Alexandria’s Jerry Rose is busy as part of the committee organizing the 100th running of the Resorters match play golf tournament at the Alexandria Golf Club coming up in the first week of August, but Rose continues to play well himself too when given the chance.
Rose, 62, has always played in the Men’s Championship Division against a lot of college-aged golfers at the Resorters despite being able to move to a different age division. He can still compete in match play against many of the best amateurs in the state, and he proved it again by winning the Minnesota Golf Association’s Senior Players’ Championship this summer.
The Senior Players’ Championship was played June 14-16 at Giants Ridge Golf and Ski Resort in Biwabik. The 1-up win in the finals comes a year after Rose finished as the runner-up in this same tournament.
“It’s exciting any time you win because you don’t get that many chances—it’s hard to win,” Rose told Nick Hunter of the MGA after the event. “There’s a lot of good players and you have to play really well and hit the right shots at the right time, especially in match play. These are hard events to win, so I’m grateful and feel humbled that I was able to do it.”
Rose continues to cement himself as one of the top senior players in the state. He’s the four-time defending MGA Senior Men’s Player of the Year. This was the second time he has won the MGA Senior Players’ Championship.
ADVERTISEMENT
Rose needed to win six rounds of match play through pool play and then the sudden-death quarterfinals, semifinals and finals to get the job done this year. He beat John Anderson, a now three-time runner-up at the event, of the Bunker Hills Golf Club in the finals to secure his title. Rose parred No. 17 to win that hole down the stretch. The two then halved 18 with pars as Rose earned the 1-up win.
Rose also beat longtime Resorters Tournament participant JT Johnson of the Olympic Hills Golf Club, 3-1, in the semifinals and Dave Haslerud of the Southview Country Club in a 2-up match in the quarterfinals after going 3-0 through the pool rounds.
“I really hit the ball well all week,” Rose told Hunter. “You have to drive the ball well out here, and I did that. I had pretty good control of my irons. My touch was, for the most part, pretty good. I like this golf course in that you have to place your tee shots. On the par-5s, if you’re up there far enough, they’re reachable in two. With my length I felt like I should be on most of the par-5s in two, so I felt like I had an advantage this week. I played the par-3s great.”
