Q&A: SF City Sr champ Jim Williams
12 Mar 2014
by Benjamin Larsen of AmateurGolf.com
see also: , Jim Williams Profile
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Jim Williams is a well-known member of
AmateurGolf.com.
Among the earliest members of the site and a
seven-time winner on the AmateurGolf.com
Tour, it’s hard not to
know Williams if you’re a regular on the site.
That’s why his second win in three tries at the
San Francisco City Senior Championship this
past weekend at
Presidio Golf Course seems to hold a bit more
weight than some of the other feats we’ve
seen this year on the
amateur golf circuits.
After all, Jim Williams is San Francisco golf.
He proved that yet again with an impressive
victory over Steve Schroeder on Sunday. In
three years in the
Senior Division, Williams has won twice and
lost
in the final match last year, going 14-1 in
match play during the
span. Not a bad start to what will surely be an
impressive run of senior golf both in the Bay
Area and beyond.
The victory is another, rather meaningful, line
item on an impressive golf resume (his
personal
resume isn’t too
bad, either), which includes more than 16 club
championships, first-team All-Conference
honors while
at USC and, of
course, a stint on the USGA’s Executive
Committee.
AmateurGolf.com caught up with Williams
following his most recent victory to chat about
this year’s ‘City’, his
time with the USGA and what the future holds:
For starters, take us through the final
match.
Once we got to match play, I played pretty
well but during qualifying, I was lousy. I
putted
like a complete idiot.
I was lucky to get it going in match play. I
made five birdies and was 3-up after the first
18. I went on to win 9,
10, 11 and 12 and just like that, the match
was over. I played well and was lucky to win.
Steve is a really good
player and played well. We played together a
few other times in the tournament and we had
a fun day.
How does this win compare with your first
in 2012?
The first one was unexpected. I made the
finals last year and got a silver medal and
then, to win it again was
amazing. If you would’ve told me before I
played that I’d have this much success in the
first three years, I
wouldn’t have believed you. Winning the first
one was extraordinarily special. Sandy Tatum
is a good friend of
mine and he was out there and that was very
special. I remember I had to make a putt to
win it on the last hole
and it was great. This time, winning it for the
second time on a new course, which I had
actually never played,
was fantastic. I really liked the course and my
wife was able to be there for the end and the
awards ceremony.
It was special. They had a really nice
ceremony with several luminaries of San
Francisco and West Coast golf.
With your USGA post complete, will that
free you up for more competitive golf?
I hope so! I’m still involved with the USGA on
special projects and it was a great
commitment and service to the
game. I just couldn’t continue to serve.
Hopefully that gives me a bit more time to
play.
What does your schedule look like for the
rest of the season?
I’ll hopefully try to qualify for the U.S. Senior
Amateur and play in the Northern California
Senior Amateur and
California State Senior. The key for me is the
U.S. Senior Amateur.