BROOKLYN PARK -- Reece Sanders had 230 yards left to the green for his second shot at the par-5 first hole at Edinburgh USA on Saturday. He hit a 7-iron over the green. 

That is a measure of two things: 1, How strong the wind was during the second round of The Preview; and 2, How strong Sanders is. 

Power comes in handy on a golf course, but a player also needs skill, and Sanders demonstrated a lot of that as he navigated his way around the daunting layout at Edinburgh in adverse conditions on the way to a 1-over-par 73. That gave the Blake junior -- and reigning state Class AA individual champion -- a 36-hole total of 141, which earned him a five-stroke victory over Minnetonka junior Ben Sigel, who also shot 73.

The 73 by Sanders and a 72 by Derek Hitchner helped Blake put together the best team score of the day -- and the tournament -- a 301. But it wasn't quite enough to lift the Bears to the top of the team standings. Minnetonka posted a 303, and claimed the crown with a two-day total of 607. Blake was second at 611, and St. Michael-Albertville third at 615. 

Edina, the 2015 champ and first-day leader, fell victim to the strong winds and demanding greens, as the Hornets shot 315. That put them fourth at 618, just ahead of defending state AAA champ Wayzata at 619.

This tournament, which used to be called The Tri-State, was started in 1991, and it featured elite teams from Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. Now it's exclusively Minnesota teams, but the field still ranks as almost certainly the strongest of the Minnesota boys high school season.

Another carry-over from the past was the weather. The Tri-State tended to have one pretty nice day and one really miserable day each year, and that was the case again this year. 

According to my semi-trusty cell phone, it was 57 degrees for most of the afternoon in Brooklyn Park. That sounds OK, but 57 degrees has never felt colder than it did on Saturday, under the gloomy skies at Edinburgh, and with 10- to 15-mile-per hour winds increasing to 15- to 20 as the afternoon wore on. It was hard on spectators -- and even worse for quite a few of the players, as Friday 73's and 74's turned into Saturday 85's and 86's. 

"The wind is tough," Edina coach Phil Ebner said, "and there are some tricky pins out there. If you're on the wrong side of a ridge from where the pin is, it's really hard just to two-putt." 

Given the difficulty of the course and the conditions, if you started the second round anywhere in the top 10 and could match your first-day score, you were going to move up. 

Sigel showed that, as he went from fifth to second by shooting 73 for the second day in a row. His teammate Miles McCarthy and Sanders' teammate Hitchner were in a six-way tie for 18th place at the start of the day, after opening with 76's, but they both came back with 72's on Saturday. Those were the two best scores of the day, and the resulting 148's elevated McCarthy and Hitchner into a tie for third. 

Trey Fessler of St. Michael-Albertville slipped from a 71 to a 78, but he still finished in a tie for fifth place at 149, along with Matt Berning of Mounds Park Academy and Max McGlade of Lakeville North.

Sanders says his ability to keep the ball low in the wind "comes and goes." But he felt confident going into Saturday's round, and even though he wasn't able to get up and down for a birdie on the par-5 first hole, he got off to a good start. He parred the first five holes, and then hit a 9-iron close at the 180-yard, par-3 sixth. He bogeyed the seventh and eighth holes, but he birdied the 10th to get back to even par for the day. 

The 515-yard, par-5 12th was a key hole for him. Having made eagle on Friday, he nearly hit his tee shot out of bounds there on Saturday. 

"I was one yard in," he noted. "Someone must have been watching out for me on that hole. I was really lucky that the ball didn't go out."

Sanders took advantage of his good fortune, playing his second shot back into the fairway and then hitting his third shot to within 6 inches of the cup, for a tap-in birdie.

The 12th hole was actually one of the few where Sanders used his driver on Saturday.

"I didn't hit it more than three or four times," he said. "Mostly, I hit irons and hybrids, and just kept the ball in play. That was the big thing for me today."  

He bogeyed the 185-yard, par-3 14th, but got the lost stroke back at the other par-3 on the back nine, the 16th. The tee was moved up, and the hole was under 100 yards, but the pin was tucked, and it was a tricky shot. Sanders hit his wedge to 6 inches once again. 

After burning the edge of the cup on Edinburgh's signature hole, the 374-yard 17th -- the one with an island fairway -- Sanders hit a 300-yard drive at the 450-yard, par-4 18th. And then he made his worst swing of the tournament, a 160-yard wedge shot that he didn't really finish. The ball came up about 90 feet short of the hole, and plugged in the front right bunker. It was all he could do to move it 50 feet, and he three-putted from there for a double bogey.

It wasn't the way he would have liked to finish, but it didn't really matter. At that point, he could have seven-putted and still won.   


BOYS HIGH SCHOOL GOLF

The Preview

At Edinburgh USA

Par 72, 6,305 yards

Brooklyn Park

Final results 

1. Minnetonka                   304-303--607

2. Blake                             310-301--611

3. St. Michael-Albertville    304-311--615

4. Edina                              303-315--618

5. Wayzata                         304-315--619

6. Chaska                           307-322--629

7. Lakeville South               309-323--632

8. Holy Family                    316-318--634

9. White Bear Lake            313-322--635

10. Elk River                      315-325--640

11. St. Thomas Acad.        319-322--641

12. Lakeville North            320-328--648

T13. Forest Lake              319-336--655

T13. Blaine                       325-330--655

T15. Eden Prairie             325-333--658

T15. Mankato East           343-615--658

17. East Ridge                 333-330--663

18. St. Cloud Cathedral   323-341--664

19. Totino-Grace              332-345--677

Mounds Park Academy   DNF

Individuals

1. Reece Sanders, Blake              68-73--141

2. Ben Sigel, Minnetonka              73-73--146

T3. Miles McCarthy, Minnetonka   76-72--148

T3. Derek Hitchner, Blake             76-72--148

T5. Trey Fessler, St. Michael-Alb. 71-78--149

T5. Matt Berning, Mounds Park    74-75--149

T5. Max McGlade, Lakeville No.   74-75--149

T8. Carter Haley, Mankato East    73-77--150

T8. Taylor Zack, St. Michael-Alb.  77-73--150

T10. Caleb VanArragon, Blaine    74-77--151

T10. Clay Kucera, Chaska            75-76--151

T10. Mason Fiddle, White Bear    72-79--151

T13. Dan Chi, Wayzata                 76-77--153

T13. Tyler Muschewske, HF          78-75--153

T15. Jason Peterson, Elk River     76-78--154

T15. Sawyer Bailey, Minnetonka       73-81--154

T15. Ben Frazzini, Wayzata         77-77--154

T15. Will Hayden, Edina       77-77--154

19. Chase Mouch, Forest Lake    74-81--155

20. Dane Kuhr, Lakeville South    76-80--156

T21. Alex Pries, Chaska               77-80--157

T21. Ian Mackenzie Olson, Wayzata  72-85--157

T21. Peder Larson, Wayzata        79-78--157

T21. Brady Arnett, St. Thomas     75-82--157

T21. Will Lonquist, Edina              78-79--157

T21. Nick Brann, Edina                 70-87--157

T21. Jack Ebner, Edina                 78-79--157

T28. Lincoln Johnson, Chaska     74-84--158

T28. Scott Marston, White Bear   80-78--158

T28. Jack Richardson, Elk River  79-79--158