Gunnar Broin of Minnetonka High School was near-perfect on the greens – hitting 17 of 18 in his round – to take the win at the Minnesota Senior Showcase on June 9, 2020 at Bunker Hills Golf Course with a 5-under par 67.

“I played really well. Front nine got it going a little late, made a birdie and an eagle on 5 and 6, which kind of boosted me in, and then made another [birdie] on 8. I was hitting my driver really well all day, just had one miss hit on 15 but ended up saving par.” Gunnar said of his round Tuesday.

Broin recounted his Eagle on 6, which helped him secure his dominance of the event. “I crushed the tee shot, had an 8 iron from 184, hit to about 5 feet, and was a dead straight putt. It really kind of boosted me there. I really took that momentum and I don’t think I missed a green after that.”

Momentum was needed as it began to steadily rain throughout the afternoon of the event after being a hot and humid morning. All groups were still able to finish through the rain as there was fortunately no lightning in the area.

“I played with Ben [Warian] and Gordon [Skaar]. I didn’t know Gordon but I know Ben, I’ve been playing with him the past 10 years since juniors, so it was good to know someone in my group. He kind of put my mind off the round and that helped me so much, helped me not think about it too much.”

With the loss of the spring sports season, including both girls and boys golf in Minnesota, the Minnesota Section PGA and Minnesota PGA Junior Golf wanted to do something for the high school seniors who would ultimately miss out on their last season.

When Bunker Hills Golf Course said they were still holding the dates of the State Tournament, which has played the AAA Championship at Bunker Hills for the last several years, was still available, the Section knew what they had to do.

“Our hearts broke when we heard the Minnesota State High School League cancelled the season, but we completely understood why it needed to happen. We wanted to give these seniors a chance to have some semblance of a final senior year, and we saw this as the perfect opportunity to take that step.” Junior Golf Director Karla Hagen said of the event process. “Our Junior Golf Committee got on a virtual call and hammered out the details, and about a week later we opened the event for registration.”

“It was a lot of fun, without having a season. It was at least something good to have, because it obviously wasn’t easy not having your senior season.” Cole Nasby of Edina High School said of the event. “With Edina being the defending champs, I really wanted another shot at it, but it was still fun to have this as one final tournament.” Nasby finished at 3-under par 69 to take 2nd place in the event. That seemed to be the sentiment of several Seniors, as the boy’s event’s 114 spots filled up in under two weeks, with dozens on the waiting list.

“It was the last one, so it means a lot for me to have all this pressure and then come out and actually perform. And for being at Bunker Hills, [it] means a lot with the State Tournament here and although I wish this could have been the State Tournament, I pretty much acted like it was.”

Broin will be playing golf in the fall at Colorado State. “I can not wait, I wish I could go right now. I’m so excited.”

The girl’s Minnesota Senior Showcase will take place tomorrow, June 10, at Bunker Hills Golf Course. Tee times will start at 7:30 AM.