Joe Drennan
Sports EditorFor most golfers, a good summer of golf means having a round or two at or near par, but for Forest Lake High School grad Chad Gustafson his summer included a sixth place finish at the Minnesota State Open at Bunker Hills July 23-25.
Gustafson qualified for the open as he finished second at the Minnesota Assistants Open last September. Once at the open, Gustafson and the other golfers golfed the original 18 holes at Bunker Hills, the same course the PGA Tour used a few years back for the 3M Senior Championship.
ìI just didnít want to embarrass myself and come back to work,î Gustafson said. ìTo come back to work [at the White Bear Yacht Club] and have a lot of people say congratulations and recognize me as a good golfer is a good feeling.î
On the first day, Gustafson shot a 71, followed by a 76 on the second day and another 71 on the third day for a total of 218. Gustafson's score was two over par, six strokes back of champion Ty Armstongís 212, four under par score.
ìI putted real well,î Gustafson said. ìI only missed one or two putts from within six feet of the cup the whole tournament. I kept it in play pretty well too which was good because the rough was pretty long out there.î
Watching Gustafson through the tournament were his parents. His dad, Doug Gustafson is the golf pro at Forest Hills Golf Club.
ìMy mom comes out and watches all that stuff,î Gustafson said. ìShe loves that stuff and it was nice to have both of them there though.î
Gustafson's sixth place finish automatically qualifies him for next yearís Minnesota State Open.
To prepare for next yearís open, Gustafson will golf a few rounds at the White Bear Yacht Club where he is the assistant pro.
History
After graduating from Forest Lake High School in 1997, Gustafson went on to golf at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter. Gustafson played about half the matches his freshman and sophomore years, then broke out of his shell his junior and senior year. Gustafson was an Academic All-American his senior year and a Second Team All-American his junior and senior years.
ìI just kind of played well,î Gustafson said. ìMy senior year I played really well for a while and shot a couple rounds under par.î
Gustafson graduated from Gustavus in the spring of 2001, then turned pro in the spring of 2002 when he passed a players ability test and a test in Florida. In the two rounds of golf for the players ability test Gustafson shot a hole in one in both rounds. The other way to turn pro is to play in some tournaments and advance that way.
ìWith my dad as the head pro at Forest Hills I grew up with the golf family,î Gustafson said. ìWhen I turned pro, Tom Skoglund who was my fathers assistant over ten years ago was the head pro here [White Bear Yacht Club] so I just started working here.î
Pleased with his performance at the Minnesota State Open Gustafson doesnít have big aspirations of playing on the PGA, he simply wants to play well at sectional assistants tournaments.
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