Resorters golf: Medalist falls to 16th seed in Men's Champs as Nate Deziel beats his NDSU teammate

ALEXANDRIA — A big change rippled through the Men’s Championship Division on Thursday.

Medalist Nate Adams could not hold off the hard-charging Nate Deziel, his golfing teammate at North Dakota State University, and was eliminated.

That leaves Gunnar Broin as the top seed at No. 3. He rolled to a 4-3 win Thursday.

The fourth and fifth seeds also remain – Gavin Cronkhite who breezed to a 6-5 win and Lincoln Johnson who survived an 18-hole dogfight against Jaques Wilson.

The division’s “Elite Eight” will play Friday to make it into the semifinals. They’ll tee it up from No. 1 at 1:50 p.m.

The Deziel/Adams match began as expected, based on the seeding.

Adams, the division’s top seed who qualified with a 7-under par 137, won the second hole with a birdie, stumbled momentarily with a bogey on No. 4 but regained the lead with a clutch par on No. 7 and matched Deziel’s pars on the next two holes to keep his 1-up lead at the turn.

That’s when Deziel, the 16th seed, caught fire. He reeled off four straight wins, going birdie, birdie, eagle and par on holes 10 through 13 to flip the match in his favor, 3-up.

After halving the par-5 14th, Adams tried to make a charge with a birdie on No. 15 to draw within two. But that was as close as he got. Deziel put the match away with a par win on the 16th hole to seal a 3-2 upset.

In the division’s longest duel of the afternoon, Nick Jarrett survived a back-and-forth battle – and an eagle – to take down Ian Meyer in 20 holes.

They each won three holes on the front. Jarrett took Nos. 1 (birdie), 4 (par) and 9 (par) while Meyer racked up wins on Nos. 2 (par), 3 (par) and 6 (eagle).

Deadlocked at the turn, Jarrett broke the tie with a birdie on No. 10. Meyer quickly recovered with a birdie on the next hole to knot it up. Meyer moved into the lead for the third time with a birdie on the 13th hole but Jarrett tied it again with a birdie on No. 14. After halving the next two holes, Meyer took his fourth lead of the match with a birdie on the par-3 17th. Jarrett refused to quit, however, and his par on No. 18 sent the match into overtime where Jarrett emerged the winner after two extra holes.

Gavin Cronkhite is growing to like the course at the Alexandria Golf Club pretty quickly.

The junior from North Dakota State University had never played at AGC before shooting 7-under through 36 holes during qualifying. He carried that momentum into match play where he followed up a 4-3 win in his opener with a 6-5 win over Jed Baranczyk on Thursday.

Cronkhite shot 4-under on the front nine and that led to a 4-up advantage at the turn. He continued his strong play on the back where a birdie at 11 gave him a 5-up lead. Both players birdied the 10th and also sank eagles on the par-five 12th hole. Cronkhite’s birdie on the par-three 13th put him at 9-under through 13 holes as he coasted into the quarterfinals.

In one of the better played rounds of the afternoon, Lincoln Johnson was shooting 6-under-par after 13 holes while Wilson was 3-under.

Johnson won holes 3,11,12 and 13 during that stretch with two birdies, an eagle and a par. Wilson won two holes, Nos. 2 and 10 with birdies and trailed by two after 13 holes.

Wilson mounted a comeback and drew to within one hole before Johnson was able to nail down a 1-up win.

Cox wasted no time in jumping out to a lead, winning four of the first seven holes with help from birdies on Nos. 2, 6 and 7 and par on No. 4. Feterl’s lone win on the front came from a bogey on No. 8.

Trailing by three at the turn, Feterl mounted a mini-comeback, winning two holes on the back nine – a birdie on No. 12 and a par on No. 16. Cox took just one hole, No. 15, with par, but he was able to seal the win, 2-1.

Conn overcame an early deficit against Sean Lehman, put together a couple crucial back-to-back wins and coasted to a 4-3 win.

Lehman won the first two holes with birdies but Conn erased them with par wins on Nos. 3 and 4 to draw even. Lehman took the lead again with a birdie on No. 5 but Conn took the next two holes with birdies on Nos. 6 and 7 to take his first lead. Conn added a par win on No. 9 to go 2-up at the turn.

Conn kept the pressure on with a bogey win on No. 11. After halving the par-5 12th hole, Conn made birdie on No. 13 to go 4-up. Lehman could only match Conn’s par on No. 14 and Conn iced a 4-3 win with a par on the 15th hole.

Broin fell behind early against Jon Sauer, losing the first two holes to Sauer’s birdie and par. But Sauer was able to tie the match with birdies on No. 6 and 8 and moved into the lead with a par on the 9th hole.

The back belonged to Broin. He won four of the next five holes, with a par on No. 10, an eagle on No. 12, a par on No. 13 and a par on the 14th hole. Sauer’s lone win was a par on No. 11.

The match between Zak Jones and Kelly Brown bounced back and forth in the early going.

Jones won four holes on the front – pars on Nos. 2 and 5, an eagle on No. 6 and a par on No. 9. Brown, meanwhile, stayed close with three wins – pars on Nos. 3, 4 and 8 – and trailed by one at the turn.

The match settled down with both golfers swapping ties on the next three holes. Jones finally broke the ice with a par win on No. 13 and wrapped up the match with a birdie on No. 4 to close the contest, 4-3.

MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRINGS - FRIDAY ON THE FIRST TEE BOX
1:50 p.m. - Nate Deziel vs. Nick Jarrett; Gavin Cronkhite vs. Lincoln Johnson2:00 p.m. - Kyle Cox vs. Ryan Conn; Gunnar Broin vs. Zak Jones