CCC Invite goes into overtime

Hermantown's Taylor Sundbom won his third Cloquet Country Club Invitational Sunday, coming from three strokes off the lead to tie Matt Mellin of Duluth and force extra holes.

With both players tied at 216 after three days of play, Sundbom birdied the first playoff hole to capture his third title in the past five years.

Sundbom entered the final day trailing Mellin but quickly tied him on the fifth hole with a birdie while Mellin parred. It came after Sundbom parred the first hole while Mellin bogeyed, to cut the lead down to two strokes. Sundbom cut the margin again on the fourth hole when he sank a birdie from off the fringe.

Sundbom gave three shots back on the par-5 sixth hole and the par-3 seventh hole, but continued to chip away when the opportunity arose.

"I had a couple of bad shots on the sixth which wasn't a good hole, then my tee shot on six was right so it made it tough to save par," Sundbom said.

Sundbom played in the final foursome with Mellin, 2012 champion Dan Moline, and 14-time runner up John Sheff. But most of the day it was just a two-player race.

"I drove the ball better than I had all weekend, but I struggled around the greens which made it tough to stay with those two," Moline said.

Sheff - who was seeking his first championship - never found his putting stroke. He had several putts throughout the day that would skirt the edge of the hole and he just never got a break.

Sundbom made the most of his opportunities on the second nine Sunday with the biggest coming on the par-5 16th hole, when he drained an 11-foot putt for birdie while Mellin missed a 6-footer. Suddenly the two were tied heading into the final two holes.

Each had a par on hole 17, sending the pair tied to the 18th hole. With rain coming down and lightning off in the distance, the final four were eager to finish. While Sundbom put his tee shot on the green, Mellin hit his in the front bunker, which seemed to favor Sundbom.

Mellin didn't flinch. He followed with a great bunker shot and a 12-foot putt for par. Taylor had already secured his par and the two friends headed into extra holes.

"Matt is one of my best friends; we play golf almost every day together," Sunbom said. "So although it is great to win, I was also pulling for Matt as well."

An 8-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole in the playoff was all that Sundbom needed to capture his third title and join some elite names on the championship list. Others who have won the event three or more times include Reed Kolquist, Leo Spooner, Tony Battistini, Steve Stojevich, Virgil Roby, Jim Nordine and John Hobart.

"Cloquet Country Club is like my second home," he said. "I play at Ridgeview (in Duluth) almost every day, but my mom is from Cloquet, my grandparents are here and many friends and family are here to watch, so this is a very special place."

The senior championship title went to Don McKay (a 2006 champion) who edged out Larry Cole. Other flight winners included Chris Sundbom in the Presidents Flight, plus 1989 champion Joel Newby in the first flight and Cameron Thompson in the second flight.

Wilson Sims won the third flight and John Lund was the fourth flight winner. Tom Brenner won the fifth flight, Tim McCall won the sixth, and Jerry Wolk was the seventh flight winner.

The 88th annual tournament had the most golfers participating in its long history.