By John RittenhouseA scene on the tee box on the Luverne Country Club’s eighth hole speaks volumes about Dan Serie’s state of mind Sunday.While the other three members of the final foursome of the championship flight were preparing to take their next shots, Serie was busy doing something else.Spotting his children (Ben and Carly Serie, who were standing nearby with their mother, Christal), Serie quickly stepped off the tee box and waived excitingly to the kids. Prompted by Christal, the kids waved back at their dad with equal enthusiasm.With a five-shot advantage and two holes left to play in the Men’s Club Tournament, Serie could afford to be carefree at that point. He was poised and comfortable beyond his own belief, and that’s the way he played while winning his second consecutive club championship."I was very comfortable," Serie admitted, after accepting his fifth men’s club championship trophy since 1991. "Ben and Carly were out watching the last two holes. I was excited to see them, and they were excited that I finished in first place."Being comfortable on a golf course can turn an average player into a good player. In Serie’s case, who played with an apparent sense of confidence for 18 holes on Sunday, being comfortable turns a very good player into an unbeatable one.Trailing by one shot after 18 holes of play on Saturday, Serie played a near mistake-free couple of rounds while shooting a two-over-par 74 on Sunday. He assumed control of the championship flight by carding a 37 and opening a five-shot lead during his first round on Sunday, and recorded another 37 during the final round to win his fifth club tournament (1991, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004) title."On the front side (Sunday’s first round), I played as solid as I could have," he said. "I hit seven greens in regulation, and made par eight times. For the day I made 14 pars, bogeyed three holes and made one birdie. I just felt really comfortable out there, and was fortunate to play pretty well."Serie’s play on Sunday turned what was a competitive championship flight on Saturday into a convincing win on the final day of play.With nine of the 13 players in the flight separated by five shots after 18 holes of play, the championship appeared to be up for grabs.Mike Haakenson set the pace during Saturday’s opening round by shooting a 37. Serie and Chris Nowatzki, Victor Van Dyk and Steve Smedsrud carded 38s to trail the leader by one shot. Joe Dorhout was two shots back after shooting a 39, and Gary Golla trailed by three shots after posting a 40.Dorhout made some noise during Saturday’s second round by shooting a par-36 to finish the day as the flight leader with a total of 75 strokes.Serie and Nowatzki, who matched their first-round scores by carding 38s, finished one shot behind Dorhout with 76s. Van Dyk carded a 39 to complete a 77-stroke day, which left him two strokes off the pace.Haakenson trailed by four shots after shooting a 42 during the second round for a 79 total. Tim Connell, Dick Iveland, George McDonald and Steve Smedsrud all shot 80s to trail the leader by five strokes.Serie’s strategy for Sunday was to make par as many times as possible. His plan of attack wasn’t invincible, but it worked because of his long drives and accurate approach shots."I was hitting my driver and irons as well as I have all year, but my putting was the worst it’s been all year. I was putting for birdie 13 or 14 times, and I made one. The good thing was I had a lot of tap-in putts," he said.A series of making par, combined with misfortune of his contenders, turned the tide in Serie’s favor on Sunday.Serie made par eight consecutive times before taking a bogey on the final hole of the round to finish with a 37.After making a pair of birdies to start the third round, Nowatzki ran into trouble as the loop progressed. He finished the round with a 42, and found himself five strokes behind Serie in second place.Dorhout’s luck changed dramatically. After taking a one-shot lead into play on Sunday, he turned in a 44 to fall six shots off the pace along with McDonald, who shot a 39 during the opening round.Iveland and Darwin Elbers were seven shots off the pace when Sunday’s first round was complete. They slipped past Van Dyk, who shot a 44 to trail Serie by eight shots.The way things played out, Serie never led by less than five strokes during the final round.Nowatzki had a chance to trim the lead on the 28th hole of the tournament when he reached the green with two shots, but he ended up needing three putts to complete the par-4 hole. Serie overcame an errant tee shot to make par, giving him a six-shot lead over Nowatzki and Dorhout, who also made par.Nowatzki did make par on the par-3 30th hole to trim the difference to five shots when Serie bogeyed the same hole, but the players proceeded to match scores over the next four holes.Then came the par-5 35th hole, where Serie put an exclamation point on his title run. After exchanging waves with his children, Serie blasted a long drive that was followed by an iron shot that came to rest right in front of the green. Serie then lifted a chip that came to rest four feet away from the hole, where he calmly sank his first birdie putt of the day.Nowatzki bogeyed the same hole, falling seven strokes off the pace.Both Serie and Nowatzki made par on the 36th hole.Although he pulled away from them in the end, Serie said Nowatzki and Dorhout earned his respect for their play in the final foursome on Sunday."Chris got off to a great start by going birdie-birdie on the front nine. Then he had a couple of bad swings late in the round, and a couple of bad swings on this course can get your mind going in the wrong direction. Joe played really well on Saturday, but he struggled on the front nine on Sunday. In Joe and Chris, you have two of the club’s best players who have not won championships, but they deserve to," Serie said.Although it was Dorhout and Nowatzki pushing Serie in the final group, past champions Iveland and Connell played their way into the top-four finishers in the championship flight.Iveland shot a 76 on Sunday, finishing six strokes behind Serie in second place. Connell turned in a 77 on Sunday, sharing third place with Nowatzki.Here is a look at all of the final scores produced by the players in the championship flight of the Men’s Club Tournament.Serie 38-38-37-37-150, Iveland 42-38-40-36-156, Nowatzki 38-38-42-39-157, Connell 41-39-40-37-157, Dorhout 39-36-44-39-158, Darwin Elbers 41-42-37-39-159, Golla 40-42-40-38-160, Smedsrud 38-42-40-41-161, McDonald 41-39-39-42-161, Van Dyk 38-39-44-45-166, Haakenson 37-42-47-43-169, Corey Nelson 41-43-41-44-169, Micky Sehr 41-43-44-42-170.