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Qualifying for the annual Wisconsin State Golf Association State Match Play Championship is an accomplishment in itself. Winning the first of what one hopes to be a string of matches is another matter.
Keegan Drugan of Holmen and five other La Crosse area players qualified for Monday’s beginning of the celebrated WSGA event at Northern Bay Golf Resort and Marina in Arkdale, Wis., about 70 miles east of La Crosse.
Drugan, winner of last year’s La Crosse Tribune Men’s County Amateur Golf Championship, tied for runner-up honors behind medalist Patrick Duffy of Appleton, Wis., in the preliminary round of the Match Play Championship. Drugan fired a 4-under-par 68 to share second place with Kelly Kretz of Antigo, Wis., and Todd Schaap of Kenosha, Wis.
Unfortunately, Drugan lost his opening-round match June 16.
Five other Coulee Region qualifiers missed the cut June 15 in stroke-play round.
Onalaska’s Mason Milner, 2006 Tribune County Amateur champ, and Holmen’s Ross Wilhelm failed to advance to match play with identical scores of 4-over 76. Scott Erickson of Sparta posted 79. Keegan’s father, Michael, managed 80, while Johnathon Anderson of Ettrick, Wis., slumped to 87.
Kevin Cahill of Merrill Hills Country Club in Waukesha, Wis., eventually won the state match title defeating Kretz in the final. It was the second WSGA championship for Cahill, who won the Governor’s Cup in 2006.
VITERBO SCRAMBLE: If you haven’t met any Viterbo University athletes, there’s a great chance to shake their hands at the annual Viterbo University Athletics golf scramble on Aug. 17, at the La Crosse Country Club in Onalaska.
Viterbo athletic director Barry Fried puts on quite a show every year and he relies on plenty of support from V-Hawks student-athletes, staff and volunteers. Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. with a shotgun start at 12:30 p.m. For more information, contact Fried at (608) 796-3812, or bjfried@
viterbo.edu.
CHAMPIONS TOUR FREEBIE: The Champions Tour is offering free admission for the first time at the 3M Championship in Minnesota this summer.
The TPC Twin Cities course in the Minneapolis suburb of Blaine is the annual site of the event, scheduled July 10-12.
Tournament director Hollis Cavner says the offer of free admission and parking is a thank you to fans for the strong support over the past two decades.
Players on the 50-and-older tour voted the 3M Championship as their favorite event last year.
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