SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (June 30, 2012) --
He has a prolific resume, including two SCGA
Amateur Championships and a USGA Mid-Am
Championship, but when Kevin Marsh claimed
the 101st California Amateur Championship
Saturday afternoon in his hometown of Santa
Barbara, it quickly climbed towards the top of
his list of memorable moments.
"I've been lucky enough to win a lot
of golf tournaments, but this one is right up
there as good as any of them," said
Marsh, as he addressed a crowd of more than
100 people during the award ceremony.
Marsh defeated Ben Geyer of Arbuckle,
Calif. 4 & 3 in the 36-hole final of the six-
day tournament, winning his first state title.
Marsh blazed the La Cumbre CC course with
eight birdies and one eagle in 33 holes, while
putting on a putting clinic for the gallery of
almost 200 locals, who were dedicated to
cheering on their hometown hero.
Marsh and Geyer battled it out through the
first 18 holes, with Marsh flirting between a
one
and two stroke advantage for most of the
initial
round. Marsh extended that lead to 4 up
through 25 holes, but Geyer, who had pulled
out four come-from-behind victories already
this week, cut the lead in half after hole 28.
On
the 31st hole of the match, however, with the
advantage back to 3 up, Marsh made the shot
of the tournament, draining a 40-ft breaking
putt to basically put the match out of Geyer's
reach. Two holes later, it was over.
"Kevin capitalized when he needed
to," said Geyer. "It was a great
learning experience. Obviously coming into
today anything but a win would be
disappointing, but Kevin played really well, and
it
was a great week."
Geyer and Marsh got to know each other
pretty well earlier in the week, as the two
were
in the same pairing during the stroke play
portion of the championship. The final match
was extremely friendly, with the two
competitors congratulating their opponent
every chance they got.
Geyer didn't make it easy on himself Friday,
going to extra holes in both his quarterfinal and
semifinal matches, playing a combined 42 holes
on the day. While he admitted his legs
"weren't feeling great" today, he
almost said it didn't affect his game.
California (CGA) State Amateur Championship: Top Finishers
1. 
Southeast