Rogers, Wayzata each take home boys' crown

The celebration from the boys' golf teams representing Rogers and Wayzata was muted Wednesday in Coon Rapids.

In a rather anticlimactic finish, when the Class 3A tournament was all said and done the two tied for the team championship with four-player, 36-hole scores of 592 at Bunker Hills.

Amid a packed crowd scouring over the leaderboard, someone remarked it was "half a championship."

There are no tiebreakers at the state golf tournament, meaning while true on the surface that statement is false.

Both are champions.

"Both can say they are state champions and most importantly 12 kids can say they are state champions," Wayzata coach Allan Christopherson said. "The finish was more than a person wants to handle, but it's what we anticipated. Down to the last shot."

Each team, as it turns out, had a chance to win on the final hole with their best players.

Instead, a tie would have to do, the first among the state's largest schools since Bloomington Lincoln and Virginia split the Class 2A crown in 1976.

In a show of class, Christopherson gave the championship trophy to Rogers coach Dan Bursheim to take Wednesday. A second trophy will be ordered for the Trojans, who became the first big school to win three consecutive championships since Bemidji won four in a row from 1988-91.

"That was pretty cool," Bursheim said, clutching the trophy. "Big thanks to them."

Kelly hangs on Buege's miss for par on the final hole gave Forest Lake's Max Kelly the boys' individual championship outright.

He finished the tournament at 1-under-par 143 nearly two hours before Buege wrapped up his round. Kelly, a sophomore, was perched on a nearby hill as the team leaders came down the final hole.

Kelly birdied the first hole before a three-putt bogey on No. 3. He then made a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 seventh hole, but followed that up with a double bogey on the eighth. He settled down from there with 10 consecutive pars, just enough for the championship.

It's the second victory for the Kelly family. Betsy Kelly was the 2009 Class 3A girls' champion.

"She just told me to have fun with it," Max said. "She won hers as a junior, so I guess I have a chance to get her on that one."

Girls: Wayzata, another tie Wayzata's girls' team made a sweep for the Trojans with its 661 total in the girls' tournament. The total was seven shots better than runner-up Stillwater.

"It means so much to win a first state championship ... for the girls," said Sarah Burnham, who shot a 75 on Wednesday to get up to fifth place overall. "Something to talk about with the guys now."

Keunster, a freshman, shot a 2-under-par 35 on the back nine Wednesday to put herself in contention. Deeg, a junior playing in the day's final group, shot a 2-under-par 71 but didn't realize her spot until she reached the scorer's table.