Deziel medalist at Wildflower MGA qualifier

Nate Deziel 2.jpg — Nate Deziel tees off during the 88th Pine to Palm Championship at Detroit Country Club August of 2020. Robert Williams / Tribune

By Robert Williams

June 21, 2021 at 10:02 AM

North Dakota State University sophomore golfer Nate Deziel shot a 3-under par 69 to capture medalist honors at the Minnesota Golf Association’s qualifier at Wildflower at Fair Hills in Detroit Lakes Thursday, June 17.

Deziel recorded three birdies on both sides of the course to counter three bogeys to win by two strokes over 2017 Pine to Palm champion Chris Swenson of Fergus Falls.

The top six finishers qualified for the state amateur golf tournament.

Ian Simonich, the 2020 Pine to Palm champion, tied for third with Hunter Rebrovich and Brennan Hockman at even par.

Cameron Rall shot a 2-over 74 to capture the final spot.

A host of local golfers competed in the tournament, led by Tanner Lane (75), Lukas Justesen (76) - fresh off his final state tournament and Wyatt Blomseth (76) - a week after winning the DIII national championship.

Wildflower is the fourth stop of 11 qualifying tournaments for the Amateur Championship, which began in 1901. The qualifiers run from June 14-25. Five remain on the schedule: Wild Marsh Golf Club June 21, Bellwood Oaks Golf Course June 22, Alexandria Golf Club June 22, The Bridges June 24 and Marshall Golf Club on June 25.

Past MGA Am champions include Harry Legg (10), Jimmy Johnson (7), Pat Sawyer (5) and other notables like Tom Lehman, Tim Herron and John Harris.

The MGA Amateur also is one of the largest golfing events in the state, typically with 700-800 people entering the championship every year. The qualifying sites around the state are used to narrow to a starting field of 156.

This year’s tournament will be held at Rush Creek Golf Club in Maple Grove July 19-21.

View MGA tournament results on www.mngolf.org

MGA Qualifier- Wildflower at Fair Hills

Leaderboard - *qualifiers

*Medalist Deziel, Nate Valley Golf Course 69

*2 Swenson, Christopher, Pebble Lake Golf Club 71

*T3 Rebrovich, Hunter, Geneva Golf Club 72

*T3 Simonich, Ian, Moorhead Country Club 72

*T3 Hockman, Brennan, Bemidji Town & Country Club 72

*6 Rall, Cameron, Wildflower at Fairhills 74

First alternate: Johnson, Jayce, Meadows Golf Club 74

Second alternate: Simonich, Joey, MN Youth on Course 75