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Local Golf Report: Member/Guest new to Prairie Farms

From Tee to Green

It’s been a while, but thanks to Waddell and Reed’s Jeremy Jensen and Willard Fladager, there will be a new golf tournament at Prairie Farms Golf Course this weekend.

Saturday and Sunday, Prairie Farms will play host to the 36-hole Waddel & Reed Member Guest Tournament, which will feature 36 two-person teams composed of one Prairie Farms member and a player who does not have either a membership or punch card at the course. The format will be 18 holes of Chapman (Modified Alternate Shot) Saturday and 18 holes of two-person Best Ball Sunday.

“Willard and I came up with the idea for this tournament together,” Jensen said. “We’re always looking for ways to market ourselves and our business, but also, we wanted to have a golf tournament that would really showcase local golf, and in particular Prairie Farms. With Prairie Farms containing to build the back nine, we wanted to create a tournament that would bring people here from out of town so that they could see the course and experience our local golf scene.

“We were also looking for a different format,” Jensen continued. “We have a lot of scrambles that are fundraisers here, and that’s great. Those are all great tournaments that give money to so many great causes. But we were looking at ways to make this tournament different. We wanted to use formats that would give everybody a chance to play golf under different formats, but to be able to do it still as a team, and to be able to do it with a friend or family member.”

The Chapman format will be a version of alternate shot, though both players will hit a tee shot and a second shot, then alternate into the hole from there. Best ball is a traditional team format where each player on the team plays his own ball all the way into the hole, and the better score is used on the scorecard.

Another reason Jensen said this tournament excites him is because of the challenges he foresee Prairie Farms presenting for the two days of golf.

“I envision this tournament having taller than normal rough and hard, fast greens,” Jensen said. “I think Prairie Farms, and a lot of courses because of today’s technology, don’t really have distance as a disadvantage for players anymore. Everybody can hit it far enough with all the technology out there. But with the greens running fast and the rough being taller, that will help showcase Prairie Farms and the really tough, challenging golf course it can be.”

Of course, it’s not all about tough golf. Jensen said he and Fladager also came up with the idea to pick two different charities or causes to donate a portion of the tournament’s proceeds to each year.

The inaugural tournament will donate proceeds to the Havre High golf team, as well as the Ramsey Keller Memorial. The foundation was started when the family lost a child early on, just after birth. They then became a nonprofit to help other families affected by the loss of a child. The organization contracts with funeral homes throughout Montana to help pay for the expenses of children’s funerals. Their mission statement reads: “We know firsthand how devastating it is to pay for your child’s funeral and we hope to take that burden off of heartbroken families.”

The cause is near and dear to Jeremy as he and his wife endured the same tragedy in their own family not long ago, and of course, from all of us who love and know the Jensen’s our heart continues to go out to them, and anything we can do to help we, as a local golf community, will continue to do.

The tournament, which will start with a shotgun start each day at 9 a.m., would also like to remind all players to please follow all current coronavirus guidelines, which includes Gov. Bullock’s mask mandate. Masks must be worn inside the Prairie Farms Clubhouse. Players are reminded that check-in for the tourney begins at 8 a.m. each day.

Last week in local golf, Jeremy and his dad Jeff shared low-gross honors in Tuesday night men’s league, each shooting even-par 36. Mark Larson was low net at 30.5, while Hole 19 was high team with 24 points. Mike Purkett, Fladager, Larson and Tanner Veis made up the team. Last Wednesday saw Kyle Miller shoot 36 for low gross, while Kerry Ward and Barry Zanto were low net, each with a 33. HUB Insurance was high team with 23 points. The squad was made up of Murray Hurlburt, Steve Mariani, Chad Edgar and Eric Wilting.

No other league results were reported this past week.

Prairie Farms Golf League Standings

Tuesday Night Men

Wagner Plumbing 179

Hole 19 176

Tire Rama 175.5

Myers Ranch 175

BA Ranch 168

Rock Solid 156

Stockman Bank 154

Patrick Construction 153

Cowan & Son 146,.5

Tilleman Motors 137

Wednesday Night Men

HUB Insurance 180

Valley Furniture 175.5

DA Davidson 166

Korb Construction 165

BPCU 161.5

Michelob Light 160

Master Sports 152.5

Independence Bank 152.5

Havre Ford 147

 

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