7th NCGA Senior Match Play Championship | Spanish Bay GC & Spyglass Hill GC | August 12-16, 2013

2012 Champion: Terry Foreman

The NCGA Senior Match Play Championship was historically an invite-only event in which the top 16 players on the NCGA Senior points list were invited to participate in the Senior Match Play Championship, held concurrently with the NCGA Amateur Match Play at Spyglass Hill, over a three-day period. However, beginning in 2012 the event was modified to a 32-player match play field, still allotting 16 spots to the top 16 of the NCGA Senior points list, while allowing the other half of the field to qualify. This change made this championship into a week-long event with the 18-hole stroke-play qualifying and the opening round of 32 taking place at a designated Monterey-area course Monday and Tuesday.  Wednesday the tournament moves over to its traditional spot at Spyglass Hill with rounds of 16 and quarterfinals taking place that day. The semifinal round takes place Thursday morning with the 18-hole final concluding the event on Friday.

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Tournament Recaps

Since 1977, the 12^th hole at Spyglass Hill has been special for Terry Foreman, winner of the 6^thAnnual NCGA Senior Match Play Championship. More than three decades ago, the 160-yard par 3 became his mother’s favorite as she made her first visit to Spyglass when Foreman won the NCGA Public Links Championship as a 20-year-old. Last year when Dena passed away, he spread her ashes on the tee. And now in his first year competing as a senior, the 12^th is where he took the lead for good in his championship match with Gary Vanier. Read Full 2012 Recap | 2012 Bracket

Casey Boyns added another NCGA title to his already impressive resume. Friday at 10:50 a.m. on the 18th hole of Spyglass Hill, Boyns knocked off Jeff Burda 1-up to win the 5th Annual Senior Amateur Match Play Championship.The final match lived up to its hype as two of the previous four finals have featured a #4 seed (Boyns) versus a #2 seed (Burda), with the seeds splitting the championships 1-1, and those matches having gone 18 and 19 holes, respectively. This match was no different as only five of the holes were halved and the lead changed three times, with the match going the distance. Read Full 2011 Recap | 2011 Bracket

Dan Bieber of Green Valley CC claimed his first NCGA title in 10 years, besting Merced’s Rob Thompson 2 and 1. Bieber, winner of the 2000 NCGA Masters Championship, managed to hold off the NCGA cagey veteran who won this championship in 2007 and 2008 and continues to play at a high level of excellence well into his 60s. In their fifth match in three days, the Green Valley member took an early lead and would not relinquish it for the rest of the day. Read Full 2010 Recap | 2010 Bracket

It was a great day for Jeff Burda. The sun shone through the Monterey Pines and a gentle breeze swirled at Spyglass Hill as Del Rio’s Jeff Burda claimed his first  NCGA Senior Match Play Championship title. With son Patrick on the bag, the 2008 Senior Player of the Year served up a spread of five birdies and no bogeys for a flawless 6 and 4 win over Rob Adolph of Fresno. Read Full 2009 Recap | 2009 Bracket

Rob Thompson successfully defended his NCGA Senior Match Play title at Spyglass Hill. The retired teacher pocketed a big win over accomplished player Jeff Burda of Del Rio.  The nail-biting back and forth match went to the 18th hole and Thompson hung in long enough to nab the championship after being down in the match most of the way. Read Full 2008 Recap | 2008 Bracket
In a 19-hole final match that provided a fitting conclusion to the inaugural NCGA Senior Match Play Championship, Merced’s Rob Thompson defeated Carl Selkirk of Butte Creek at Spyglass Hill. Thompson’s 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th to win the hole extended a match that saw neither player ever establish more than a 1-up lead. A par on the ensuing extra hole secured the championship for Thompson. Read Full 2007 Recap | 2007 Bracket

Past Champions

About Spyglass Hill

Spyglass Hill No. 14

Ranked number 11 on “America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses” list by Golf Digest for 2011-2012. Spyglass Hill was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr., as a part of the master plan for the Pebble Beach ocean front between Cypress Point and Pebble Beach. Opened in 1966, the design features two distinctly different kinds of terrain that influence the way the holes look and play. The first five holes roll through sandy seaside dunes challenging the golfer to carefully pick the safest path. The following 13 holes are cut through pine trees with elevated greens and strategically placed bunkers and lakes to grab the errant shot. Spyglass Hill is rated one of the toughest courses in the world from the Championship tees, boasting a course rating of 75.5 and a slope rating of 147. The PGA Tour consistently lists Spyglass Hill’s holes 6, 8 and 16 among the toughest on the tour, and during the 1999 United States Amateur, the stroke average of the field during medal play was in excess of 79.

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About Spanish Bay

Spanish Bay

Ranked number 57 on “America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses” list by Golf Digest for 2011-2012. Spanish Bay was designed by a trio of golf legends across various aspects of the game, Tom Watson (eight-time major winner), Sandy Tatum (former USGA president) and Robert Trent Jones Jr. (designer of more than 250 courses worldwide). Their intention in the design was to create a true links golf course, similar to golf courses commonly found in Scotland. Stretching 6,821 yards from the Championship tees with a course rating of 74.2, the Links at Spanish Bay provides a demamding challenge for all golfers. When the course opened in November of 1987, Watson fired a five-under 67, which still stands as the official course record.

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