ALEXANDRIA — The Men’s Senior Division quarterfinals didn’t disappoint.
Highlights included an upset, a down-to-the-wire finish and an extra hole thriller.
The final four includes underdog Lance Sunder, the defending champion Mark Lindberg, Alexandria native Mike Herzog, and the 1999 Resorters Men’s Executive champion, Tom Abrahamson.
Lindberg is on the hunt for another seniors’ championship. He got one step closer to accomplishing his goal by winning 2-1 over the No. 7 seed Chris Haugen, who won the seniors championship in 2017 and 2018.
Lindberg is set to face No. 3 Thomas Abrahamson, who came back from down four after four holes to force a playoff, which he won.
ADVERTISEMENT
In the top half of the bracket, two double-digit seeds have made it to the semifinals, the 25th seeded Lance Sunder and 12th seeded Mike Herzog.
Here are the full results from Thursday’s quarterfinal matches.
Sunder def. Pederson, 1-up
Sunder, the division’s 25th seed, continues to impress.
After taking down the No. 8 seed Chris Berg in the opening round and then the No. 9 seed Dan Hoops, Sunder knocked out the 16th seed, Jeff Pederson, on Thursday.
An early lead sparked Sunder’s win. He won three of the first four holes – Nos. 1, 3 and 4 with pars. Pederson stopped the streak with a par win on No. 5 but Sunder came right back, going par, birdie to go 4-up. Pederson’s bogey was good enough to win No. 9 but he trailed by three at the turn.
Pederson got back into the match with a par win on No. 11 and a birdie win on the par-5 12th hole to draw within one. Sunder didn’t crack under the pressure though, winning Nos. 13 and 14 with pars to go 3-up. Pederson mounted another comeback and tied the match, but Sunder hung tough to win it, 1-up.
Herzog def. Mcleod, 4-3
No. 12 seed Mike Herzog had a solid round on Thursday that featured three birdies and 10 pars and just one bogey in his 4-3 win over the No. 20 seed Brant Mcleod.
Mcleod did win two out of the 14 holes played but Herzog kept him at bay, holding a 3 or 4-up cushion throughout most of the match.
ADVERTISEMENT
Herzog has been efficient on the front nine as he has won hole 3 in all three match-play rounds as well as winning holes 1, 6, and 8 twice.
Lindberg def. Haugen, 2-1
In a very well-played match, Lindberg outlasted Haugen for a nail-biting win.
Lindberg charged out to the early lead, winning the first three holes with a birdie and two pars. After halving the next four holes, Haugen got his first win of the day, a birdie on No. 8 to draw within two. Lindberg’s par win on No. 9, however, put him back to 3-up at the turn.
Haugen won the par-5 12th hole with a birdie and moved to within a hole with a par win on No. 15. Both golfers parred 16 and Lindberg’s bogey was good enough to take the hole and the match, 2-1.
In all three match play rounds, Lindberg has birdied one of the first three holes, a different one each day.
He’s also either won or birdied hole 17 in the three rounds he’s got to hole 17. He’s won holes 6, 7, and 14 in two of his three match play rounds.
Abrahamson def. Peterson in 19 holes
The Abrahamson-Peterson duel was a tale of two nines.
The front nine belonged to Peterson and the back nine was Abrahamson’s.
ADVERTISEMENT
Peterson roared out of the gate, winning the first four holes with par, birdie, par, bogey to go 4-up. After they both bogeyed No. 5, Abrahamson tallied his first win, a birdie on No. 6. Peterson won the next hole, the Minnesota green, but Abrahamsom took No. 8, the Oklahoma green, with par. They halved No. 9 with pars to keep Peterson 3-up at the turn.
On the back nine, Peterson won just one hole, a birdie on No. 14. Abrahamson meanwhile, slowly chipped away at the lead, winning Nos. 11, 13 and 17 with pars to draw to within one. Abrahamson also made par on No. 18 to force a playoff. Abramson won the first extra hole to advance to the semifinals. It was the only time he was in the lead.
SENIORS SEMIFINALS FRIDAY TEE TIME - 1st Hole
12:20 p.m. Lance Sunder vs. Mike Herzog; Mark Lindberg vs. Thomas Abrahamson
The Trust Project
