August 19, 2024 | 4 min.
By Nick Hunter
LAKE CITY, Minn. – Tying a tournament record Monday at The Jewel Golf Club, University of St. Thomas teammates Owen Rexing and Zach Rouleau combined for eight birdies and two eagles to shoot a 12-under 59 to take a four-stroke lead at the 62nd Minnesota Golf Association Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
Rexing and Rouleau matched cousins David and Mike Christensen’s mark of 59 during their opening round of the 2020 championship at Crow River Golf Club, where they would go on to claim medalist honors by seven strokes.
“The irons for both of us were working pretty well—I’ve never hit my irons like that,” Rouleau said Monday. “We probably didn’t make as many putts as it sounds, but we hit a lot in pretty close. Bogey-free is always nice, too.”
“That was some of the most fun I’ve ever had on a golf course,” Rexing added. “This format can free you up to play a little better than normal, so I knew we had a low one in us.”
Rexing, a junior, and Rouleau, a sophom*ore, get a day off Tuesday as the top 14 teams, plus ties, will advance to Wednesday’s final round, along with the top 22 teams, plus ties, during Tuesday’s second wave of golfers.
“We want to enjoy what we did today, but you have to accept that a 59 is really rare,” Rouleau said. “Use tomorrow as a rest day and then come back with low expectations on Wednesday.”
Carding three birdies over their first seven holes Monday, Rouleau jumpstarted the round with a tap-in eagle at the eighth to put him and Rexing at 5-under for the round heading to their inward nine.
Rexing rolled in his birdie from 10 feet at the 10th, and then sank back-to-back birdies from inside of 10 feet at the 14th and 15th before Rouleau carded his second eagle of the round, converting his putt from 10 feet to put the two at 10-under.
The Tommie twosome would trade birdies at the 17th and 18th to play their final five holes in 6-under to pace the field by four strokes, becoming just the fourth team since 1962 to shoot around of 60 or better.
“We cooled off a little on the back nine, we were missing some makeable putts, but kept giving ourselves looks,” Rouleau said. “When you have a partner who’s in the fairway on every hole, it definitely helps. You can go up and just hit it without thinking too much.”
“I felt like Zach didn’t miss an iron shot, and we didn’t make any mistakes,” said Rexing. "When one would par, the other would birdie. We went 6-under in our last five holes—I was thinking maybe 7-under would be a good score today.”
Providing their own fireworks Monday, the combination of 2004 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Austin Eaton and his son, Mason, carded an 8-under 63 Monday, including the elder Eaton’s ace at the par-3 fifth and hole-out for eagle at the 18th, to trail by four shots after 18 holes of play.
“Today was a blast. To play with my son is super cool, and I expected him to carry me all day because I’ve been injured all summer,” said Austin Eaton, who has battled back and hip issues this season. “This is my first competitive round of golf since May, and first 18-hole round since the Fourth of July.
“I figured I’d make a few pars and he’d make a bunch of birdies, but then I just got hot. I thought if we could make Day Two, that we’d be fine.”
The Eatons played their first four holes in 1-over before Austin’s 8-iron from 148 yards found the bottom of the cup for the third ace of his career.
“I haven’t had a hole-in-one since 1981,” he said, “Not since I was 12-years-old. We were racing to see who gets the next hole-in-one because he’s never had one, so I got him.”
The Eatons would birdie three straight to close out their front nine at 4-under for the round.
Austin hit his approach to six feet at the 12th and converted his birdie chance before Mason rolled in his birdie look from six feet at the 13th to put the two at 6-under.
Following Austin’s birdie from 10 feet at the 14th, the two would card their second bogey of the round to drop back to 6-under for the day.
Standing in the 18th fairway, Austin called his shot and holed out his second from 128 yards for eagle to put him and his son into second at 8-under 63.
“I was so tired and sore, but I said, ‘I’ve got one more good swing in me, let’s see if I can knock this in.’ It landed about a foot from the hole and spun in. I’ve had a lot of rounds with two eagles, but never with two hole-out eagles.”
Max Tylke, winner of the 2019 Minnesota Public Golf Association Four-Ball Championship, partnered with North Dakota State University senior Gavin Cronkhite this week and combined to post an opening-round 64 Monday to finish the first wave of play in sole possession of third place.
The 62nd MGA Amateur Four-Ball continues Tuesday when the second wave of the field begins their opening round beginning at 9 a.m. at The Jewel Golf Club.
