By Nick Hunter

LAKE CITY, Minn – Looking to build on his runner-up finish at the Class AAA championship to close out his junior season at Spring Lake Park High School earlier this month and a 13th-place finish a week ago at the Minnesota State Junior Boys’ Championship, Chase Birdwell fired a 1-under 71 at The Jewel Golf Club to begin the 51st Minnesota Boys’ Junior PGA Championship.

Despite back-to-back bogeys to finish his opening round in sweltering and gusty conditions, Birdwell sits tied atop the leaderboard with Brooks Ashfield, Will Hacker, Wyatt Holmes and Andrew Burstad.

“I think my game is in a good spot coming in,” Birdwell said following his round Monday. “My expectations coming into this tournament is to win.

“Very up-and-down today but made a lot of birdies and just missed a ton of short putts. Also had some bad mistakes with six bogeys. I’ve got to stop going at pins and making dumb bogeys. I’ve also got to give myself chances at par if I do miss the green.”

Trading four birdies with three bogeys during his opening nine Monday, Birdwell turned in 1-under before rolling in a lengthy putt for birdie at the 10th to reach 2-under.

“Bad wedge shot [on No. 10], pin-high, but I said walking up to the green that I hadn’t made a 20-footer for as long as I can remember and then I made it,” he said.

Giving back a stroke at the 12th, Birdwell put his tee shot at the par-4 13th over the green from 330 yards with a 3-wood and chipped to four feet to convert his sixth birdie of the round.

On in two at the par-5 16th, Birdwell two-putted for another birdie to move in sole possession of the lead at 3-under but stumbled coming with consecutive bogeys, finishing at 1-under 70.

“If you play the course backwards, it’s a lot easier to know what you’re going to do,” Birdwell said. “If the wind is the same tomorrow, I’ll know what to hit. Being able to understand my miss today and think about it for tomorrow.

“My irons were good all day and it was mainly those shots into the wind today where you’ve got to play it a little lower and swing a little softer because a little miss can end up a big miss, but it doesn’t change my gameplan very much.”

On Tuesday, Birdwell will attempt to match older brother, Jake, with a victory at the championship to become the first siblings to win the tournament since it began in 1976.

Ashfield played his opening nine in 2-under Monday and quickly moved to 3-under with his birdie from four feet at the first.

Unable to save par at the par-3 fifth, Ashfield bounced back by sinking one more birdie opportunity from six feet at the sixth. But like his counterpart, Ashfield stumbled down the stretch into the wind over the final two holes with back-to-back bogeys to share the lead at 1-under 71.

“Handled the conditions pretty well. Going into it, I knew it was going to be hot, and I was prepared for that, but the wind really picked up around the third or fourth hole and got pretty tricky,” Ashfield said. “Just tried to hit a lower trajectory, but putting is where it gets hard with your balance and trying to keep the same stroke.

“Tomorrow, I need to keep the ball in play like I did today and if I can roll putts from inside of 10 feet again, I’ll be just fine.”

Ashfield placed tied for 40th at the Class AAA finale at Bunker Hills Golf Club to finish his junior season at Mahtomedi High School and would miss the 36-hole cut last week at Minikahda.

When the final round gets underway early Tuesday, just three shots separate the top 14 players on a crowded leaderboard. The top two players from the championship this week will earn a spot at the 2026 National Junior PGA Championship July 28-31 at Fields Ranch in Frisco, Texas.

Hacker, who finished tied for 10th at last week’s Minnesota State Junior Boys’ Championship at The Minikahda Club, played his opening nine in even par Monday before tallying a pair of quick birdies to open his back nine and move to 2-under for the round.

But the par-4 ninth into the wind presented a challenge as Hacker bogeyed his final hole to earn a share of the lead at 1-under 70.

Following an up-and-down front nine in the difficult conditions Monday, Holmes played his opening nine in 2-over before finding his stride once he reached the inward nine, carding three birdies over a five-hole span to enter the clubhouse in a share atop the leaderboard.

Holmes is looking to improve on his runner-up finish last week at Minikahda when he fell to Henry Johnson in a four-way playoff.

Burstad, who carded a top-10 at the Class AA championship earlier this month and followed it with a top-13 finish a week ago, finished his opening nine with a birdie and began the back with a second birdie to draw even for the round.

He would take a step back with a bogey at the sixth but staged a late rally by taking advantage of the par-5 eighth before carding one of just four birdies surrendered at the par-4 ninth to finish in a five-way tie for the lead.

Ryder Carlson, who placed tied for seventh at the Class AA earlier this month before missing the cut a week ago at the Minnesota State Junior Boys’ Championship, posted a round of even par 71 Monday to share sixth place with Elliott Stevens, while four players will start their final round two shots back at 1-over 72.

The final round of the 51 Minnesota Boys’ Junior PGA Championship is slated to begin at 7:30 a.m. at The Jewel Golf Club.