Jul. 22—BEMIDJI — The 100th edition of the Birchmont Golf Tournament opened with a bang on Monday.
Twenty-seven players across five divisions recorded under-par rounds at the Bemidji Town and Country Club, positioning themselves nicely to qualify for their respective championship flights.
No player had a better day than Ian Simonich. The Moorhead native and North Dakota State graduate led the Men’s Division with a seven-under score of 65. Simonich made seven birdies and two eagles, but a double bogey on No. 17 and two bogeys on the front nine snubbed him of breaking Brandon Nelson’s course record, which was set on June 28.
Simonich led the morning wave of the Men’s Division by four strokes, but the crop of afternoon players closed in on his lead. Bemidji’s Matthew Gregg carded a six-under 66, while Fargo’s Jacob Skarperud sits in third place with a 65.
Nate Deziel, Jack Southard and Rylin Petry are tied for fourth place at four-under. Bemidji’s Nick Yavarow and Nelson are tied for seventh place at three-under. Yavarow sank a birdie putt from about 40 feet away from the cup on the 18th green to position himself inside the top 10.
Twenty-two of the players who broke 72 played in the Men’s Division. With one more round of qualifying ahead on Tuesday, the current cut line sits at two-over. The top 31 players and defending champion Nick Schaefer qualify for the championship bracket. Schaefer automatically earns the top seed in the match-play portion of the tournament, as do all of the returning champions from the 99th Birchmont in 2023.
Senior, Executive and Junior Divisions also teed off on Monday at the BTCC. Players in the Senior and Executive Divisions compete in a 36-hole qualifier, while the juniors play one 18-hole qualifier.
Dale Finck paced the senior players with a three-under round of 69. Bemidji’s Jeff Noren followed with a 71, while Alexandria’s Mark Liundberg shot an even-par 72.
The executives were led by a two-under-par trio. Troy Johnson, Dale Omar and Mark Ewing all shot scores of 70. Jeff Thompson followed in solo fourth place with a 72.
East Grand Forks’ Gavin Rude and Bemidji’s Isaac Mattfield were named co-medalists in the Junior 17U Division. Rude and Mattfield shot six-over rounds of 78, which was one stroke better than Preston Miller and Kolby Koerner.
The final player to record an under-par round was in the Junior 12U Division. Jackson Fogelson won the nine-hole qualifier by nine strokes, beating Graham Urbanaik with a five-under score of 31.
