Derynck captures Boe title
Always a bridesmaid, but finally a bride.
After placing second five times in his 15 previous attempts playing in the Wynston Boe Memorial Golf Tournament five previous times, Ben Derynck finally emerged victorious in the Championship Flight.
Derynck clinched the title by sinking a 25-foot putt on the final hole to defeat Charlie Seitzer by one shot.
Before a large gallery following the finalists in golf carts over the final nine holes, Derynck saw a three-shot lead evaporate with consecutive bogeys on holes 4, 5 and 6 while Seitzer held firm with par on each hole. Derynck regained the lead on No. 8 with a par, while Seitzer had a bogey.
On the final hole, Derynck hit a long drive left of the green, leaving him with a difficult lie behind some trees. While the other three in his group (Seitzer, Alex Buysse and Landon Frost) all reached the green in two, Derynck could only manage a soft lob that fell well short of the green.
"Over the trees was the only play I saw that I had," he said. "Yeah, I was a little concerned."
The others all two-putted for a closing par, while Derynck's third shot caught the wide of the green and settled 25 feet from the pin.
"I just said to myself to get it as close as I could and let's see what happens," he said. "It was a straight line to the cup and the greens were a lot quicker on the last nine."
Derynck lined up the shot, took a deep breath, and watched it drop into the cup.
"I heard a couple of buddies in back yelling when it went in and I had a little grin on my face," Derynck said.
Derynck, a 2004 Minneota graduate, admitted that he was getting tired of being close, but never winning. He's also finished third, fourth and fifth several times in his 16 tournaments here.
"It feels awesome," he said.
Derynck shot a 37-39-37 for a 113. Seitzer scored a 39-39-36 for 114. Bryan Francis finished third with a 40-40-35 - 115.
Joe Kack won the President's Flight with a 113, winning by two shots over Walker Hennen and Rick Gossen.
Other flight winners were: Norm DePestel, First Flight; Jason Gravley, Second Flight; Josh Anderson, Third Flight; Dale Verschelde, Fourth Flight; and Mike Buseth (low gross) and Ron Labat (low net), Senior Flight.
A total of 69 golfers participated in the 55th annual Wynston Boe Tournament. Boe, a longtime popular manager of the Countryside Golf Club for many years, died in 2014.
CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
Ben Derynck 37-39-37 - 113, Charlie Seitzer 39-39-36 - 114, Bryan Francis 40-40-35 - 115, Jason Rongstad 43-36-37 - 116, Steve Willey 41-39-36 - 116, Landon Frost 40-38-39 - 117, Tyler Sachariason 39-41-38 - 120, Alex Buysse 39-39-44 - 122, Steve Berens 44-39-39 - 122, Ryan Palmer 41-42-42 - 125, Hunter Pfantz 41-43-41 - 125, Zeb Prairie 42-47-44 - 133, Jesse Drager 41-46-50 - 137PRESIDENT'S FLIGHT
Joe Kack 38-37-38 - 113, Walker Hennen 38-39-38 - 115, Rick Gossen 37-41-37 - 115, David Kockelman 38-38-41 - 117, Mike Hammer 38-41-40 - 119, Jason Schafer 41-42-38 - 121, Wayne Kompelien 42-38-42 - 122, Corey Skogrand 41-41-42 - 124, Sam Derynck 40-46-50 - 136, T.J. Esping 46-46-45 - 137, Cole Hennen 48-46-44 - 138, Curt Francis 46-48-44 - 138
FIRST FLIGHT
Norm DePestel 43-40-39 - 122, Cody Gossen 43-41-40 - 123, James Hook 43-38-42 - 123, Jeremy Gossen 47-41-37 - 125, Greg Mulder 39-43-45 - 127, Alex Maule 44-41-42 - 127, Mike VonBokern 43-40-44 - 127, Mike Guimand 43-42-43 - 128, Ryan Albertson 39-45-44 - 128, Travis Obe 44-42-42 - 128, Craig Peterson 41-46-42 - 129, John Dubbe 52-46-44 - 142, Tony Ufkin 51-50-43 - 144, Mark Spanton 46-45-withdrew
SECOND FLIGHT
Quarterfinals: Jason Gravley def. Tim Gossen, Cody Fruin def. Adam Josephson, Dylan Smith def. Kelly Skogren, Brian Obe def. Lucas Bot ... Semifinals: Gravley def. Fruin, Obe def. Smith ... Final: Gravley def. Obe
THIRD FLIGHT
Quarterfinals: Luke DePestel def. Aaron Gravley, Gabe Pieper def. Dave Schoolmeester, Roger Evert def. Dean Slatko, Josh Anderson def. TC String ... Semifinals: DePestel def. Pieper, Anderson def. Evert ... Final: Anderson def. DePestel
FOURTH FLIGHT
Quarterfinals: Tim Pickering def. Bubba Gorecki, Keith Baumgard def. Tim Walsh, Dale Verschelde def. Luke Gorecki, Chad Bagley def. Adam Gorecki ... Semifinals: Pickering def. Baumgard, Verschelde def. Bagley ... Final: Verschelde def. Pickering
SENIOR FLIGHT
(Gross)
Ron Labat 41-44 - 85, Bill Vlaminck 44-43 - 87, Marlo Moon 48-42 - 90, James Lanners 46-45 - 91, Butch Obe 46-45 - 91, David Hook 44-51 - 95
(Net)
Mike Buseth 37-36 - 73