Dean Spiros: Retirement present, in parts

Some guys have all the luck. What else can you say about someone who, after 35 years, is retiring from the golf course?

Mankato West boys' golf coach Dean Brudwick, closing in on his 70th birthday, can't even claim he's saying goodbye to spend more time with his grandkids. Brudwick has eight of them, and they're already a part of his everyday life.

I'm guessing he can hit a 1-iron, too.

Saturday offered more rewards for Brudwick as his Scarlets captured the team title in the Tri-State Invitational at the University of Minnesota's Bolstad Golf Course. The victory sends a message that Mankato West is in the mix for the Class 2A state championship.

Defending 2A champion Minnetonka, Edina, Eden Prairie, Forest Lake and Chaska were part of the 24-team field. All are expected to make strong runs at a state tournament berth.

"It's going to help [come tournament time] that we can compete with those teams,'' Brudwick said.

Eden Prairie posted a score of 613, which would have been good for second place, but a three-shot penalty dropped the Eagles to third behind Detroit Lakes. It was determined after the end of play that an Eden Prairie player did not follow the right procedure after realizing he had played the wrong ball.

Elk River's Tim Peterzen won individual honors with a two-day total of 144. Peterzen's Saturday round of 1-under-par 70 was the only subpar round of the tournament.

Friday's opening round was played in miserable conditions, with a cold rain and high winds calling on a player's mental toughness, more than his physical ability, to carry the day. Mankato West finished with a three-shot lead over Forest Lake.

"As a coach I was thinking you would be lucky to get 310 with the conditions we had on Friday,'' Brudwick said. "And here's four teams under 310. Fortunately we were the lowest one [303].''

The Scarlets finished 6 strokes higher on Saturday, which was enough for a two-shot victory. Senior Toby Robinson led the way for Mankato West, shooting 71-76 to finish second in individual honors.

"There were a lot of good teams here, but we're not going to jump ahead and say this is the way it's going to be in the state tournament,'' Robinson said. "But we showed we are a cause to be reckoned with. We have five seniors on our team, so this is the climax for us. Sections will be our big meet and then we'll see what happens after that.''

The Scarlets have won two state titles under Brudwick to go with two second-place finishes and two third-place showings. They have reached the state tournament each of the past two seasons. As for the possibility of winning a third championship in his final season, Brudwick said, "That would be cool.''

"The biggest thing is I didn't want to leave the well dry,'' Brudwick said. "There are four good juniors coming up, so whoever takes over will have something to work with to start out. And I have seven freshmen I have been working with this year.''

Soon he'll be resigned to having to focus on his own game, the poor soul.

"We have a group that always plays early in the spring,'' Brudwick said. "I haven't been able to join them until June.''

dspiros@startribune.com