Article by: Rick Pledl
The Wisconsin PGA Junior Championship was decided Thursday by some big time fireworks on the 18th hole.
Sebastian Kasun of Elm Grove and Jessica Guiser of Hartland won the their respective divisions at the event, which is annually the biggest junior golf tournament in the state of Wisconsin. But the way they went about winning could not have been more different.
The 17-year-old Kasun authored the sort of finish that few golfers even dare to dream about, when he recorded back-to-back eagles for the win.
Kasun made his first eagle on the par-5 18th hole at Brown Deer Park GC in regulation to draw even with the tournament leader, forcing a sudden-death playoff.
But it lasted just one hole. Incredibly, Kasun eagled No. 18 a second time several minutes later to win the title.
The WPGA Junior Championship was held at two Milwaukee County golf courses this week.
Aiden Cudney of Appleton held the first-round lead in the overall boys competition after shooting 67 on Wednesday at Dretzka Park, while Kasun opened with a 71. On Thursday, Kasun shot 67 at Brown Deer to Cudney’s 71.
Kasun drew close Thursday when Cudney stumbled at the start of the back nine with three straight bogeys on Nos. 10-12. Cudney made six straight pars on the way in from there.
Meantime, Kasun went birdie-bogey-eagle on his final three holes to draw even with the leader at 5-under-par 138.
Kasun, who admitted he struggled with his putter in the final round, thought he lost his chance at the title with that three-putt bogey on 17, but at two strokes back he knew he still had an outside chance.
That chance came to fruition with an eagle on 18, but Kasun had to hit a couple of terrific shots.
After blocking his drive right into the trees on 18, Kasun’s ball ended up about 190 yards from the hole with some wood in front of him. So he chose 9-iron and “tried to hit it as hard as I could,” he said.
The ball rolled to the back edge of the green some 30 feet away from the hole, but Kasun made the tricky downhiller, right to left.
“I just tried to pick a line and match up the speed, and I ended up making it,” Kasun said.
Kasun admitted he was “amped up,” after making that putt, and he showed it on his tee shot in the playoff, which was deep down the right side of the fairway, leaving only about 140 yards to the hole, downwind. He hit pitching wedge from there to about 12 feet, pin-high, and moments later he made the winning eagle putt, which somewhat magically went in. “I was just trying to two-putt (for the win),” Kasun said. “I was just trying to lag it up there, and it went in.”
Noah Kirsch of Lancaster finished third overall among boys, shooting scores of 70-70–140. Charlie Erlandson of Madison finished in fourth place (71-70–141). There was less drama on the girl’s side of the draw, where Guiser, 16, earned a four-stroke victory over Norah Roberts of Racine.
Both Guiser and Roberts shot 74 at Brown Deer on Wednesday, but Guiser pulled away in the second round with a 2-under 70 on Thursday at Dretzka. It was a tidy round for the overall girls champion featuring three birdies and a single bogey. “Today, I made a couple good putts and hit some good shots, but I left a few out there,” Guiser said.
Payton Haugen of Brookfield finished in third place with scores of 75-74–149 and her sister Madison Haugen finished fourth after shooting 75-76–151. (Click here for complete scores, including age-division winners.)
Both Kasun and Guiser also earned return trips to the prestigious PGA Junior Championship, a national event scheduled for Aug. 2-5 at Cog Hill G&CC in Lemont, Ill. They both also made the field last year. “I’m really excited to go back,” Guiser said. “It’s a really good tournament with a lot of really competitive players, and it’s always at a challenging golf course.”
All girls in the WPGA Junior Championship field and the Boys 13-15 age division played par-71 Brown Deer Park GC on Wednesday and par-72 Dretzka Park GC on Thursday. Players in the Boys 16-18 division played Dretzka first and Brown Deer second.
A separate WPGA Junior Championship for players 12 and under will be held on Aug. 16 at Delbrook GC in Delavan.
The WPGA Junior Championship is the biggest junior golf tournament in Wisconsin every season, and this year marked 10 years since the event was moved from Madison to Milwaukee.
More than 340 junior players signed-up for the 2022 event, the most since that move to Milwaukee 10 years ago.
Russ Darrow Automotive is the presenting sponsor for the Wisconsin PGA Junior Championship.
