California State Amateur
View results from stroke-play qualifying.
Match-Play Bracket
STUDIO CITY, June 17 — Three Southern California golfers captured medalist honors at the 97th California State Amateur Championship, being played at Lakeside GC and Oakmont CC. Scott McGihon of Bermuda Dunes, a champion of multiple SCGA events, Matt Hoffenberg of Simi Valley, the 2008 Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year at San Diego State and Alex Kim, a member of the state champion Sunny Hills HS team in Fullerton, all turned in a two-under-par, 36-hole total of 140.
Northern California’s top seeded player is Kevin Fryer of San Ramon. The 33-year-old Ruby Hill member posted a one-under 141, one stroke behind the leaders. The next highest-seeded Northern Californian is Erik Flores of Grass Valley, a rising senior at UCLA and former State Fair champion. Flores had the #1 seed locked up until two late bogeys at Oakmont caused the former Sacramento Bee player of the year to fall to the 7th seed. Grant Rappleye (right), who was tied for the lead after yesterday’s first round. But the 18-year-old Elk Grove resident slipped to the 8th seed after a second-round 75 at Lakeside.
Defending champion Josh Anderson of Murrieta finished one stroke out of a tie for medalist honors, and is primed to defend his title from the 5th seed.
Scoring was tightly bunched as both courses proved to be tough to score on, but also didn’t yield a big number. It came as no surprise that there was a massive playoff to determine the last spots in the 32-player match-play field, featuring nine players for four spots.
The North Team grabbed the Roger Lapham Challenge Cup, the annual team match featuring six players from the north competing against six players from the south. After racing to an eight-stroke lead after the first round, the North Team withstood a furious South comeback to win by one stroke, 721-722. Four of the six team members qualified for match play including NCGA Amateur champion Ryan Hallisey of Granite Bay (the 14 seed), Taylor Travis of Fremont at the 13th seed,( the NCGA Four-Ball champion, along with Ryan Sloane), San Francisco City champion Martin Trainer and the NCGA Senior champion, Jeff Burda of Modesto (22nd seed). The win by the North Team is the first since 2005.
Fifteen players from Northern California and 17 from the south commence match play Wednesday. Two rounds are slated for Thursday with the quarterfinals and semifinals set for Friday. The scheduled 36-hole final takes place Saturday. Lakeside Golf Club will host all match play rounds.
Stroke-Play Qualifying Results
The winning North Team: captain Vaughn Kezirian, Jeff Burda, Martin
Trainer, Taylor Travis, Randy Haag, Scott Hardy and Ryan Hallisey