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ALEXANDRIA — The Haugen family has a long history at the Alexandria Golf Club, and the family can now add a Lakes to Links Member/Guest Tournament title to their name.
Chris Haugen, the 2017 and 2018 Senior Division champion at the Resorters match-play tournament, and his son, Cole, took AGC’s member/guest tournament title on July 9 to wrap up three days of play in the event.
“We lost our first match (during pool play) and played a lot better in the remainder of the matches, but Cole really caught fire on Saturday,” Chris said. “The last round, we were going head-to-head with (Derek) Swedberg’s team that we needed to beat in the final round. Cole played really well, and then he played really well in the shootout. We were lucky to get the win.”
AGC’s member/guest starts with the two-person teams placed into pools with similar players based on the two combined handicaps. They go head-to-head in matches against other teams in their pool to determine which teams make a final shootout on Saturday afternoon.
This year, 14 flight winners and three wildcard teams advanced to a shootout.
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Once in the shootout, teams are given a stroke against certain opponents based on handicaps to make it an even field where any team that makes the shootout has a chance to win. Teams are eliminated hole by hole before the finalists are left standing.
This year’s event had a record number of teams for the tournament at 84.
Chris and Cole Haugen held off AGC member Ray Martin and his guest, Perrin Rome, on the ninth hole.
“That’s what made it more fun for us,” Chris said. “On the ninth hole against good family friends of ours, Ray Martin and Perrin Rome. Battling it out with them on the final hole made it more sweet.”
Stephen Davidson and Robbie Frits were eliminated on hole 8 of the shootout, and Brian Salzer and Patrick Cattoor were also part of the last four teams after getting eliminated on hole seven.
The shootout runs as an alternate-shot format between the two team members. The Haugens made par on the ninth hole to earn the win. Cole set things up with a good tee shot before Chris put his approach shot onto the green.
“The other team hit it over the green and didn’t get it up and down,” Chris said. “They had a putt for five, and Cole put a putt up there to where I couldn’t miss it a few inches from the hole. That was the end of it.”
Cole, a former standout for the Cardinals who graduated in 2015 from Alexandria, now lives in the Twin Cities area. Chris said Cole does not get the chance to play much golf anymore, but he could see the competitiveness come back out in him through the three-day tournament.
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This was the first time the two have ever played the Lakes to Links Member/Guest together.
“I can’t even imagine a better scenario for me,” Chris said. “It’s really hard to win the member/guest. There was 84 teams. You got to play well and you got to get some lucky breaks. To do it with my son and have everybody watching and experience that with him is something I’ll never forget.”
