January 15, 2013

PEBBLE BEACH – With three months of the 2013 points season already in the past, a competitive NCGA Player of the Year race looks to be shaping up nicely. Although it is impossible to tell what the materializes in the months ahead, through the January 13 weekend only six points divide the number one and two spots. Moreover, three other players are within 100 points of the top spot and nine players are within 150 points, meaning the top spot is likely to shuffle around the coming months.

Currently, 22-year-old Tyler Raber of El Macero holds the top spot at 250 points. The senior at UC-Davis has ascended there by winning two point events, the 100-point Yolo County Amateur (October 6-7) and the 150-point amateurgolf.com Silicon Valley Amateur (January 12-13).  Raber finished in 35^th place on the 2012 points list, earning 458 points in seven events. If he’s able to play in more events in 2013, not only will he better his 2012 finish, he’ll also likely be a Player of the Year candidate.

Holding the top spot for much of December was 50-year-old Jeff Hoffman, who currently finds himself in second place at 244 points. The Folsom resident has primarily been bolstered by winning the NCGA Master Division Four-Ball Championship in October with partner Russell Humphrey as the two split 300 points between them. Additionally, Hoffman, has also earned points in the most events so far (five) than other players, including a runner-up performance in the Sacramento County Regional Four-Ball and a third place finish at amateurgolf.com’s Tour Championship.

Humphrey held the top spot for a few weeks in November, but has since been passed by Hoffman and Raber. The Lodi resident is currently in third place at 206 points. Also within 100 points of the lead are two collegiate golfers, Cory McElyea of Santa Cruz at 155 points (University of San Francisco) and Fresno’s Pace Johnson at 150 points (University of California-Berkley). Filling out the rest of the top 10 are Matt Hansen (125 points), Shotaro Ban (123 points), Mark Mance (117 points), Robert Briggs (105 points) and tied for 10^th with 100 points are Ian Dahl and RC Orr.

Unlike the NCGA Player of the Year race where two of the top three finishers in 2012 have yet to crack the list (Ben Geyer and Michael Weaver), the NCGA Senior Player of the Year race has virtually unchanged. Just as the Senior POY list appeared in early October after the 2012 season concluded, with Jim Knoll and Casey Boyns finishing first and second, the two once again occupy the top two spots.

Although it’s still early it looks like it will be a two person race for Senior POY as there’s significant separation between the two top seniors and the rest of the field. Knoll has already accumulated 920 points, which came primarily from a semifinal performance at the U.S. Senior Amateur and a tied runner-up performance at the CGA Senior. The only person to outperform Knoll at the CGA Senior was Boyns, who earned 600 points for winning the championship. Boyns currently is alone in second at 833 points, while the next nearest competitor after him being three time Senior POY Mark Miller at 314 points.

This article was filed under Full Page, Tournament News.
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