June 13, 2007

BEMIDJI, Minn. -- When the field of the 107th U.S. Open hits the course for the first round of the 2007 event Thursday morning at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa., fans of golf will no doubt be on the lookout for the results of their favorite pros. But members of the Bemidji State University community and other Minnesotans may find themselves sifting right past Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson in search of Mike Berg.

Mike Berg may not be a household name among many golf enthusiasts, but to those who have been around the BSU golf program in the past 10 years, it just may ring a bell.

A student at Bemidji State University in the late 1990s, Berg was a member of Don Niskanen's 1997 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championship team earning All-NSIC honors.

As a freshman Berg placed second that year finishing the two-day event with a six-over-par 78-72--150. He was one of four Beaver golfers to finish in the top five of the championship propelling BSU to its first conference crown in eight years.

One of his fellow all-conference performers that season was Bemidji's own Kevin Krigbaum. Now working in the BSU Admissions Office, Krigbaum credits a lot of the success of that team and the three championship squads that followed to the influence of Berg.

"Regardless of what happened on the course or what score we shot, Mike was the guy that kept us motivated and taught us all to get mad on the course and aim for better. I didn't really realize until later what kind of effect he actually had on me."

Krigbaum went on to say, "He was always a really good golfer and has been through a lot in the qualifying process, but I think this is beyond any of our wildest dreams."

"To be able to say that you were teammates with a player that has qualified and participated in the U.S. Open, is a pretty cool thing."

At the conclusion of the 1997 campaign Berg left BSU for Odessa Junior College in Odessa, Tex. with the idea of year-round golf and dreams of an NCAA Division I scholarship. He never got any nibbles for the scholarship and has since been playing in amateur events around the state, on the Dakotas Tour and in Canada while working on the maintenance staff at his home course Detroit Country Club in Detroit Lakes, Minn.

With a goal of playing on the Nationwide Tour and ultimately on the PGA Tour, Berg has attempted to qualify for the U.S. Open at least 25 times. Last week he took a step towards those goals claiming a win in a 22-man sectional qualifier in Kansas City, Mo. earning him a spot in the field at Oakmont.

Oakmont and the U.S. Open may be a long ways from the BSU Fall Invitational and the Bemidji Town and Country Club, but this week Mike Berg is living his dream and bringing Bemidji State, Detroit Lakes and all of Minnesota along for the ride.

Notes: Berg will tee off during Thursday an Friday's qualifying rounds at 9:12 a.m. Eastern on hole No. 1. he will be grouped with amateur Jason Kokrak and Kyle Dobbs.

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