If a putt on No. 18 hadn't lipped out, John Treacy's score would've been even lower.
He settled for a 61.
That's 9 under par and a course record for St. Paul's Como Golf Course. Treacy of Duluth was playing there for the first time last Friday.
"The course is in good shape and it is the perfect time of the year for me to have a good round,'' Treacy said.
The top golfer for the University of St. Thomas played five or six times a week this spring, including three or four competitive rounds a week. He has a 1 handicap.
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Treacy, a Duluth Marshall graduate who plays out of Northland Country Club, started his record day with birdies on Nos. 1, 2 and 4 and finished with six straight birdies. There were no bogies.
Before leaving the course, Treacy stopped by the clubhouse to report his score and a Como employee said he believed the 61 was a course record. Treacy was asked to fill in his hole-by-hole scores on a clean scorecard so that it could be framed and displayed. Two University of Minnesota students playing with Treacy signed the card as witnesses.
First-year Como professional Bobby Cotie said Wednesday he still hadn't talked to Treacy and was hoping to get the original scorecard.
"We have a lot of history at our course and we have a showcase where we store a lot of trophies. That's where that scorecard belongs,'' said Cotie, who previously spent 30 years working at Highland National Golf Course in St. Paul.
Como, a hilly par-70 public course, has a course rating of 67.6 and is 5,821 yards from the longest tees. It was designed by Don Herfort and opened in 1931 and was redesigned in 1988.
John Shimpach, a pro at Como for 19 years before moving to Highland National, said the previous course record of 63 was set about a decade ago by St. Paul resident Bob Rodriguez. Although Treacy's round didn't come during a tournament, Shimpach said nontournament scores are often regarded as course records.
"That's the spirit of the game, to honor accomplishments,'' Shimpach said.
The St. Thomas team's home course is Hillcrest Golf Club, but Treacy said he'd been planning to try Como. His previous low round was a 5-under-par 66 last September at Brackett's Crossing Country Club in Lakeville, Minn.
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Treacy said his putts rolled particularly well on his record round and he just missed a 12-foot eagle attempt on No. 18.
"The big thing is how confident I've been with my driver,'' said Treacy, a senior this fall, majoring in business administration entrepreneurship with a 3.4 grade point average. "I'm very excited and proud of this score.''
Treacy's dad, Kevin, grew up in St. Paul and was the University of Minnesota's golf captain in 1977. He still plays to a 3 handicap at Northland Country Club.
John Treacy's next round in Duluth is June 29 at Enger Park Golf Course in qualifying for the 2007 Minnesota State Amateur.
