Sundbom wins Invite, Moores wins Fans

Dwight Cadwell- NSO

Hermantown’s Trent Sundbom shot a low tournament round 69, to come from behind and capture the 2014 Cloquet Invitational.

Sundbom who trialled the leader Dan Moline by 5 shots when the final round started, but Moline who struggled on the greens seeing several putts lip out and barley miss finished with a 77 to place 4th overall.

Brian Moores of Rodgers Minnesota spent most of the day as the leader after a fast start saw Brian move to +2 and a six shot lead at one point on the front nine.

Moores who four putted hole 10 saw his lead shrink to two. Sundbom birdied 11 to cut Moores lead to one stroke, while Brian missed a birdie putt on 11.

Sundbom playing one group head of Moores stuck his shot on 13 two feet away and a tap in birdie gave Sundbom the lead after Moores bogeyed the 12th hole.

Moores responded right back on the 14th hole when he birdied the hole to tie once again for the lead.

Moores would bogie 15 and Sundbom boogied 16 to again have a two way tie for the lead. Cory Schultz who birdied 16 moved into third place overall with two hole to play.

Sundbom parred both 17 and 18 as he waited for the final group to finish the final two holes.

Moores hit a tee shot on 17 in the perfect spot which allowed him to place his second shot about 8 feet away from the hole. Schultz also had a opportunity for a birdie on 17 but his 15 footer came up just short. Moores meanwhile drained his birdie putt and took a one shot lead moving to the 18th hole.

Moores playing first on 18 put his tee shot into the right bunker just short of the green. His three playing partners all hit shot on the green and Schultz put his tee shot 2 feet away and birdied the hole to finish in a two way tie for second.

Moores playing from the bunker couldn’t get his first shot out of the bunker and his second bunker shot came up short on the green leaving a 30 foot bogey put to tie Sundbom and force a playoff. Moores putt was close but missed on the low side as he would fall one shot short of winning his first Cloquet Invitational Title.

Dan Moline who finished with a 77 placed 4th overall, Cloquet’s Aaron Young was 5th, a three way tie between John Sheff, six time Champion Reed Kolquist, and Brett Morrison all finished 6th on the day, while Taylor Sundbom was ninth.

Morrison who played in the final group both Saturday and Sunday and was two back when the day started was disappointed on the finish but the experience will lead to many more great opportunities in the future.

Moores who played Sunday and part of Saturday with local youngster Keegan Poppenberg as his caddie smiled as he made his final putt which cost him the championship, but Moores even with the disappointment smiled as he walked to his caddie and gave him a high five.

Throughout the final round, seeing player and caddie walk the course and sharing smiles, high fives and even seeing this young caddie offer on advice to his player he was caddying for was something wonderful to see.

Moores who finished second on the day with Cory Schultz truly showed what the game is really about and what type of character he has. Moores and his caddie were real winners on this day!

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com