BEMIDJI – Katie Sheetz of Grand Rapids enjoys playing in the Birchmont Women’s Championship bracket.
The soon-to-be senior at Minnesota-Crookston has entered the field three times - including this week. And on Saturday Sheetz captured her third consecutive championship when she hung on to edge Haley Tollette of Andover 1-up.
Sheetz had forged a 4-up cushion at the turn but Tollette methodically whittled at her deficit and trailed only by one hole heading into No. 18.
Her comeback run appeared to continue on the final hole of regulation when Sheetz needed to make a 25-foot putt for a par which would enable her to halve the hole and claim the match win.
And that pivotal putt found the bottom of the cup.
“It is still a shock to win the Birchmont,” Sheetz said after Saturday’s dramatic finish. “Every year that I play in the Birchmont is a different year. This week I played against all new people and it is fun to do that.”
After nine holes on Saturday it appeared as if the Women’s Championship match would end early. On the strength of wins on the fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth holes, Sheetz opened a 4-up lead at the turn. Tollette, however, dug deep and trimmed her deficit to one hole after a key birdie on No. 17.
Her rally fell one hole short, however, when Sheetz drained the dramatic putt on No. 18.
“I don’t know if there is a secret to winning the Birchmont,” Sheetz said. “I do know that having a strong mental game is important. Not every shot is going to be perfect so you need to know how to recover.”
With three wins on her resume, Sheetz is anxious to return.
But her quest for a fourth title will be put on hold for a year because she will be a bridesmaid in a wedding during the week of the 2016 tournament.
“But I’ll be back in two years,” Sheetz promised.
Senior Championship
For the past five years, Curt Howard of Sapulpa, Okla., has been on a personal journey and Saturday he took a major step along the way.
“Winning a Birchmont after I got sober was on my bucket list,” Howard said. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”
Howard is no stranger to claiming a Birchmont crown, as he captured the Executive titles in 1997, 1998 and 2005. On Saturday, however, he won the Senior Championship for the first time when he edged 2013 title winner Daniel Gilman of Centennial, Colo., 2 and 1.
The pair are good friends and for some of Saturday’s action Howard forgot the importance of the outcome.
“Dan and I know each other so well and are such good friends that we both played relaxed golf and we striped it down the fairway,” Howard said. “For a while I forgot that I was playing in the Birchmont Championship match.”
No more than one hole separated the two golfers until the very end and the match was even until Howard won No. 16 and No. 17 with pars.
“The Birchmont is such a hard tournament to win,” Howard said. “You need perseverance and a clear head to come out on top. And this week I had both.”
Other Divisions
Matt Mayer of Fargo and Russ Moen of Bemidji staged an epic battle in the Executive Championship, match but Mayer eventually outlasted Moen 1-up in 21 holes.
Moen trailed by two holes late in regulation but he claimed No. 16 and No. 17 with pars and when both men carded 4s on No. 18, extra holes were in order.
Glen Hasselberg of Staples added the Masters Championship to his Birchmont legacy on Saturday as he stopped defending champion Jim Archer of Prairie Village, Kan., 2 and 1.
Hasselberg opened a 2-up lead at the turn and widened the cushion to 3-up after No. 13. Archer sliced his deficit to 2-down with a birdie on No. 14 but he could get no closer.
In Saturday’s Junior Championship match, Ryan Paskey of Detroit Lakes toppled Willy Jahner of Dickinson, N.D., 5 and 4. Paskey owned a 3-up lead after nine holes and eventually closed the match with a winning birdie on No. 13 and a winning par on No. 14.
