Twelve years after playing in the Minnesota state high school state golf tournament, 1999 FHS grad Sammy Schmitz is still swinging a big stick.
Schmitz fired rounds of 76, 71 and 73 to post a five-over-par, 54-hole total of 220 to win the Minnesota Mid-Amateur played at Dellwood Hills and Tanner's Brook golf clubs Sept. 12-14. He won the meet by seven strokes over co-runner-ups Blake Onnka and Steve Chesley.
Simon Schmitz, another former Tiger golfer, carried his brother's bag for all three days of the tournament.
Schmitz earned small college all-American honors at St. John's University and went on to play a year on a professional mini-tour before sitting out a season and re-gaining his amateur status.
Although the Mid-Amateur is his first outright Minnesota state title, Schmitz has ranked among the state's best amateur players for years.
In 2009 the ex-Tiger claimed the Twin Cities Championship and since then has put together nine top-five finishes in state-level tournaments. Earlier this summer he finished second in both the State Open and State Publinx tournaments.
The convincing win at the Mid-Amateur assured Schmitz of being the Minnesota Golf Association's 2011 Player of the Year.
This weekend Schmitz hopes to build on his momentum when he plays in the US Mid-Amateur Championships at Shadow Hawk Golf Club in Richmond, Texas.
