Francis earns 3rd Boe title
There might have been some smoke lingering in the air from the Canada fires, but some of it could have been coming off Bryan Francis' clubs, too, after he shot a sizzling 109 to capture his third Wynston Boe Open Golf title Saturday in Minneota.
On a near-perfect day with the temperature in the mid 70s and little humidity, there were 77 golfers entered in this year's tournament, the same number as a year ago.
Francis, who lives in Lakeville and works as the Director of IT at 2nd Swing Golf in Eden Prairie, also won titles here in 2018 and 2019. This was the sixth straight year he has played in this tournament at Countryside Golf Club.
He won by one stroke over Tyler Lund, two over Jake Wagner and Daniel Niemi, and three over Marius VonRensburg.
Francis led by two shots after the first round, then found himself trailing Lund and Niemi by one shot entering the third and final round.
"I'm one of those guys who thrives under pressure," said Francis with a smile. "I came to SMSU to play baseball and was the closer. My dad always said that if the score was close, I was lights out. But if I came into a game and we had a big lead, I would walk the bases loaded before striking out the side. The closer the score, the better I am. Same with golf." He also pitched for a few years for the Marshall A’s amateur baseball team.
To get in some practice before the golf tournament here, Francis played 27 holes on Friday and 27 on Saturday. Prior to the final round on Sunday, he had failed to reach the green on his eight previous drives on hole No. 9.
Tied with Lund entering the final hole of the tournament, Francis again pulled out his driver and this time reached the green about 35 feet from the pin. His putt then stopped about six feet from the cup.
"This was the exact same putt from six feet out that I had when I won in 2019," Francis said. "I made the birdie putt then for the win and fortunately, I made it again this time."Francis utilized some strategy on the eighth hole that put him in the lead. Down one shot to Lund to start No. 8, Francis decided to hit an iron and leave his shot 100 feet from the green and take his chances with his wedge.
"I just didn't want to go in the water and I felt my driver was too risky," he said. "I was the only one in the group that didn't hit a driver. The other four guys in the group are all longer hitters than I am."
Francis ended up below the hill about 100 feet from the green, then hit a beautiful wedge shot to the green, finished with a birdie to move into a tie for the lead and then birdied the final hole for the win.
Duane Kockelman won the President's Flight and Marlo Moon was the Senior Flight winner. Other winners were, Alex Maule, First Flight; Jordan Edgoworth, Second Flight; Josh Anderson, Third Flight; and Jerren Roberts, Fourth Flight.
CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
Bryan Francis..........................................................35-37-37 - 109
Tyler Lund...............................................................36-35-39 - 110
Jake Wagner...........................................................37-37-37 - 111
Daniel Niemi............................................................38-33-40 - 111
Marius VonRensburg...............................................36-38-38 - 112
Landon Frost...........................................................38-39-40 - 115
Ben Derynck............................................................38-37-41 - 116
Harrison Patzer........................................................37-41-38 - 116
Charlie Seitzer.........................................................37-41-38 - 116
Alex Buysse.............................................................43-42-38 - 123
Adam Hoffmann......................................................43-42-39 - 124
Joe Kack..................................................................40-45-41 - 126
Steve Berens...........................................................41-45-44 - 130
Jesse Drager...........................................................39-45-48 - 132
Walker Hennen.......................................................45-42-withdraw
Jason Spanton.......................................................46-49-withdraw
PRESIDENT’S FLIGHT - (1) Duane Kockelman 115 (2) Rick Gossen 117 (3) Tim Stegner 118 (4) David Kockelman 119
SENIOR FLIGHT - (1) Marlo Moon 83 (2) Ron Labat 88 (3) Bill Vlaminck 89 (4) Butch Obe 95
FIRST FLIGHT - (1) Alex Maule 122 (2) tie, Nathan Hulzebos, Trent Esping, Mike Guimond and Dustin Branster, all 122
SECOND FLIGHT - (1) Jordan Edgoworth (2) David Afdem (Consolation) Scott Doyscher
THIRD FLIGHT - (1) Josh Anderson (2) Dale Verschelde (consolation) Tim Pickering
FOURTH FLIGHT - (1) Jerren Roberts (2) Bubba Gorecki (consolation) Adam Gorecki
Note: A total of 77 golfers competed in this year’s tournament.