RESORTERS GOLF

Bill Israelson, Jim Strandemo compete in 'The Match' ahead of 92nd Pine to Palm

Nick Leonardelli — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 15:28:07 GMT

DETROIT LAKES — The Pine to Palm committee decided to kick off the 92nd edition of the coveted tournament with a special round of golf between the legends of old and in the making.

“The Match” was created to honor the great competitors that have made their mark on the Pine to Palm. Four “Legends” tested their talents against four “Young Guns” in a nine-hole, total score scramble on Sunday, Aug. 4.

“I want to bring back some of the guys that are a little bit older and guys that had turned pro and the guys that aren't championship fighters anymore but have just a great history here at the club,” Detroit Country Club general manager Tom Dolby said, who came up with the idea for the event. “We have so many young, talented players now that I wanted to bring the two ages together and the two groups of players together to really mesh the past with the present.”

The Legends consisted of 1976-77 and ‘80 Pine to Palm champion Bill Israelson, 1983, 1987 and 1989 champion and 1982 runner-up Jim Strandemo, 1991 and 2005 champion and 2018 runner-up Rick Kuhn and 2003 champion and 2001 runner-up Greg Melhus.

The Young Guns were comprised of 2023 Pine to Palm runner-up and 2024 Minnesota Class AAA state champion Torger Ohe, 2024 Minnesota Class AA state champion Jack Justesen, 2024 PGA Junior runner-up and 2023 Minnesota Class AAA runner-up Joe Honsa and three-time Minnesota Class AAA top 10 finisher and 2024 PGA Junior runner-up Ryan Stendahl.

“I just have so much respect for the past champions here. Israelson, Strandemo, guys that won these events two, three times,” Dolby said. “It's a real special feat to win a match-play event with 64 players in it, and I just really wanted to honor them.”

The match was tied up through five holes. The Legends went up one after six but the Young Guns had a chance to tie things up Justesen’s second shot landed about 3 feet from the pin. The youngsters missed their putts and the Legends remained ahead.

Israelson hit a beautiful ball on the eighth hole that landed less than five feet from the hole. After the Young Guns failed to put the ball in the cup, Strandemo sunk his put to give the Legends a two-stroke lead heading into the final hole.

The two teams tied the final hole but the Legends took home the crown. They were awarded wedges from Dolby. The final score read Legends 29 and the Young Guns 31, but the competition brought together two special groups of players that had the utmost respect for each other.

“It was amazing to see how many people were out here and playing with Joe (Honsa), Jack (Justesen) and Ryan (Stendahl),” Ohe said. “It was pretty special. It was just a fun, really cool environment to play in and just a fun way to get people excited about the week. The caddies were amazing. We had a couple of fourth and fifth graders out there. So it was really fun.”

“It's great to see old friends like Jim (Strandemo),” Israelson said. “I grew up playing against him in the Pine of Palm back in the '70s. Then Greg Melhaus actually played one of my sons and I came over here and watched him beat him in the quarterfinals. I've known Rick Kuhn who went to the University of Minnesota, so I've seen him play for a long time.”

Israelson had some ties with one of the Young Guns and enjoyed the new generation of hopeful Pine to Palm legends.

“Then it's always fun to see these young kids coming up,” Israelson continued. “Ryan Stendhal, his dad and I are good friends. He's a senior player. He's a little younger than me. So it's fun to see these people that you competed with, their kids coming up and playing in the tournament, too.”

Throughout the scramble, Dolby and good friend Mark Johnson shared with the gallery the successes of the Legends and Young Guns. For Ohe, he picked up on a few things the Legends and learned that their greatness went beyond Pine to Palm.

“It's pretty incredible how much success they've had, not just in this tournament, but just in golf in general,” Ohe said. “I think just how consistent they are. They seem to have a really good head about them and just staying in things mentally is just a huge part I've learned from.”

Israelson hasn’t played in a Pine to Palm tournament since turning pro in 1980. But he knows that the competition and atmosphere at Detroit Country Club throughout the week is something special.

“It's a lot of family,” Israelson said. “I used to stay with Joe Mayer over in his cabin, and we had four or five other really good players. We used to play tennis and had a lot of other competitive activities and stuff like that. It was always a fun week. It made the actual competition less stressful because you weren't always thinking about golf. That's where some of my success came from.”

The response from a hopeful Pine to Palm tradition was cheers and smiles. The gallery stayed with the eight golfers making it feel almost like championship Sunday at the Pine to Palm. It’s safe to say that Dolby wants to keep it as a Pine to Palm tradition.

“I think we're going to have this event, maybe not in the same exact format every year, but there will be an event every year bringing back past champions and honoring them,” Dolby said. “That's what this event to me is all about. That's one of the things I think that has been missing, which is to back the past because the youth here is really strong. There's just no denying the youth movement in this event, but we got to keep honoring the past.”

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Rubado: There’s nothing like the Birchmont… or is there?

Jared Rubado — Mon, 07 Aug 2023 14:27:21 GMT

Admittedly, it took me longer than expected to make it out to the Bemidji Town and Country Club for the first time.

For some reason, the cards never lined up for me to cover any of the high school or collegiate golf teams at BTCC this spring.

My first trip down Birchmont Beach Road was for the Galen Nagle Memorial Golf Tournament, an event for Bemidji State men’s hockey alumni that gave me an opportunity to interview Stanley Cup champion Zach Whitecloud. Before the festivities kicked off, I met with Micah Friez, the former sports editor at the Pioneer.

Micah showed me around the clubhouse area and pointed to the cart path leading up to the 10th tee box. He said, “Right up there overlooks the clubhouse, and you’ll find the best view of Lake Bemidji in the whole town.”

I didn’t have time to check it out that day, but that comment stuck with me as I walked up to the clubhouse on Monday, July 24 – the first day of the 99th Birchmont Golf Tournament.

I was there to chat with four players who were warming up for their 30th qualifying round together. After talking with Rick Passolt, Pete Passolt, Curt Howard and Tim Gruidl, I had about 20 minutes to kill before my next assignment. I walked up the cart path to the 10th tee box and checked out the view.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, Micah was right. It really is the best view of the lake. But I think that moment hit a little harder for me because I’ve felt that exact same feeling twice before.

The first time was in August of 2019 at the Alexandria Golf Club. It was a blistering Saturday at the Resorters Golf Tournament, my first time covering the event. For those who don’t know, the Birchmont and Resorters are two legs of a three-week stretch of match-play tournaments in northern Minnesota. Unofficially dubbed the Resort Tour, some players are eager enough to participate in all three.

My first Resorters was a beast. At the Alexandria Echo Press newspaper, we churned out daily issues for our readers. Late nights and even earlier mornings made our four-person staff for the week a little hysterical. But by championship Saturday, the hard part was in the rearview mirror, and I got to enjoy the beauty of high-level golf.

There’s a hole at AGC that looks over a hole on the back nine, and behind the tee box is a bench. Exhausted from the week, I sat and watched the two women’s division golfers play what ended up being the final hole of the match. A horde of people followed them as they walked from the tee box to the green, but I stayed behind. I just took it in – all of it.

Three summers later, I was at the Detroit Lakes Country Club covering the Pine to Palm Golf Tournament – the third event of the Resort Tour. My rigorous experience covering Resorters had me over-prepared for the solo responsibility of covering the 90th Pine to Palm.

I remember sitting in a golf cart near the ninth green, waiting on a men’s player for a sidebar story. I took in a view overlooking the entire fairway that stretches up the road leading to the clubhouse. It stuck with me the same way the view in Alexandria did, as did the one in Bemidji a year later.

Moments like those can put a lot of things into perspective. For me, those visuals taught me the importance of the Resort Tour. No words I can write will do justice to those who relish those weeks. It’s not just about family or friends, winning or losing, good or bad shots. Those weeks are about the communal essence of sports.

Seeing people reunite, play through the struggles of a hole or exhale after a week-long gauntlet of golf gives you an understanding of how much people value these tournaments. These events raise kids, graduating them through their stages of life until they bring their own kids to play in the tournaments themselves.

Following this year’s Pine to Palm, which begins on Monday, Aug. 7, there will have been 291 iterations of Resort Tour tournaments. I’ve covered five of them, and there’s a good chance I’m the only person who’s covered all three versions. From a media perspective, these weeks are a beast, but it’s a welcomed challenge that routinely leaves me proud of the work we accomplish.

I’ve thought about that view from the bench behind the tee box at AGC – who I was at the time and who I’ve become. I’m proud of the things I’ve accomplished that have gotten me to this point. But what does it for me is seeing the success of the people around me.

Whether it’s my coworkers, the brilliant reporting from Christian Babcock and Dennis Doeden that was matched by the incredible photography from Madelyn Haasken, Annalise Braught and Maggi Fellerman, or the countless hours of coverage devoted by the sports departments I’ve been a part of in Alexandria or Detroit Lakes, these weeks are rewarding.

These tournaments don’t happen without hundreds of dedicated workers and even more golfers that give us their time. We appreciate the people who share their stories and allow us to tell them.

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Rubado: There’s nothing like the Birchmont… or is there?

Jared Rubado — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 15:06:51 GMT

Admittedly, it took me longer than expected to make it out to the Bemidji Town and Country Club for the first time.

For some reason, the cards never lined up for me to cover any of the high school or collegiate golf teams at BTCC this spring.

I didn’t have time to check it out that day, but that comment stuck with me as I walked up to the clubhouse on Monday, July 24 – the first day of the 99th Birchmont Golf Tournament.

These tournaments don’t happen without hundreds of dedicated workers and even more golfers that give us their time. We appreciate the people who share their stories and allow us to tell them.

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