FARGO — Around a year of planning to resurrect the Suite Shots Fargo-Moorhead All-City golf tournament will come to fruition this weekend. A champion will be crowned on Sunday for the first time since 2017.
It’s the result of a quest started by Village Green Golf Course assistant Randy DeBolt in Moorhead. The first two rounds in the match-play format will be at Village on Friday and Saturday and the conclusion on Sunday at Moorhead Country Club.
The last champion in ‘17 was Coy Papachek, which was the last of his three straight titles. The winner this year will be awarded the Dr. R.W. Pots Trophy, named after the first winner in 1931, as well as $700 cash prize.
“Just get it going,” DeBolt said.
The plan was to get the top four players from the eight 18-hole courses in the area for the 32-man championship flight. It didn’t quite work out that way with the tournament broken down to seven players from Village Green, six from Meadows, six from Rose Creek, five from Maple River, four from Moorhead Country Club, three from Edgewood and one from Oxbow. A pairings party Thursday night at Suite Shots in Fargo determined the matchups.
The Senior division has eight players with some notable golf accomplishments to their resume. Craig Palmer, for instance, is a former four-time All-City champion.
“We have good players in both divisions,” DeBolt said.
Papachek is one of six players to win at least three titles in the tournament history, joining Bill Kostelecky (1939, ‘40, ‘48, ‘52), Don Kirstofitz (1955, ‘59, ‘61), John Dahl (1967, ‘69, ‘73), Palmer (1976, ‘77, ‘88, ‘92) and Mike Podolak (1983, ‘84, ‘91).
DeBolt says he’s open to looking at a different weekend next year. The tourney this year worked around the Bobcat North Dakota Open, with the possibility of the All-City next year shifting prior to that, possibly in July.
Championship field
- Scott Beckman, Maple Rive
- Skyler Belgarde, Oxbow
- Jeff Bernstrom, Village Green
- Cody Card, Village Green
- Andy Carr, Maple River
- Brandon Eisenbeis, Rose Creek
- Tim Fiechtner, Village Green
- Connor Holland, Moorhead CC
- Mike Holm, Moorhead CC
- Cole Holzer, Maple River
- Nathan Kapaun, Maple River
- Mason Kennedy, Rose Creek
- Matthew Koster, Village Green
- Carter Kretchman, Village Green
- Tom Kyllo, Rose Creek
- Johann Landman, Edgewood
- Dan Matheson, Meadows
- Aaron Melby, Edgewood
- Jim Mikkelson, Village Green
- Lance Olson, Rose Creek
- Logan Palmer, Moorhead CC
- Adam Parkinson, Maple River
- Ian Powers, Rose Creek
- Jon Ronquillo, Rose Creek
- Alex Schwab, Meadows
- Andrew Seaver, Village Green
- Taylor Schuck, Moorhead C
- Jordan Siverson, Village Gree
- Alan Spriggs, Village Green
- Austin Streifel, Edgewood
- Trevor Swangler, Village Green
- Ben Welle, Meadows
Senior division
- Mark Ecklund, Village Green
- Jim Johnson, Maple River
- Bill Malone, Village Green
- Steve Murdock, Village Green
- Jay Olafson, Meadows
- Craig Palmer, Moorhead CC
- Perry Piatz, Oxbow
- Henry Prien, Rose Creek
- Daniel Ystebo, Meadows
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.