FARGO — The history of the Red River Amateur golf tournament is well documented on the
, although Andy Doeden is just as good of a resource. He remembers the days of former sportscaster Jim Adelson being the energy behind it.
He remembers Jason Lamp in 1990 sinking a 40-foot putt late in the final round that eventually won him the title. This weekend, if things go perfectly, he could be the answer to another trivia question: Who had the biggest gap between tournament championships?
Doeden won in 2001. He also turned pro a few years later and that’s more the story of his return to the event that starts Friday at the Moorhead Country Club than anything else.
He’s back.
It’s been about 15 years since the 46-year-old has teed it up in a tourney like this.
“To truly see where my game is at,” he said. “You’re exposed under pressure so it’s a little different than playing once a week or once every other week. I just love to compete and be around others. I’m at a stage now where I’ve learned some things on what to do and what not to do and share some of that with others.”
He was 27 years old when he put professional golf behind him, taking a job in the private sector in Fort Worth, Texas. He has since returned to Fargo and is currently with Bell Insurance.
“I just had different priorities over the last 15 years,” Doeden said.
Priority A is his family, which consists of his wife, Katie, and their children: Claire, 17; Graham, 14; Charlie, 12, and Jack, 9. This weekend will be more than just Andy on the course.
Graham is one of 130 players in the men’s field, including many top college or recent ex-college players in the Upper Midwest. Charlie will be caddying for his dad, Katie will be doing the same for Graham and Claire is caddying for a friend.
The tourney will be televised by WDAY from noon-5 p.m. and all three days and can be seen on WDAY Xtra or the WDAY-Plus app. It’s an event that began in 1964 as the KX Amateur behind Adelson, who Doeden remembers well in his days as a young golfer.
The on-course cameras won’t be anything new to him. He played in a couple of U.S. Amateur tourneys and a few events on the Nationwide Tour that were televised.
Doeden turned pro in 2002 after four years at TCU. He spent all of 2004 on the Nationwide, at the time the second-best level below the PGA Tour. He won twice on the Tight Lies Tour.
He obtained his card for the Canadian Professional Golf Tour in 2006, finishing in the top 20 in the tour’s qualifying school.
But Doeden halted his pro career in 2007, saying golf wasn’t fun anymore.
It is now. He has a goal of playing in another USGA event. He and Graham played in a two-person event at Headwaters Golf Club near Park Rapids, Minnesota, a couple of weeks ago.
“There are all kinds of thoughts that run through your mind as you prepare for a three-day tournament,” Andy said. “It’s excitement. It’s doubt. What swing am I going to bring to the course? You show up, you see what you have and you adjust.”
The immediate goal is to make the cut on Friday, with the field reduced to 90 players.
Doeden won’t be the only former pro in the Red River Am: South Dakota State head men’s golf coach Parker Edens won six events including two on the Dakotas Tour. Edens competed on minor tours for four years before calling it quits in 2018 and getting into college coaching.
Andy tees off at 9:16 a.m. Friday with North Dakota State assistant coach Ian Simonich and Kolby Koerner, who just graduated from Grand Forks Red River and was named North Dakota’s Mr. Golf.
Doeden has reconnected with the college scene in a sense hosting an FCA study for Bison players. He’s played and practiced with them.
“I just enjoyed that stage of life because I had great people in my life at that stage who helped me on and off the golf course,” Doeden said. “For me it’s about giving back this weekend, being around younger talent and encouraging others and competing.”
Jeff Kolpack, the son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he’s covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995. He has covered all 10 of NDSU’s Division I FCS national football titles and has written four books: “Horns Up,” “North Dakota Tough,” “Covid Kids” and “They Caught Them Sleeping: How Dot Reinvented the Pretzel.” He is also the radio host of “The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack” April through August.