Martinson Wins Professional Tournament!
ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Former Wayland Baptist golfer Mikel Martinson picked up the biggest win of his professional career Saturday when he survived a playoff and captured the Adam Pro Tour's Bogey Hills Invitational.
"It was a fun day," Martinson, who turned 34 on Friday, said after pocketing the first-place prize of $40,000.
Martinson – a native of Throckmorton who played two years at New Mexico Junior College before finishing his collegiate career at Wayland from 2005-07 – sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to hold off former University of Texas golfer Charlie Holland of Dallas.
It was the first tournament of the year for Martinson, who spent time caddying for friends on the PGA Tour most of last year and "didn't play any golf hardly" prior to entering this event just outside of St. Louis.
"I'm getting ready for Q-School at the end of the year so I needed to start playing, plus I like this course," explained Martinson, who is entered in the Texas State Open next week in Tyler. He won that event in 2009 and earned $25,000, which prior to this week was the biggest payday of his career.
Martinson, who played some on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica and the year before on PGA Tour Canada, also has a couple of mini-tour victories, "but nothing compares to this."
Martinson finished with a four-day total 22-under 262, firing rounds of 64, 66, 65 and 67. He found himself at the top of the leaderboard after the second round and never relinquished the lead.
Coincidentally, the leader after day one was another Wayland golfer, Ian Ansett, who opened the tournament with an 8-under 63. A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, who played for the Pioneers from 2012-16, Ansett followed his 63 with scores of 72, 65 and 72 for a 12-under 272, tying him for 16th place. Ansett took home $2,650.
"Ian did a good job. He's slowly learning," Martinson said.
Martinson himself had to dig deep after bogeying the final two holes in regulation, allowing Holland (64-67-67-64) to tie him. After six birdies and 10 pars, they were Martinson's first bogeys of the day.
Martinson was forced to pitch out from behind trees on No. 17, which Holland also bogeyed, then on 18 hit his drive into the water. Martinson said he hit the same club off the 18th tee he did the first three rounds, but his "adrenaline was going pretty good and I hit it about 20 yards further" into the water.
Holland could have won it in regulation but missed about the same length of putt for birdie that Martinson made in the playoff.
Martinson said he likes playing at Bogey Hills, where in his previous tournament two years ago he said his ball got stuck in a tree and he wound up missing the cut by one.
"I like playing there because I hit it a long way and can take advantage of my length. But you can also get into trouble because there are lots of trees.
"This week I drove it well and putted well.
"It feels really good to win again. It's been awhile," Martinson added. "I've been working hard on my game and working hard mentally. It's all coming together finally.
"It feels really good."
As a senior at Wayland, Martinson won the UVic Shootout in Canada and was a member of the 2007 Pioneers team that finished a program-best second at the NAIA National Championships. The Pioneers placed sixth at nationals Martinson's junior season.