Gearing up for the City Open

Tradition and its dynamics make the Owatonna City Open a local treasure.

“I think the uniqueness is that you add a public facility and a private facility in one event,” said Owatonna Country Club (OCC) General Manager Dan Jacott. “There’s a lot of people that play at Brooktree all the time that really enjoy the fact that they can come over and play at the Country Club…We have a lot of members here at the Club that play Brooktree quite often.”

Golfers must have a connection to town. The event is open to Owatonna School District residents, graduates of Owatonna High School (OHS), and members of either club. The Open starts at OCC on Saturday, Aug. 5, and concludes at Brooktree on Sunday, Aug. 6. The deadline to sign up is Aug. 2. Check with either club to register.

Jacott says participation is trending upward.

“There were some unbelievable spurts with golf during the COVID-19 pandemic. So, I’d say our numbers spiked up a little bit, which is a great thing. Our membership numbers are the highest they’ve been in over 50 years. Overall, golf is good,” said Jacott.

OCC Head Golf Professional Jon Vee and Owatonna Golf Supervisor Kurt Stangler are co-directors for the tournament. Vee says information on each golfer with their handicap is entered into software that helps create an even field.

“Your flights are typically pretty tight in the same ability levels, really close. Just a stroke or two of handicap between each player. They’re competing against players of very similar abilities. The championship flight has typically had a nice turnout with over 20 players. Those are the best golfers in the city that are available to play,” said Vee.

The leaderboard is frequently close heading into the final holes.

“I think it also adds to the fact that it’s at two different facilities,” says Jacott. “I think when you have a club championship at a course where people play over and over, you kind of see the same people rising up to the top. Because there is such a variety of people playing in it because you’re involving two facilities, you don’t see that one person dominating.”

“It’s nice to have a 36-hole stroke play competition. And what makes it unique is it’s hosted at two different facilities. Especially, a town of this size that has two very nice golf courses…You get a nice mixture of venues,” added Vee.

“It’s an event that’s been around for a lot of years. And it’s an Owatonna pride thing,” said Jacott.

Strong youth numbers

This year’s Junior Open is Aug. 10-11 at Havana Hills.

“We’ve worked really hard to gather as many youth athletes as we can to get them interested. Because it’s so sad when I get a player who’s a junior or a senior, and they’re like, I wish I would have gone out earlier,” said Havana Hills course owner and head OHS boys’ coach Mark Langlois in an interview with Owatonna Live Business Talk.

“We just want to give kids the opportunities. We’ll have clinics that are out here at Havana Hills. We’ve got camps at OCC. There’s Youth on Course you can play at Brooktree. Just a lot of really great access for juniors that want to compete and those that just want to play.”

Local winners

Several Owatonna youth golfers won their age division at the drive, chip, and putt tournament in late June at the Rochester Golf and Country Club. Max Langlois, Mackenzie Eyeberg, Ava Hager, and Bo Standke took first place. Danica Hager was second and Carmen Jirele took third place.

All qualify to play in the sub-regional at Eagle Valley Golf Course in Woodbury in early August. The top finishers advance to the regional in Colorado in September.