Kameron Haselius putting Putt Craft on notice with another win + other notes

by Reid Nelson

Forty nine different players have tee’d up at Grand Slam in Burnsville, all with visions of doing what Kameron Haselius did this past Friday. A -13, 65, three strokes better than Matt Roalstad’s “Tournament Performance of the Year” nominee last winter and two strokes clear of Matt Roalstad’s course record. Haselius now has a shared course record (McPete’s) and one of his very own (Ace Course).

How did we get here, afterall, Haselius finished 40 strokes off the leader this August at Lilli Putt. Since then he has won three events (2 open, 1 E League) and shows absolutely no signs of slowing down.

Haseliues led the field in aces with 8, birdies with 12, BEP% (97.2) & BE% (36.1). He was six strokes clear of second place which was also the margin between 2nd and the last place finisher. 

His only blemish, a bogey on hole #3 which also took place during his record breaking round. 

Haselius now has a target on his back as the rest of the field plays catch up. A back-to-back-to-back opens up a wide range of discussion points we couldn’t have fathomed just a few short weeks ago.

Other notes:

Andy Stahlman’s third place debut was impressive for sure, his putting stroke is what caused the most chatter. Stahlman will be in the mix at every event if he so chooses. He noted this was his first trip to Grand Slam in Burnsville.

Anthony Dunkel’s second place finish ends his long streak of placing outside of the top-5. That streak had recently been extended to 10. You’d have to go back to Golf Zone earlier this calendar year to find his most recent top-5. Momentum is a real thing and it will be noteworthy to see how Dunkel follows up his performance. 

Kameron Haselius and Anthony Dunkel’s aces on 11 has them joining an exclusive club with Brady Storhoff and Matt Roalstad. Of the aceable holes at Ace Course, 11 has the fewest total aces in 98 attempts with four.

All seven players were within three strokes of the lead after 18. Our most recent trip to Ace Course had players as many as nine strokes off the lead at the turn. 

Grand Slam Coon Rapids is up next. One of two trips to this course for the 2023-24 league year. Tom Loftus is our current defending champion and there is a three-way tie for the course record (35) with Loftus, Erik Haselius and Jacob Hodge.