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7-22-10
Former University of Wisconsin player Jordan Elsen won the Wisconsin State Golf Association State Amateur Championship on Thursday when the final round was washed out by heavy rain across eastern Wisconsin. Elsen was declared the winner, and his 7-under-par 209 (68-72-69) through three rounds gave him a six stroke margin over 36-hole leader Kyle Murphy.
Elsen, a 22-year-old member at Kenosha CC, said he would turn pro immediately after the win.
The tee times were adjusted on Thursday in the expectation of bad weather, so players went off the first and 10th tees at the Bull at Pinehurst Farms in Sheboygan Falls. The leaders were on the fourth hole at The Bull when a siren sounded and the course was cleared. The final round was officially canceled a little while later.
Elsen was disappointed he didn’t get a chance to finish off the win.
“I wanted to go out and beat the course today,” he said. “I really wanted to shoot under par. That was my goal. I really wanted to stick to my game plan, make some birdies and really give the course a beating. Unfortunately I wasn’t given the opportunity to do that. But it’s great to come out on top.”
Elsen was at even par through first three holes before the rains came. Murphy was off to a horrible start, going six over par through those same three holes. Still, Murphy, of Eau Claire G&CC, said he also would have liked to finish the tournament. He shot 68-71-76–215 through 54 holes.
“I would have loved to play, but at the same time, I got off to just a really embarrassing start,” Murphy said. “So I feel very fortunate to finish runner-up. I probably don’t deserve it.”
Finishing third was Austin Ehlenfeldt of Old Hickory GC in Beaver Dam with scores of 70-73-74–217.
Braden Mork of Thornberry Creek at Oneida (69-74-75–218) finished in a tie for fourth place with Maxwell Hosking of Bridges GC in Madison (69-75-74–218). But Mork had staged an early rally on Thursday morning – going 2 under par through three holes – before play was canceled.
Todd Schaap of Ives Grove Golf Links in Sturtevant shot 70-73-76–219 and finished sixth. Taylor Johnson of Oconomowoc GC finished seventh after shooting 77-74-69–220.
Elsen won the other major golf event for Wisconsin amateurs in June when he captured the WSGA Match Play Championship, sponsored by TaylorMade. He is just the fourth player to win both the State Amateur and the State Match play in the same season since the Match Play was initiated in 1975. The others were J.P. Hayes (1988), Bob Gregorski (1994) and Ryan Quinn (2001).
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