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The six-pack of Onalaska and Holmen qualifiers for next week's Wisconsin PGA State Open at the Eau Claire Country Club seem to fall into two groups. La Crosse Country Club pro Jim Kjellenberg of Onalaska and former Cedar Creek pro Mark Schneider of Holmen don't seem to be entering the tournament with grandiose goals after not having a bevy of playing opportunities this summer. But Country Club assistant pro and Holmen High School graduate Joe DeRosa, 2007 Holmen grad Keegan Drugan, 2003 Onalaska grad Mason Milner and 2004 OHS grad Jeff Kaiser all seem to be playing near the top of their respective games, meaning one or more could find their way into championship contention.

DeRosa comes off the most recent championship, winning the WPGA's state assistant's championship Monday at Chenequa Country Club in Hartland. For more on that tournament and DeRosa's Open chances, please click on the headline immediately below this story on the preceding page.

Drugan comes off winning the County Amateur Aug. 2 and 3. He seems to be having a similar year to that of his father Mike in 2005, when he won the County Am and the Wisconsin State Golf Assocation's Governor's Cup.

“The County Am came just at the right time for me, just like the Lawn Care Cup came right before the State Am last year” Keegan Drugan said. “It's nice going into your next big tourney off winning one.”

Drugan's recent surge of high-level play has dropped his handicap from 2 to +1.

“Everything in my game has been the best it's ever been for about the last month,” Drugan said. “It's been the best month of golf I've ever had.”

Coming off winning the County Am and teaming with his father to take third at Tuesday's WSGA state father-son tournament, Drugan could enter the Open with high hopes.

“My first goal is to make the cut (top 60 and ties) and be in contention the last day,” Drugan said. “The ultimate goal would be to win it I suppose.”

Drugan got his first look at Eau Claire in recent weeks and played a second practice round earlier this week.

“You definitely have to think about hitting a straight ball off the tee,” Drugan said. “It's narrow with small greens that have a lot of slope. There are going to be a lot of tricky putts.”

While Drugan is playing well but doesn't have a ton of course knowledge, Milner has local knowledge in abundance, as he has either played and/or worked at the course since 2003. Milner finished 33rd at the WSGA state amateur July 21-24, missing automatically qualifying for the 2009 tournament by three shots.

“I played pretty well the first two days,” Milner said. “The last two I was marginal. I hit it O.K., but I didn't score well.”

Milner's lack of scoring came despite registering just two 3-putts in four days.

“They set the pins in some hard places,” Milner said. “So I was happy with how I putted there.”

Milner said that could be an issue at the Open. Milner played collegiately at UW-Eau Claire, with the Blugolds calling the Country Club home.

“The key thing at the Country Club is keeping the ball in the fairway and keeping the ball below the hole,” Milner said. “The greens don't have severe undulation, but the pins will probably be placed well in some tricky spot later on in the tournament.

“The good thing is it's only about 6,700 yards, so you don't have to be a bomber to score well there. But getting up-and-down will be a key, too. You're going to be in the trees and missing greens there.”

Milner also played reasonably well at the County Am, tying for ninth. He won that tournament in 2006.

“I had opportunities to score, but missed too many putts,” Milner said. “But my game isn't in too bad a shape right now.

“My iron play is solid and striking it well. But I'm not as consistent off the tee right now as I'd like to be. And everybody would always like to be a better putter.”

With the most local knowledge among the local qualifiers, Milner should fare the best if he plays the best. But DeRosa, Drugan and Kaiser are arguably playing better entering the tournament.

“If it comes down to things like knowing where to miss and club selection, I should have an advantage,” Milner, whose best career round at the course is 2-under-par 69, said. “The greens are smooth, so if you get hot with the putter, you should shoot good numbers.”

Schneider qualified for this year's event based on his top-50 finish from a year ago. While golf pros generally don't get large amount of playing opportunities, Schneider said he's probably played even less since leaving Cedar Creek a little more than a year ago, in part because his third child was born six weeks ago.

“I haven't been able to get too many rounds in this year,” Schneider, a 1989 Onalaska graduate, said. “But my swing feels good. We'll have to see how sharp my short game is.

“I've tried to stay as competitive as possible. I'll probably be able to play a little more as my (three) children get older.”

Schneider also made the 36-hole cut in 2005 and 2006, but missed gaining an exemption for the following year in 2005.

“My goals are a little tempered this year,” Schneider said. “I have less expectations, but I'm still going in with the same attitude. I want to make the cut and see where that takes me.”

While Milner has the most local knowledge, Schneider is the only player with state experience on the course, as he played there when the Open was last conducted there in the mid-1990s. But Schneider said the course has undergone a redesign since then.

“It's still not overly long, but it's fairly narrow” Schneider said. “You're going to have to be in the right spots on the greens.”

Kjellenberg's pre-Open goals and 2008 playing profile resembles Schneider.

“I get to play the most in the early spring and fall,” Kjellenberg said. “From Memorial Day to Labor Day I'm pretty busy with the course.

“I've probably played something like six 18-hole rounds in the last couple of months. Occassionally I'm able to take a few swings and make a few putts, but as a pro, it's usually something like getting to the tee, and hoping my glove and a ball are in my bag.”

The country clubs in La Crosse and Eau Claire are part of a regional five-course reciprocal agreement that also includes the Rochester, Stevens Point and Bulls Eye country clubs. It means Eau Claire hosting the event is probably about as close as the La Crosse Country Club can come to hosting the event short of actually doing it.

“I'm looking forward to playing,” Kjellenberg said. “It will be a great venue.

“But the best part from my standpoint is that there's no pressure for me. The course is in excellent condition. I just want to play well enough to make it to playing the final rounds Wednesday.”

Kaiser's last big tournament came at the July 26 and 27 Madison Capital Times Invitational. Kaiser finished seventh in that event among 75 players at 2-under 70-72-142. Kaiser recently vacationed in South Carolina.

"My game right now is fair, but it will be ready to go by the time I tee off Monday morning," Kaiser said. "Spending some time on the beach and away from practice felt great and I feel refreshed. I've been working on my game since being back, and will continue to do so for the rest of the week."

The Capital Time invite was Kaiser's first tournament as a professional, a move he made earlier this year. Kaiser completed his collegiate eligibility at Wisconsin-Madison this spring.

"I was very pleased with my attitude, decision-making and ball striking," Kaiser said of the Capital Times tourney. "My scoring, chipping, pitching and putting, was horrible, however, and it cost me an opportunity to have a chance to win that event. I am working hard to clean those things up and give myself the best chance to play well at the State Open."

Kaiser said he hasn't been able to play a practice round at Eau Claire as of Wednesday evening. But he also said everything he's heard about the course has been great.

"My goals for the event are the same as my goals is for every event; trying to play the best that I possilbly can and simply get it around in the lowest possible number of strokes," Kaiser said. "If I can do that, the finish will take care of itself. Hard work the remainder of the week and weekend as well as a great attitude mentally at the tournament should help me achieve that."

The decision to turn pro has meant a few less big events for Kaiser, who regularly played in the WSGA's state doubles and State Am throughout his college career. But Kaiser doesn't think the slightly smaller number of big events he's played this summer will hurt him in next week's big event.

"I don't think the number of events will hurt me, nor will it help me," Kaiser said. "I've always been a guy who doesn't play too many events in the summer because I've always looked at it as a time to recharge and be ready for the fall and spring seasons of college golf.

"The amount I have played this summer is very comparable to what I've done the past few summers. I feel very rested and I have certainly played enough tournament golf in my career where the time off never makes me feel rusty."