First off, I just have to commend Ben Bendtsen III, Dan Zimmerman and Kelly Kretz for some superb golf all week at the 107th Wisconsin State Amateur Championship.

At times, they made tree-lined Old Hickory Golf Club look like some muni-course, cutting corners, reaching par 5s in two and dropping 30-foot putts. This game's not that easy, folks. Trust me.

Because space is limited for game stories, not all the information I collected made it in. So here's some leftovers, so to speak, from the week.

About champion Ben Bendtsen III (7-under 281): Six-time State Am champ Mark Bemowski mentioned after the second round that he thought Bendtsen was playing the best golf in the state right now, right up there with UW senior-to-be Dan Woltman. Woltman, the 2006 State Am champ who grew up at Old Hickory, skipped the State Am to play in the Porter Cup. It would have been nice to see Woltman play Old Hickory, but he's chasing a 2009 U.S. Walker Cup team spot.

Anyway, Bendtsen proved that his State Match Play runner-up finish and Ray Fischer title were no fluke -- not that anyone thought it was -- with an impressive playoff victory over Zimmerman. The soft-spoken Bendtsen, a fairly long player and a good striker of the golf ball, was most impressive on Old Hickory's slippery greens in Thursday's final round. He need just 11 putts on the back nine. Yes, 11. That's two two-putts and seven one-putts. Try doing that yourself at Odana, let alone a State Am layout.

Bendtsen dropped out of UW-Parkside after one year to work in his family's 75-year-old downtown Racine bakery. He is truely dedicated to his family's work, and the early-morning shifts allow him to play plenty of golf in the afternoon at The Racine Country Club.

His dad -- Mr. Kringle himself -- mentioned to me that his son will likely turn professional at the end of the year. Apparently, the sponsors are already lined up for it to happen. I give Bendtsen credit for giving pro golf a shot, because like his mother Cindy told me, you don't want to regret not giving it a shot down the line.

On a side note, Bendtsen has quite the golfing family. His cousin is married to Joel Kribel, the 1997 U.S. Amateur runner-up who played college golf with Tiger Woods at Stanford. So not only does Bendtsen have friend Tony Romo to lean on for advice, he can play with Kribel, a guy whose been on the pro scene.

About runner-up Dan Zimmerman (7-under 281): Amazing short game. That's all you need to know. Better yet, Zimmerman knows he's good near the green and I would imagine that takes a little pressure off knowing you can get it up-and-down from just about anywhere. Zimmerman wasn't a slouch on the greens in the final round, either, carding 13 back-nine putts.

"If you can rely on the short game it can take you as far as you can go in golf if you've got one," Zimmerman said after his final round Thursday. "That's why Tiger Woods is the best. He doesn't hit it well every day, but he chips and putts the lights out."

Zimmerman is also a pretty smart cookie, throwing out this answer when asked about Bendtsen's ideas of turning pro.

"That's his decision. I know where I'm standing on that -- not yet," Zimmerman said. "Those big boys are a lot better than us. If they had a Tour event out here, 6 under par would not even sniff the cut. So we've got a ways to go."

Couldn't agree more.

Zimmerman also offered up a pretty solid "golf term" as a parting shot. I, as most of you probably do, have a number of these silly terms myself, and I won't forget Zimmerman's if I'm 230 yards out anytime soon.

About Kelly Kretz, third (Even 288): Great golf swing. A spectator mentioned Thursday that Kretz reminded him of Steve Stricker, which I can see with Kretz's golden blond hair.

Kretz is a slender 6-foot-3, has amazing arc on his backswing -- along the lines of Davis Love III in his prime -- and absolutely hammers the ball. He was right in the tournament until making back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 14 and 15, en route to a back-nine 41 and 78.

"That was pretty deflating," Kretz said of the second bogey on 15. "I wasn't making any putts and it kind of snow-balled at the end."

Kretz grew up in Antigo. His family owns Riverview GC in town.

The Marquette sophomore-to-be recently advanced to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.

About Travis Meyer, 4 (2-over 290): The River Falls native, who won the State Am last year, will turn professional at August's Wisconsin State Open. He recently finished up at UW-Green Bay.

About Jordan Elsen, T6 (4-over 292): Elsen told me after the third round that he considered transferring from UW earlier this summer. He carded a 91 in the opening round of NCAA regionals, a round that he called "a confidence killer."

"I just felt like I didn't have my swagger anymore," said Elsen, who at 5-foot-5 or so and coupled with his golf visor conjures up memories of Skip Kendall. "I didn't have that confidence, my cockiness that I had when I was a junior (player). And I was looking for answers and wondering if Madison was the place for my game to get better."

He thought about moving down to Florida and hooking up with an old golf coach. But after a two-week visit down there, he thinks he's moving in the right direction at UW. He'll be a junior this fall.

Stories from this week: Here's links to the game stories:

Round 2: http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/wsj/2008/07/23/0807230163.php

Round 3: http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/wsj/2008/07/24/0807240019.php

Round 4: http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/other/297739

Tournament records: Not many scoring records set this week, but here's an intersting stat:

The 281 winning score was the lowest at a 72-hole venue since Mark Wilson won in 1996 at Cherokee Country Club with a score of 279.

Next year: See you next year for the 108th Wisconsin State Amateur Championship at Merrill Hills Country Club in Waukesha.