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Seaver Cup: NCGA, SCGA Name Teams for Nov Matches
06 Oct 2006
see also: California Amateur Cup Matches, La Quinta Country Club

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NORTH HOLLYWOOD — October 6, 2006 — Two-time defending champion Scott McGihon of Bermuda Dunes and reigning California state and Southern California Golf Association (SCGA) Senior Amateur champion Steve Bogan of Placentia will head an eight man SCGA-team that will meet its Northern California counterparts in the fifth Seaver Cup matches November 11-12 at historic Ojai Valley Inn & Spa.

Reigning NCGA Player of the Year Bob Niger of El Dorado Hills heads the NCGA team.

The biennial matches, named for legendary amateur golfer Charles Seaver, use a modified Walker Cup/Ryder Cup format with four-ball and foursomes matches scheduled for Sat., Nov. 11 and eight singles matches to be played the following day. The SCGA is the defending champion, having won 31-17 in 2004, and leads the overall series 2-1-1.

Each association names an eight-man team, two of whom must be seniors (age 55 or older). Collegiate players are not eligible to play due to NCAA regulations.

The SCGA team is:

• David Bartman of Los Angeles, the 2005 Trans-Mississippi Mid-Amateur champion who tied for fourth in this year’s SCGA Amateur, tied for fifth in this year’s SCGA Mid-Amateur and reached the quarterfinals of this year’s Trans-Miss. View Profile>

• Robert Funk of Canyon Lake, who earlier this year won the SCGA Mid-Amateur and Trans-Mississippi Mid-Amateur titles. View Profile>

• Tim Hogarth of Northridge, the 2004 SCGA Amateur champion. Hogarth won the 1996 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship and played in the 1997 Masters. He also captured the 1999 California Amateur and 1999 SCGA Mid-Amateur, thus becoming the only person to win the state amateur, SCGA Amateur and SCGA Mid-Amateur titles. View Profile>

• John McClure of West Los Angeles, 2005 SCGA Mid-Amateur champion.

• Scott McGihon of Bermuda Dunes, who last July at Bakersfield CC won his second consecutive and third overall SCGA Amateur Championship, becoming just the seventh golfer to win three or more SCGA Amateurs and the sixth to capture back-to-back titles in the 107-year history of the event. McGihon, a middle school teacher and high school golf coach, was also the 2004 Trans-Mississippi Mid-Amateur and 2000 SCGA Amateur champion. He is also the only SCGA member to play in all five Seaver Cups.

• John Pate of Santa Barbara, the 1999 SCGA Amateur and 2000 SCGA Mid-Amateur champion, who also won the 2000 and 2005 SCGA Tournament of Club Champions titles and, playing with Hogarth, captured the 2003 and 2004 SCGA Foursomes championships.

The SCGA senior representatives are:

• Steve Bogan of Placentia, who last month won the SCGA Senior Amateur Championship at the Ranch Course at The Alisal, thus becoming the first person to win the California Golf Association (state) Senior and SCGA Senior Amateur titles in the same year. Bogan was also the 2004 SCGA Senior Amateur champion.

• Jerry Michals of Carlsbad, who qualified for match play in the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur championships and tied for seventh in the recent SCGA Senior Amateur championship.

The NCGA team is:

• Bob Niger of El Dorado Hills, the 2005 NCGA Player of the Year and 2006 Masters Division champion. View Profile

• Scott Hardy of Pleasant Hill, the St. Mary’s College golf coach who reached the semifinals of the 2006 U.S. Mid-Amateur at Forest Highlands and won the 2004 NCGA Amateur Stroke Play championship. View Profile>

• Garrett Wagner of Brentwood (in Northern California).

• Randy Haag of Burlingame, a former three-time NCGA Player of the Year who has won 11 NCGA championships. View Profile>

• Chris Kilkenny of Arcata.

• Ryan Thronberry of Ceres., a former Cal State Stanislaus star.

The NCGA’s senior members are:

• Rob Thompson of Merced, the 2004 CGA State Senior champion.

• Gary Vanier of Pleasant Hill, the 1982 California Amateur champion who was runner-up to Bogan in this year’s state senior championship at Poppy Hills GC.

ABOUT OJAI VALLEY INN & SPA
The Ojai Valley Inn & Spa has hosted each of the previous four Seaver Cup matches. Designed by legendary golf course architect George C. Thomas, Jr., in 1923, Ojai Valley Inn & Spa was one of several great Thomas designs in the first “golden age” of golf course construction during the 1920s. Thomas’ other creations include Bel-Air CC, The Los Angeles CC, Riviera CC, each of which is listed in most worldwide “top course” lists.

The Inn’s 6,292-yard, par-70 layout has six par-4 holes stretching over 400 yards and three par-3s topping 200 yards. The final three holes include the two “lost” holes, a par-3 and a par-4 that were in Thomas’ original design but subsequently eliminated when the course was turned into a World War II training center. In 1999, the holes were reconstructed to the original designs and are now the 16th and 17th holes, the prelude to the challenging 445-yard finishing hole.

SEAVER CUP HISTORY
The first Seaver Cup match was held in 1998 when the SCGA defeated the NCGA 25.5 to 22.5 (one point is awarded for each nine and one point for the overall match, with ties earning 1/2 point each), The score was even after nine holes of the singles matches before the SCGA finally prevailed.

The two teams tied, 24-24, in 2000 with former U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Greg Puga rolling in a five-foot putt to square the back side against Randy Haag and keep the Cup in the SCGA’s possession.

The NCGA won the Cup for the only time in 2002 when it defeated the SCGA 28.5-19.5, winning all three components of the matches in the process.

In the most lopsided score of the series, the SCGA regained the Cup in 2004 with a 31-17 victory over their northern counterparts, winning the foursomes 8-4 and the four-ball matches 11-1 before halving the singles matches. McGihon won eight out of a possible nine points to pace the way.

ABOUT CHARLIE SEAVER
The Seaver Cup is named in honor of legendary California golfer Charles Seaver, who is one of just two people ever to hold the California Amateur, NCGA Amateur and SCGA Amateur titles at the same time. Seaver won the 1933 state and Northern California titles and added the SCGA Amateur to his resume in 1934. The timing of the events meant that, for a few weeks, he had all three trophies in his possession. (George Von Elm won all three titles in 1925). 

Seaver, who passed away at age 93 a month before the 2004 Seaver Cup, was NCGA president in 1980. His father, Everett, was SCGA president in 1920. Charlie is the father and Everett the grandfather of baseball Hall-of-Fame pitcher Tom Seaver.

ABOUT THE California Amateur Cup Matches

Formerly known as the Seaver Cup Matches, the biennial California Amateur Cup Matches brings together the best male and female players of the Northern (NCGA) and Southern (SCGA) California golf associations for team competition. Each team is comprised of 20 players: 12 males (four Seniors and eight non- Seniors) and eight females. Participating players are to be selected by NCGA and SCGA members of the California Golf Association board with consideration to Player of the Year Standings in both the NCGA and SCGA. The winning team will receive the Seaver Cup, which is named in honor of NCGA Hall of Famer Charles Seaver.

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