Gersenyi wins despite lack of recent golf time

Practice? Basketball superstar Allen Iverson once said. "Who needs practice?''

Well, a bunch of us do, but apparently Brian Gersenyi is not included in that group.

After all, Gersenyi hardly has time to play, much less practice.

You can count his golf activity on one hand.

He plays nine holes a week in league play at Meadow Lakes. And then if he's lucky, he goes the full 18 on a weekend.

So practice? You're kidding, right?

"I think I've had time for two 18-hole rounds this year,'' Gersenyi said. "That's about it.''

The lack of practice — or playing for that matter — didn't show the past few days as Gersenyi stormed to his second All-City Golf Tournament victory, this one by six strokes over Todd Lechtenberg. Gersenyi, who also won the 2007 title (which was weather-shortened) finished with a 214 total on rounds of 67, 71 and 76, respectively, at Soldiers Field on Saturday, Willow Creek Sunday and the Rochester Golf and Country Club Monday.

Gersenyi has one semester left before he graduates from the University of Wisconsin in December with a degree in electrical engineering.  That's not exactly an easy major and he's been at it since graduating from Rochester Mayo in 2005. He's working on completely his third internship, the latest one in Dodge Center.

"To prepare for this tournament I played eight holes on Thursday at Meadow Lakes and the Sunday before 18 at Willow Creek. But, go figure, I've been hitting the ball good all year,'' he said. "That I wasn't concerned about.

"I was concerned, though, about the tournament coming down to the final few holes and then could I come through under the pressure.''

No need to worry there because there wasn't much pressure. Gersenyi led from wire-to-wire, opening with a 67 and then taking a four-shot lead over Todd Lechtenberg into Monday's final round.

"I hit 15 greens in regulation at Soldiers Field and 14 Sunday at Willow Creek,'' he said, "so, like I said, I was hitting the ball well. I figured if I shot in the mid-70s today, then somebody would have to shoot lights out to beat me and if that happened, well, may the best man win.''

He was mainly worried about his father, Ken Gersenyi, who was playing in the group in front of him and who perennially finishes in the top 10.

As it turned out, Ken finished fourth (224) but also won the senior flight championship. That said, the Gersenyis became the first father-son duo to win the championship and senior flight championships in the same year.

Ken is 54, Brian 24.

"That's cool,'' said Brian. "My dad taught me everything about golf.''

Gersenyi has played in the All-City every year since graduating from high school, except for last year when he missed due to a wedding. Since his 2007 victory, he has finished sixth twice while his dad was runnerup in 2009 and third in 2008.

Finishing third was Century senior CJ Pritcher, with a 223. Defending and three-time champion Steve Hjortness opened with a 72, but missed his starting time Sunday at Willow Creek and was disqualified.

So now, so much for golf. Gersenyi starts school on Friday, will graduate in December and then will look for a job in the "real world.''

And  first things first. Thursday, he'll be in Madison where he plans to attend the Wisconsin and UNVL season opener in football.

And with school starting the next day, his golf clubs may very well be in storage until next year.