Juniors teed off to qualify for Junior Division

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

July 28, 1988

By Devlyn Brooks

More than 35 juniors teed off Monday in the one-and-only qualifying round for the Juniors Division Championship at the 1998 Annual Birchmont Golf Tournament, but only eight survived the cut for Wednesday's match play tournament.

In a field devoid of the 1997 champion, Nick Sundbloom of Minneapolis, Matt Kennedy of Red Lake Falls shot a 2-under-par 70 to outpace the rest of the field by at least a handful of shots. Not only was Kennedy's round staggering for the Junior Division, but he was only two shots off the day's best round shot by the leader in the Men's Championship Division.

Kennedy's outstanding day was followed by Nate Mullally and Mike Ryan, both of Grand Forks, N.D., who each shot 4-over-par 76 on the day. Mullally happens to be the only returning junior to the championship flight who also appeared in last year's match play championship tourney. He was defeated in the quarterfinals 3-2.

Following Mullally and Ryan, Keith Duenow of St. Ansgar, Iowa, shot a 77, and three participants fired 79s.

Here are the qualifiers:

Matt Kennedy (Red Lake Falls) 70

Nate Mullally (Grand Forks, N.D.) 76

Mike Ryan (Grand Forks, N.D.) 76

Keith Duenow (St. Ansgar, Iowa) 77

Adam Evavold (East Grand Forks) 79

Joe McKean (Blackduck) 79

Travis Jackson (Bemidji) 79

Jon Miskavige (Grand Forks, N.D.) 80