In the parlance of his sport, Caleb VanArragon is on a heater.

After a nine-shot win in last week’s Minnesota State Open, the Blaine-grad and current Valparaiso University senior scorched Minneapolis Golf Club for a 12-shot victory in the 120th MGA State Amateur Championship.

Click the video box on this page to watch KSTP Sports’ post-round interview with 2023 Minnesota State Amateur (and 2023 Minnesota Open) champion Caleb VanArragon

VanArragon closed with a 7-under 65 in Wednesday’s final round, coasting to record-setting final tallies of -23 / 193 and the twelve-shot margin over runner-up Bryce Hanstad (-11).

Minnesota junior / Hill-Murray grad Ben Warian and current Notre Dame sophomore / Northfield grad Nate Stevens finished tied for third (-9).

VanArragon’s wire-to-wire win was all but certain after he shot a Minneapolis Golf Club course record and State Amateur single-round record 62 in Tuesday’s second round.

His record-setting 62 included an eagle on the Par 5 1st hole at Minneapolis GC, where he carded a rare double-eagle in Monday’s opening round by holing out from the fairway.

Already the reigning Minnesota Golf Association Golfer of the Year, Caleb becomes the fourth golfer to win the State Open and State Amateur title in the same year – the first since James McLean in 1998. The other two occurrences were in the 1960s and 1920s.

This year’s tourney wins come after Caleb finished runner-up in both the 2021 State Amateur and 2022 State Open.

His State Open win earned him spots in next month’s PGA Tour Canada event in Brainerd and Monday’s Qualification Tournament for next week’s PGA Tour event, the 3M Open.

Caleb will return to Valparaiso this fall for his fifth season of collegiate golf.

KSTP Sports first featured Caleb in 2017 when he became the first Minnesota high schooler to shoot 63 in a competitive match. He shot his 63 at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, site of the 3M Open.

His younger sister Kathryn also has State Open and State Amateur titles. In 2020 at age 15, She became the youngest-ever winner at the women’s State Open. Caleb served as Kathryn’s caddy during the event.

The duo teamed up to win the MGA Mixed Amateur Team Championship last month.

Kathryn is the reigning MGA Junior Girls Player of the Year and reigning “Ms. Golf”, awarded to the state’s top high school senior.

Caleb now has six MGA state tournament titles. In addition to this year’s wins at the State Open, State Amateur and Mixed Amateur, he won the 2021 Twin Cities Championship and two junior event titles.

2023 MGA AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL LEADERBOARD