HANSON SLOSHES WAY TO 70, LEADS GOLF CHAMPIONS BY 1
Kane Hanson birdied three of the first four holes at Bearpath Golf & Country Club on Saturday, and he also eagled the par-5 12th hole for the second day in a row, all of which helped him survive three late bogeys and still hold first place after two rounds of the Minnesota Golf Champions.
On a day that was depressingly typical of the miserable Minnesota spring of 2008 -- 50 degrees and persistent rain throughout the round -- Hanson birdied the first, second and fourth holes at Bearpath on his way to a front-nine 33.
The former State Amateur champion from Detroit Lakes bogeyed No. 10, but he more than made up for that with his 3 at the 536-yard 12th, and he followed that with a birdie at the par-3 13th.
As the misery index climbed and the light waned (the leaders didn't finish their rounds until after 8 p.m. Saturday), he bogeyed the 14th, the 16th and the 18th, but that was still good enough for a 70 and a 36-hole total of 137, 7 under par, going into Sunday's final round.
Hanson, who turned professional in August of 2006, won both the Minnesota and North Dakota state opens last year. He's also won once already this year: Tournament #6 of the Gateway Tour's Desert Winter Series.
He's taking a week off from the Gateway this week, but will play in the Spring Series Championship next week in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Former MGC winner John Harris, who has the week off because the Champions Tour is taking a break, is at 138, a stroke behind Hanson, after shooting a 71. Harris, a four-time former State Amateur champ who won more than a dozen state championships -- plus a U.S. Amateur championship -- before turning professional in 2002, made his two bogeys on the first hole and the 17th, but had three birdies in between.
Chris Borgen, a kind of freelance pro from Hiawatha, shot a 71 and is two behind at 139, in third place.
Borgen, who is just in the process of rejoining the Minnesota Section PGA, didn't play in many tournaments last year, but he always seemed to play pretty well. He was sixth in the State Open and 12th at the Golf Champions.
Last week, Bryan DeCorso, who had given up professional golf three times, won on the Nationwide Tour.
"Oh, I've given it up more times than that," Borgen said Saturday, when DeCorso's story was mentioned. "So maybe there's hope for me yet."
The low round Saturday was a 69 by Tanners Brook head pro Craig Brischke. He was a putt-making machine on the front side, with five birdies in the first eight holes, but struggled just like everyone else on the back, as he surrendered two of the strokes he gained.
He's three behind at 140.
Twenty-five players made the cut, which fell at 148.
Don Berry, a four-time MGC champion was six back at 143, after a 71. Clayton Rask, who won this tournament in 2005 and again in '07, was 10 behind after following a 73 with a 74.
-Mike Fermoyle
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