Minnesota Golf Association

May 8, 2023
By Nick Hunter

BYRON, Minn. – Less than a week after qualifying for his first NCAA Division I Regional Championship, University of Minnesota junior Ben Warian battled back from a double-bogey on his opening hole Monday at Somerby Golf Club, posting a 5-under 67 to earn medalist honors at U.S. Open Local Qualifying for a second straight season. “Obviously had a little bit of adversity at the start, but I have been playing well coming in and knew I had plenty of holes left,” Warian said following his round Monday. “It was more about creating opportunities and staying patient. You never know what can happen, and I luckily got hot at a good time.” Warian countered his disappointing start by carding seven birdies over his final 17 holes, including five birdies during his back nine. “I struck it well today and hit a lot of good iron shots. I was able to convert a lot of putts inside of 10 feet, which was kind of the deciding factor,” he said. Warian now moves on to final qualifying for the national championship next month, and will be joined by University of St. Thomas golfer Will Frazier, as well as professionals Brady Madsen and Emmet Herb. “I feel like my game is in a really good spot right now,” Warian said. “I’m making a lot of good, committed golf swings on the course lately. There hasn’t been a lot of indecisiveness or doubt.” Starting his round at the 10th Monday, Warian sailed his second shot into the water, but quickly answered with a pair of birdies over his next four holes. Moving into red figures with a birdie at the first, Warian would birdie four of his next five holes to jump up the leaderboard and finish with medalist honors following his round of 5-under 67. Warian, a Stillwater, Minn., native, notched the best finish of his Gopher career this spring and thanks to a fifth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships last month, the Hill-Murray standout earned the No. 2 individual seed at the Bath Regional in Michigan May 15-17. “I’m driving the ball better and putting better, but mentally my game is better as well,” he said. “Looking forward to regionals and I hope to take care of business there, but I’m really going to lean on the experience last year. I’m going to put in the work to get ready and give it 100 percent.” Frazier, who transferred from South Dakota State University to St. Thomas for his junior year, also heated up during his back nine Monday, carding four birdies over his final eight holes to finish one back of Warian at 4-under 68. “I was hitting my driver really well, and when I’m doing that, I feel like good things can happen,” Frazier said Monday. “I’ve been playing well all spring, but I haven’t been putting well, so to see some putts go in was really fun.” Even through 10 holes, Frazier capitalized on his birdie chance at the 11th and would then move to 3-under for the round with back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th. He finished his day by sinking a 15-footer for birdie at the par-3 17th to earn his ticket to final qualifying for the second consecutive season. “[Advancing] last year was a great learning experience,” he said. “My game revolves around my driver—if I’m hitting it straight, I normally play pretty well. Just making sure that’s ready when I show up.” Opposite his counterparts Monday, Madsen started strong with three birdies during his front nine before stumbling mid-round. Rolling in his birdie chance at his 16th hole put Madsen into a share of third at 3-under 69 to advance to the next round of qualifying in his first attempt. “I played really solid my first nine holes—started with a 10-foot par putt—but got it rolling for a while,” Madsen said. “I struggled a little bit on the par-5s on the back, but my putter was pretty good today. I hit my driver as poor as I have in a long time, but was able to miss in the right spots and gave myself birdie looks with my wedges. “You’re one good day away from qualifying for the U.S. Open,” Madsen said looking forward to the next stage. “Obviously, you have to play really well, but I know some people who’ve played in U.S. Opens, so I know it’s possible. It’s just a matter of putting your head down and working hard until sectionals.” Madsen played his first three seasons of collegiate golf at Winona State University before winning the 2019 Minnesota State Open at Rush Creek Golf Club. He then transferred to Florida Gulf Coast University for his final two college seasons. After graduating last May, Madsen turned professional and moved to Arizona to fine-tune his game. He plans on playing Dakotas Tour events this season before attempting PGA Tour Q School. Herb, a former St. Thomas golfer, started strong with back-to-back birdies to begin his day, and followed it with back-to-back birdies to close out his front nine. Carding a lone bogey over his final nine holes, put Herb into a share of third with Madsen at 3-under 69. Professionals Alex Kline and Ross Miller finished as first and second alternates, respectively, after both posted rounds of 2-under 70. The 2023 championship, scheduled to be played June 15-18, marks the return of the U.S. Open to the Los Angeles area in 75 years, and the first major championship since the 1995 PGA Championship, won by Steve Elkington at Riviera Country Club.

Los Angeles Country Club most recently hosted the 2017 Walker Cup, won by the Americans, 19-7, in the tournament’s second most lopsided victory for the United State since the 1993 tournament played at Interlachen Country Club.

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