Lexvold Outlasts Langenbrunner to Win Cloquet Invite

July 11

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

CLOQUET- Upon entering Sunday’s final round of the 79th annual Cloquet Invitational Jamie Langenbrunner had high hopes of defending his title on his home course. However, Brent Lexvold from Apple Valley withstood the four way tie entering Sunday’s final round to prevail and give him his first championship at Cloquet Country Club.

Lexvold, along with Langenbrunner, Shane Johnson, and Steve Gault were all tied after Saturday’s second round with a score of 152. Lexvold was the leader after the first round, opening with a 72 on Friday. Langenbrunner shot a 73 Friday and was one stroke back after the first 18 holes. Dave Issacson of Duluth and Paul Munson were two shots back on Friday. However, both golfers fell back on Saturday.

Langenbrunner mentioned to Northland Sports Online afterward,
“It’s so great to play on my home course. With us losing early in the playoffs, it gave me more time to work on my game.” Langenbrunner was referring to the early loss by the New Jersey Devils in the NHL playoffs. He continued, “To win this championship two years in a row would have been amazing, but with how hard this course is and the amount of competition here it’s hard to pull that off.”

PGA Professional Bill Manahan
stated to Northland Sports Online, “The course is in great shape. The rain earlier this year along with a lot of hard work has put this course in near perfect shape. The warm weather over the last week has made the greens hard and fast, but we didn’t see the wind like we had last year.” Manahan added, “Without all the great help we have here there is no way this tournament would be as successful as it is.”

Lexvold’s three day total of 226 was two strokes better than Langenbrunner and Scott Anderson who both finished with a three day total of 228. Cloquet’s Jim Kallstad finished fourth with a 229. Ross Freemont and Shane Johnson, both of Duluth, and Jim Stafford from Cloquet all tied for fifth place with a total of 230. Steve Gault and 2008 Champion Tim Holland tied for eighth place, and Ross Pracher rounded out the top ten with a score of 233.

Other notables included John Sheff with a 235, Alex Kolquist with a 236, Reed Kolquist 240, Dave Issacson 245 and Steve Stojevich closed out with a 250. Don Pykkola won the senior flight with a 243 overall. He shot the low round of the day with a 72. Steve Busch was second and Jerry Maunu was third.

In Flight action at the 79th annual invitational the results were:

1st Flight- 1st Pete Carlson, 2nd Nate Cary, 3rd Aaron Young

2nd Flight- 1st Scott Lundgren, 2nd Gerry Pollard, 3rd Jess Pollard

3rd Flight- 1st Pat Kavanaugh, 2nd Gerald Krey, 3rd Greg Larson

4th Flight- 1st Todd Lyden, 2nd Mike Pohl, 3rd Wally Johnson

5th Flight- 1st Dennis Melland, 2nd Ron Mattson, 3rd Scott Unzen/ Mark Tollerud

6th Flight- 1st Dennis Nelson, 2nd Mike Balow, 3rd John Cardinal

7th Flight- 1st Bruce Becker, 2nd Jim Juntti, 3rd Steve Seiler

Northland Sports Online would like to thank Bill Manahan, Matt Carlson, and all the staff at the Cloquet Country Club for all of their hard work on hosting another outstanding tournament. Thank you for all of the scores and assistance they provided to the website.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com