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Nov 08, 2023

Pine to Palm: 91st edition of the tournament tees off on Monday

DETROIT LAKES – For 91 years, the Pine to Palm tournament has called Detroit Country Club its home. The coveted tournament begins Monday with six days full of golf to determine a champion. The last

DETROIT LAKES – For 91 years, the Pine to Palm tournament has called Detroit Country Club its home. The coveted tournament begins Monday with six days full of golf to determine a champion.

The last leg of the Resorters Circuit features five divisions as hundreds of golfers attempt to etch their name into one of Minnesota’s premier golf tournaments. All five champions are returning to defend their crowns with two in contention for three-peats.

“In the championship flight, Joshuaa Robards from Queensland, Australia, is returning,” Pine to Palm Chairman Vern Schnathorst said. “In the Mid-Am, Michael Melhus is the two-time defending champ. Bill Schommer is the two-time defending champ in the senior division and in the super senior division, Bert Olson is coming back. He is from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and is a Detroit Lakes grad.”

Robards looks to be the next back-to-back champion since Bill Israelson did it in 1976-1977. He held off 2020 champion Ian Simonich on his way to engraving his name into the trophy. Melhus has a chance to secure his third straight Mid-AM Championship and can become the first three-peat winner since the Mid-Am flight was added.

Schommer is also aiming to become the first back-to-back-to-back champion in the senior flight. He became the first ever consecutive champion after taking down Bob Cavanagh last year and Olson in 2020. Olson has his eyes set on the history books as the first back-to-back senior champion since Chuck Renner won the flight seven consecutive times between 2011-2016.

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This year’s tournament will have 490 participants. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Pine to Palm hosted over 500 players the week of the tournament. In the summer of 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the field was cut down to 460 competitors. Over the past couple of years, the famed tournament has kept the numbers low for good reasons.

“We capped it at under 500 because we got so much positive feedback from those who played in the tournament from previous years,” Schnathorst said. “The pace wasn't so slow. When you get over 500 golfers, it bogs everything down. We plan on staying around this number.”

The first few days of the tournament consist of the usual stroke play that is seen in your normal golf competition. When Thursday rolls around and the fields have been cut down to the top 32 golfers, Pine to Palm switches up the format to determine the winners.

“One thing that makes this tournament so unique is match play,” Schnathorst said. “So many of these guys are tournament golfers and used to stroke play where they are trying to shoot the lowest score. We do that in the qualifying round but they really enjoy it when it goes to match play.”

Tuesday night is reserved for the Long Drive competition. It’s a chance to win a trophy and see who can hit the furthest bomb down the fairway.

"John Flynn runs the Long Drive competition,” Schnathorst said. “We will do it on hole 12 again this year. Typically, we have the younger guys compete but there might be a senior and super-senior division. Primarily, the younger guys compete to see how far they can hit the golf ball. It’s a really fun thing.”

Something to expect this year is a difference in the course conditions. Tom Dolby, general manager/head PGA professional at Detroit Country Club, has been fully involved in bringing a different level of difficulty to the course this year.

“He is growing the rough up in some areas if the long hitters miss the fairway,” Schnathorst said. “Around the greens, the grass is going to be longer. The weather should be in the mid to high 70s, so we will roll the greens making them faster. Dolby has had the fairways mowed to more of a traditional shape cutting them down and making them larger in some areas. The course setup will be more challenging for the better players than it has been in recent years.”

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Visit the Pine to Palm website for information on tee sheets and qualifying pairings for Monday. Golf Genius app users can access the same information by downloading the application for Android or Apple and using the GGID: P2P at the login screen.

For live updates, photos, video coverage and more, follow @NickLSports on Twitter . You can also visit www.dl-online.com and search under the Pine to Palm tag for coverage all week long.

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