10th Annual NCGA Amateur Stroke Championship | Bayonet/Black Horse GC | July 12-14, 2013
2012 Champion: Ben Geyer
First played in 1944, the NCGA Stroke Play Championship has a special history, as the tournament has been won by the likes of Ken Venturi and Johnny Miller. But the event was cancelled in 1966 when the NCGA decided to add the now-popular Four-Ball Championship.
The original championship was played over 72 holes, while the renewed format which began in 2004, is a 54-hole event staged at Poppy Hills every year. During the Poppy Hills renovation in 2013, the championship will be held at Bayonet/Black Horse GC in neigboring Seaside.
Kevin Lucas holds the 54-hole tournament record set in 2010 of 11-under-par 205. While Talbert Smith has won the championship more than any other player (four times), since the renewed event, Scott Hardy is the only player to claim multiple victories (’04, ’11).
The sterling silver perpetual trophy was donated by the San Francisco Examiner in 1944.
Online Registration – Paper Registration
Qualifying Information
ENTRIES CLOSE: May 17, 2013
Qualifying for the 2012 Amateur Stroke Play Championship takes place June 14 at the following courses:
Coyote Creek | Del Monte | Haggin Oaks | Paradise Valley | Roddy Ranch | Stevinson Ranch
The event is open to all players with a handicap index of 5.4 or less.
Format: 18 holes qualifying. 100 players plus ties (including exempts) will advance to the championship. Championship play is 54 holes of stroke play (18 holes per day). After 36 holes the field will be cut to 40 players and ties.
All players must qualify except the following: All past champions prior to 2004 (beginning in 2004, this is a 10-year exemption) and the top 10 and ties from the preceding year, players who reached the quarter-finals of the Amateur Match Play of the preceding year and the following current NCGA champions: Public Links, Senior, Junior, Master Division, Valley Amateur and Valley Senior Amateur. Players who reached the quarterfinals of the CGA in the previous year are also exempt. Exemptions are also granted to the top 15 players on the preceding year’s final NCGA Points List. Each exempt player is required to submit an entry prior to the closing date. Amateur Stroke Play Exemptions
Tournament Recaps
Going into Sunday’s final round all indications pointed to a win likely to come from a young up-and-coming NCGA player named Ben. El Macero resident Ben Corfee and Ben Geyer of Arbuckle separated themselves from the field after 36 holes as Corfee stood at 140 and Geyer stood at 141, with their nearest competitors at 144. After Sunday’s round was complete the odds turned out to be correct as the 20-year-old Geyer posted his third straight under-par score to win by four shots. Read Full 2012 Recap | View 2012 Photo Gallery
Scott Hardy is beginning to make competing in NCGA major championships look very easy. After capturing the NCGA Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Poppy Hills. Starting the day one stroke off Casey Boyns’ lead, Hardy struggled for the first 11 holes, hitting only two greens, but staying only one behind Boyns. A birdie on the par-5 12th hole stopped the bleeding. Birdies on 16 and the final hole secured the championship. Read Full 2011 Recap | View Full 2011 Photo Gallery
Kevin Lucas blew away the field in the final round of the NCGA Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Poppy Hills, his 7-under 65 propelling him to a new tournament record and a four-shot win. Lucas, a Folsom native and member of the Collegiate Players’ Club, began the day one back of St. Mary’s Golf Coach Scott Hardy and University of Washington-bound Cory McElyea. Read 2010 Full Recap | View 2010 Photo Gallery
Rick Reinsberg played a game of “Catch Me If You Can” in winning the 6th annual NCGA Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Poppy Hills wire to wire. The champion essentially won the tournament with a stellar, opening-round 5-under-par 67 and letting the rest of the field chase him for the final two rounds. After carding five birdies and an eagle in that opening round, he held on to the lead throughout with rounds of 72 and 70 to win by five shots over Salinas Fairways’ Ricky Stockton.
Read Full 2009 Recap | View 2009 Photo Gallery
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, you have a friend in NCGA Stroke Play Champion Matthew Hollinsead. After the 22-year-old posted wildly divergent rounds of 67-77-69 that the Robert Louis Stevenson characters would be proud of, Hollinsead found himself opposite NCGA veteran Rick Reinsberg in a playoff. “I’m an up-and-down player, the champion said. “I’ve been streaky my whole life”… Read Full 2008 Recap | View 2008 Photo Gallery
After establishing a four-stroke lead through two rounds, Casey Boyns began his final round leaky. “I don’t like being in the lead,” Boyns said. “I’d rather come from behind. But I know how golf is — something bad is always going to happen. I kept trying to play the golf course and not worry about what anyone else was doing.” A front-nine, three over 39 left the Pacific Grove resident in a tie for the lead with UC Davis rising senior Matt Marshall… Read Full 2007 Recap | View 2007 Photo Gallery
Past Champions
| 1944 | James Molinari at Sharp Park GC |
| 1945 | Earl Stewart at Harding Park GC |
| 1946 | Talbert Smith at Sharp Park GC |
| 1947 | Dick Bailey at Sonoma GC |
| 1948 | Talbert Smith at Sonoma GC |
| 1949 | Eli Bariteau at Peninsula GCC |
| 1950 | Al Frye at Sacramento GC |
| 1951 | Kenneth Venturi at La Rinconada GCC |
| 1952 | Kenneth Venturi at Presidio GC |
| 1953 | William Colm at Del Rio GCC |
| 1954 | Jack Bariteau at San Jose CC |
| 1955 | E. Harvie Ward at Stanford GC |
| 1956 | Talbert Smith at Castlewood CC |
| 1957 | Talbert Smith at Peninsula GCC |
| 1958 | Verne Callison at Silverado CC |
| 1959 | Verne Callison at Orinda CC and Sequoyah CC |
| 1960 | George Archer at California GC and Presidio GC |
| 1961 | Ernest Pieper, Jr. at San Jose CC and La Rinconada CC |
| 1962 | John Lotz at Lake Merced GC |
| 1963 | Stephen Oppermann at Stanford GC |
| 1964 | Johnny Miller at Meadow Club and Peacock Gap GC |
| 1965 | Steve Whitman at Sierra View GC and Sunset Oaks GC |
| 1966 | Jim Wiechers at Sharon Heights GCC and Mira Vista GCC |
| 2004 | Scott Hardy at Poppy Hills GC (73-70-68—211) |
| 2005 | Bob Niger at Poppy Hills GC (75-68-70—213) |
| 2006 | Erick Justesen at Poppy Hills GC (71-71-73—215) |
| 2007 | Casey Boyns at Poppy Hills GC (69-70-75—214) |
| 2008 | Matthew Hollinsead at Poppy Hills GC (67-77-69—213) |
| 2009 | Rick Reinsberg at Poppy Hills GC (67-72-70—209) |
| 2010 | Kevin Lucas at Poppy Hills GC (68-72-65—205) |
| 2011 | Scott Hardy at Poppy Hills GC (71-67-72—210) |
| 2012 | Ben Geyer at Poppy Hills GC (70-71-71—212) |
About Bayonet GC
Bayonet No. 18
Named after the Army’s 7th Infantry Division – the first major unit to occupy Fort Ord, as well as the last. The famed Light Fighters (nicknamed the “Bayonet Division”) marched for the last time during inactivation ceremonies in 1993 as part of the Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC).
With 7,104 yards of oak and cypress-lined fairways, Bayonet Golf Course was designed in 1954 by General Robert McClure, the Commanding Officer of the post at that time. Gen. McClure, a left-handed golfer with a severe slice, designed the course to fit his game. This is evidenced by holes #11-15, a series of sharp doglegs, widely known as “Combat Corner.” Notoriously known for its magnificently manicured, long, and narrow fairways, Bayonet is one tough, but rewarding 18-hole adventure. With four sets of tees, the course is a par 72, with a slope of 141 and a rating of 74.8.
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About Black Horse GC
Black Horse No. 1
Named in honor of the 11th Cavalry Regiment (nicknamed “Black Horse”) which was stationed at the Presidio of Monterey from 1919-1940.
Black Horse was designed in 1964 by General Edwin Carnes, the Commanding General of Fort Ord from April 1963 until June of 1965. With the most breath-taking views of the Monterey Bay imaginable, the most recent renovations transformed Black Horse into a longer, more challenging “championship golf course.” With long rolling fairways, “championship golf tees,” and alluring panoramic views of the Monterey Bay, Black Horse will not only take your game through its paces, it will also captivate your soul. Black Horse is now 7,024 yards long, with four sets of tees; a par 72, with a slope of 141 and a rating of 73.7.