The small town of Stillwater, Minnesota, population 18,000 give or take several hundred, has a shorter golf season than places that typically develop elite players. 

The small town on the St. Croix River that separates Wisconsin from Minnesota has produced a number of notable athletes, among them are Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Phil Housley, Chris Engler, who played 195 NBA games over five seasons with five different teams, and relief pitcher Glen Perkins, who pitched for the Minnesota Twins from 2006 through 2017 and appeared in three All-Star games.

When Alex Beach, who grew up in Stillwater, heads to the first tee at Southern Hills for the PGA Championship next week, he’ll be playing in his fifth PGA Championship in six years, and certainly has a claim to the title of best golfer to come out of Stillwater, Minnesota. 

In addition to those PGA championship appearances, Beach won the 2019 PGA Professional Championship and the 2019 PGA Assistant Professional National Championship, and has worked as a golf professional at some of the Metropolitan New York Area’s finest private golf clubs, among them Baltusrol, Ridgewood, and his current home, Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York.

He got into this year’s PGA Championship in dramatic fashion, holing a chip for birdie on the first hole of a four-for-one playoff at the 2022 PGA Professional Championship at Omni Barton Creek resort & spa in Austin, Texas to punch his ticket to Tulsa.

He’s this week’s guest on The Golf Leif.