-year-old guys.”
Esterline will try to replicate what Braeden Sladek of Alexandria did in 2021 by winning the Men’s Resorters title as a high schooler.
With Esterline moving up the Men’s Championship division, a new Junior 13-15 division champion will be crowned for the first time since 2021.
The Junior 13-15 division is bigger this year, as 16 spots were added to the tournament.
“It grew this year based on demand,” Ashley Lee of the Alexandria Golf Club said. “I think it’s really exciting, especially with where junior golf is heading and how excited the Alexandria community is about junior golf. We have a lot of great players in the state of Minnesota and from beyond coming to compete. I think those junior divisions are going to be some of the more exciting divisions to watch.”
Another addition to the tournament this year is the expansion of the long drive contest on Wednesday night.
“We’re trying to open up the long drive this year to an open division,” Kyle Lee said on July 16. “You don’t have to be a contest of the Resorters to be in the long drive contest. What that looks like is kind of still up in the air right now. But we’re going to have a qualifier for the open division.”
In the Men’s Grand Masters division, there will now be two qualifying rounds.
Other returning champs who are set to compete this year in the same division as they did last year are Madi Hicks (Women’s Championship), Krista Bull (Women’s Executive), Dave Christensen (Men’s Executive), Jon Freeman (Men’s Senior), Skip Madsen (Men’s Grand Masters), and Jon Empanger (Men’s Masters).
Garrison Johnson, the 2023 Junior 10-12 division champion, has moved up to the Junior 13-15 division this year.
Madi Hicks
Hicks led the North Dakota State Women’s Golf team in scoring average (74.7) and was an All-Summit League Honorable Mention. Hicks is one of many college golfers in the women’s championship division this year, including her college teammate, Cora Larson of Alexandria.
Another returning champion in the Women’s division is former Alexandria Cardinal and current Montana State Bobcat Hannah Boraas, who won the Women’s division in 2022 and the Junior 13-15 division in 2020.
Boraas won an MGA event earlier this summer. She teamed up with Sean Lehman, son of Tom Lehman, to win the MGA Mixed Amateur tournament in a playoff. Sean Lehman is a junior on the California Polytechnic men’s golf team and is playing in the Men’s Championship division in this year’s Resorters Tournament.
Garrison Johnson hits a tee shot down the 10th fairway during the Junior 10-12 quarterfinals on Aug. 3, 2023. Johnson won the Junior 10-12 title in 2023 and is going to play in the Junior 13-15 division in 2024.
Jake Sutherlin / Alexandria Echo Press
One of the holes at the Alexandria Golf Club could look a little bit different than it has in past tournaments. The 11th hole is being worked on, and instead of being a par 4, 320-yard hole, it could be shortened to a par 3 hole with the tee box being in the middle of the fairway.
“It is still a great surface, and there’s not going to be too many implications of play,” Kyle Lee said.
Dannach O’Connor is the course’s superintendent, and his assistant is Jake Fennow. They have been leading the efforts with the work that is being done on hole 11.
The 11th hole has been played as a par 3 of about 150 yards this summer. It is being designed by Jack Dredla, who has worked on many Tom Lehman-designed courses.
This has made the pace of play on the back nine quicker.
“That’s going to be an interesting thing with the Resorters in terms of staggering the players accordingly,” Kyle Lee said. “It’s going to be a great hole. I think, overall, people will be interested in seeing it. It’s gorgeous. Dredla did a great job this year.”
This renovation is a part of a long term plan to make a sort of amphitheater on the back nine.
“It’s not going be fully there this year, but in the backstage of the project, we’re plotting an amphitheater so you can see holes 11, 12, and 17,” Kyle Lee said. “It’s going to be exciting to show that starting this year.”
Source link : https://www.echopress.com/sports/resorters-golf-2024-resorters-tournament-aims-to-build-off-thrilling-2023-tournament
Author :
Publish date : 2024-07-27 11:00:48
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
