88th Northwest Amateur: Manske pulls it off

(Photo by Michael Fischer) Nineteen-year-old Josh Manske of Algona celebrates after saving par on the 15th hole on Sunday, August 2, 2009, during the 88th annual Northwest Amateur Golf Tournament at Spencer Golf and Country Club. Manske fired a 14-under-par 274 to become the youngest winner in tournament history. [Click to enlarge]

A Manske has finally won the Northwest Amateur -- though it may not have been the one regular tournament followers would have expected.

Algona's Josh Manske, the 19-year-old son of perennial contender Bill Manske, followed up Friday's 8-under-par round playing 4-under in his final two rounds Sunday, winning the 88th Northwest Amateur Golf Tournament by two strokes.

The lefty who plays for Grand View University in Des Moines, shot 69 in his third round and 1-under-par 71 in his final round.

"It's so surreal right now, I can't believe I actually won the Northwest Amateur. I'm still in shock. It's quite the honor," Manske said. "My nerves were definitely going the first round. When I got through that one, I thought if I just kept in my process, I'll be fine."

Manske's win makes him the youngest winner of one of Iowa's most prestigious tournaments. Mark Anderson, the 2003 champion from Sioux Falls, was 20 when he won.

"It's pretty nice to be the youngest. I think I played in this when I was 13 the first time. I always liked coming to this golf course, I always liked playing here. When I was 13, 14, it was nice if I just made the cut. Then I started making the championship cut, but this is the first year I really contended for the tournament," Manske commented.

Following the tournament, Bill and Josh Manske presented Tournament Director Bob Rose and his wife, Kayleen, with an honorary golf bag with the words "Captain Jonee" on the side. The Manskes dedicated the 2009 Northwest Amateur to Bob's and Kayleen's daughter, Jonee, making her the captain of "Team Manske." Jonee passed away a few years ago after a battle with breast cancer.

(Photo by Michael Fischer) Ryan Peterson of Eagan, Minn., blasts out of a sandtrap on the sixth hole Sunday, August 2, 2009, during the Championship Flight of the 88th Northwest Amateur in Spencer. Peterson finished the tournament tied for second at 12-under-par.

Manske held a one-stroke lead entering the final 18 of the 72-hole tournament, sitting at 13-under-par. Ryan Peterson of Eagan, Minn., was a 12-under; former UNI golfer Marc Cahalan was at 10-under. The duo ended up tied for second at -12.

After four straight years of playoffs and wire-to-wire finishes, Manske was the clear cut man to beat in 2009. The only back-and-forth the gallery saw this year was the size of Manske's lead, flip-flopping from slim to large throughout the final round.

The size of the lead all depended upon Manske's play.

The teenager knocked down back-to-back birdie putts on his first two holes, looking like he would give little chance to top contenders Peterson, Cahalan and 2007 champion Tom Carlson, who was playing one group ahead.

Tree trouble was the only thing to slow Manske down. After hitting his drive directly under a pine three on the third, Manske three-putted for a double bogey, but still held a one-stroke lead over Peterson and Cahalan, who birdied the third.

(Photo by Michael Fischer) Marc Cahalan (left) of Cedar Falls, and Ryan Peterson of Eagan, Minn., are lost in thought as the 88th Northwest Amateur winds down on Sunday, August 2, 2009 in Spencer. Cahalan and Peterson both finished with a 12-under-par 276, two shots behind champion Josh Manske. [Click to enlarge]

"I wasn't going to look at the leaderboard, I didn't want to know where I was. Then you get a lead and think you can waste some strokes," Manske said. "There was a point where I knew it was really close, but I started kind of grinding there."

Manske trailed Cahalan briefly after consecutive bogeys on five and six, but a bogey for a Cahalan at the seventh and Manske's birdie putt at the eighth gave the Algona native a one-stroke lead at the turn.

Manske did his part to distance himself early on the back-nine, dropping a 20-foot eagle putt on the par-5 11th and nailing a nine-foot birdie on the 12th. His lead grew to as big as four strokes with a birdie on the 17th, which made a shot in the water and double bogey at the 18th a moot point.

"It's not the glossy ending I wanted, but a it's a win," Manske commented. "Eleven was a huge turning point. I got the lead and was able to birdie the next hole."

"This tournament was all about taking one shot at a time for me. I had to keep my focus on each shot at hand," Manske added. "Like I said to Herc (his caddie) on 18, 'Let's just get the job done. We've got a four-shot cushion, but let's just get it done'. Even if something stupid happens, which it did, you have to be able to grind it out."

Cahalan, a 28-year-old Mason City native who recently became a father for the first time, was the only man other than Manske to hold the lead Sunday. The birdies he and Peterson needed to make a serious run at the lead simply weren't there.

"I played well. That's my game -- if I don't play well, it's usually the putter not rolling 'em in," Peterson said. "Hats off to Josh, he played well. I tried catching him, he just kept making birdies and the eagle on 11. There wasn't much I could do."

"My first three rounds last year I was 9-under, and I improved that by three strokes, so that's saying something. I played well, it's just all a matter of if the putts fall."

The entire back-nine ended up being a championship walk for Manske, who went mostly unchallenged after his birdie at eight and the subsequent eagle at 11. Nobody in the final two pairings shot in the 60s in the final round after combining to shoot under 70 14 times through the first 54 holes.

Peterson, a 20-year-old who plays at Colorado State, jumped between 11- and 12-under, scoring two birdies and two bogeys. Like Manske, Peterson dedicated the tournament, playing for his late grandfather.

"I will be back. I was really hoping I could win this year because my grandpa passed away a week ago and I had his initials on my golf ball all week. I was disappointed I didn't win it for him, but he got to see me play," Peterson said.

Former University of Northern Iowa golfer Marc Cahalan of Cedar Falls watches a drive during the final round of the 88th annual Northwest Amateur Golf Tournament on Sunday, August 2, 2009, in Spencer. The 28-year-old Cahalan finished at 12-under par, two strokes behind winner Josh Manske and tied for second place with Colorado State golfer Ryan Peterson, a 20-year-old from Eagan, Minn. [Click to enlarge]

Cahalan -- who has barely played 10 rounds of golf this summer -- also went as low at 12-under three different times. Consecutive birdies on the second and third put him one stroke behind Manske. Another birdie at 14 put him three strokes off Manske's 15-under pace. Cahalan finished with four birdies and two bogeys, shooting the second lowest score of the final round -- Carroll's Kirby Pettitt, who finished tied for 10th, was the only player to shoot in the 60s in his final round. He shot 68.

Carlson, who finished fourth at 9-under-par, played the most consistent of anyone in the final two pairings, carding just one bogey over the final 18. He had two birdies, coming as close as two strokes off the lead after Cahalan's bogey on the seventh produced a three-way tie at the top with Manske and Peterson.

Ben Juffer, a first-time Northwest Am competitor from West Des Moines, placed fifth at 6-under. Perennial contender J.D. Anderson, also of West Des Moines, was sixth at 5-under. Hartley native Jon Burns, Brett Taylor of Council Bluffs and Ayron Corporon of Sioux City tied for seventh at 4-under par. Sioux Falls' Ross Menke and Estherville's Andy Soper rounded out the top 10 at 3-under.

A two-time champion in the 1980s, Jim Currell of Boone won the Seniors I division with a 1-over-par 217. Thomas Sandie of Urbandale won the Seniors II division with a 10-over-par 226.

88th annual Northwest Amateur Golf Tournament

Championship Flight Final Standings

To view complete results of the 88th Northwest Amateur, visit www.nwamspencer.com/update.asp and click on "View All" under 2009 Final Round Scores.