{"id":106337,"date":"2025-08-24T10:20:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T10:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/106337\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T10:20:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T10:20:08","slug":"beer-rose-creek-is-no-pushover-so-far-at-bobcat-north-dakota-open-inforum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/106337\/","title":{"rendered":"Beer: Rose Creek is no pushover so far at Bobcat North Dakota Open – InForum"},"content":{"rendered":"

FARGO \u2014 Have no fear, the course record at Rose Creek Golf Course remains intact after two rounds of the Bobcat North Dakota Open.<\/p>\n

The south Fargo public course has held its own against the young professionals on the Dakotas Tour.<\/p>\n

Wait, doesn\u2019t Rose Creek have a couple of bunt par-4s and some par-3s that are easy wedges? What is the name of municipal golf is going on? These guys are pros!<\/p>\n

Course professional Matt Cook heard the same question. How can his course contain these guys?<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as the difficulty, I kind of went at it, I honestly didn\u2019t care,\u201d Cook said during Saturday\u2019s second round. \u201cI thought, \u201cWhat if someone does shoot 59?\u2019 We might have a few people out here wanting to watch that.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the Bobcat, the course is tipped out to its maximum yardage of 6,623 yards, a far cry from the 5,825 Joe Weekender plays from the whites all summer. Plus, they haven\u2019t mowed the rough in a week and green speeds are up.<\/p>\n

Then when you add wind and cooler temperatures, Rose so far has come out smelling like one.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s cut was 4-under par for the professionals. At the longtime host Fargo Country Club last year, the cut was 2-under. Tournament director Mark Johnson said that’s very comparable.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd some of those amateur scores, they\u2019re every bit as high as we saw before, so the golf course has held up really well,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

\"082525.S.FF.BobcatOpen\"<\/p>\n

Josh McCollum hits out of a bunker during the Bobcat Open on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, at Rose Creek Golf Course in south Fargo.<\/p>\n

David Samson \/ The Forum<\/p>\n

Through two rounds, Henry May, Cody Banach and leader Angus Flanagan each have shot 30 so far on the course\u2019s back nine, a number that would easily put the course record of 62 within reach. But so far, the black-tee record shared by two former Fargo South players and current professionals Tom Hoge and Jack Elliott is safe.<\/p>\n

Barely.<\/p>\n

Banach fired Saturday\u2019s low round of 63, matching Flanagan\u2019s score on Friday.<\/p>\n

Former North Dakota State golfer Nate Deziel, who finished tied for 11th last year as a professional in the Bobcat, has played Rose about 10 times. He’s definitely noticed a change in the tournament setup.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely, 100 percent,\u201d said Deziel, who shot his course-best 65 on Saturday and briefly held the lead before the afternoon wave of players went out. \u201cThey\u2019ve really outgrown the rough, so it really makes it key to hit fairways in certain spots and then therefore just to hit greens. If you\u2019re not hitting the greens, there\u2019s going to be some dicey lies that you may get.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flanagan, who shot 65 on Saturday, is 12-under for the tournament and leads Andrew McCain by three shots. Deziel and Eric Lilleboe are four back at 8-under. The final round is Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey did a great job of making it fair but also yet challenging at the same time,\u201d Deziel said. \u201cThe wind really plays a factor out here, but other than that, a really well put-together round out here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"082525.S.FF.BobcatOpen\"<\/p>\n

Will Grevlos putts during the Bobcat Open on Saturday, August 23, 2025, at Rose Creek Golf Course in south Fargo.<\/p>\n

David Samson \/ The Forum<\/p>\n

So true greens, penal rough and a splash of Mother Nature has been the right recipe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a few of the golf professionals comment, this is every bit of the test that they wanted,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

Consider it passed. After splitting with Fargo Country Club, Johnson said many area courses were on the table, even Moorhead Country Club, which he said years ago hosted part of the North Dakota Open.<\/p>\n

For Cook, the tournament has been a great way to show off his course. So what about 2026? Johnson said there\u2019s yet to be serious discussion with the sponsors about next year\u2019s venue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven’t talked,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI think between Bobcat and the Village (Family Service Center) and Fargo Parks, we’ll kind of have a wrap-up meeting and just kind of ask, \u2018Is everybody happy?\u2019 Every indication would indicate, \u2018Yeah, we are happy.\u2019 But I think until we get a chance to sit down and visit and just make sure everybody’s boxes are getting checked for all the parties involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"082525.S.FF.BobcatOpen\"<\/p>\n

Tony Albano Jr. tees off on the 17th hole during the Bobcat Open on Saturday, August 23, 2025, at Rose Creek Golf Course in south Fargo.<\/p>\n

David Samson \/ The Forum<\/p>\n

Cook said he\u2019d look forward to hosting again. Plus no one has made a mockery of the course so far and birdies are fun, right?<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a tournament administrator, I’d love to be back next year, but we’ll see next year,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI thought it worked really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professionals who made cut<\/p>\n

Angus Flanagan (63-65) 128; Andrew McCain (66-65) 131; Nate Deziel (67-65) 132; Eric Lilleboe (64-68) 132; Charles Merzbacher (67-66) 133; Parker Holekamp (68-65) 133; Evan Myers (67-66) 133; Henry May (65-69) 134; Jeff Sorenson (67-67) 134; Cody Banach (72-63) 135; Tim Nielsen (70-65) 135; Josh McCollum (67-68) 135; Gentry Scheve (64-72) 136; Davis Cooper (68-68) 136; Chris Gilman (68-68) 136; Tony Albano Jr. (67-69) 136; Will Grevlos (66-70) 136; Austin Vukovits (64-72) 136.<\/p>\n

\"082525.S.FF.BobcatOpen\"<\/p>\n

Angus Flanagan hits an approach shot during the Bobcat Open on Saturday, August 23, 2025, at Rose Creek Golf Course in south Fargo.<\/p>\n

David Samson \/ The Forum<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FARGO \u2014 Have no fear, the course record at Rose Creek Golf Course remains intact after two rounds…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[70431,70435,70432,427,70433,27473,99,70434],"class_list":["post-106337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-2025-nd-open-golf","tag-bobcat-north-dakota-open","tag-fargo-sports","tag-golf","tag-north-dakota-open-golf","tag-rose-creek-golf-course","tag-sports","tag-the-forum-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}