California Amateur: Trimble leads first day
PEBBLE BEACH, June 18 -- Blake Trimble of Rancho Santa Fe overcame the strong winds raking Monterey Peninsula Country Club today and finished birdie-eagle to complete a 5-under-par 67, good for a four-shot lead after the first round the 96th California Amateur Championship.
The 20-year-old Trimble, who is transferring from UNLV to the University of San Diego this fall, had five birdies and an eagle 3 on the Dunes Course, one of two being used in the stroke-play portion of the week-long event.
He's four shots in front of Jose Sanchez of Carmel, who had two advantages today. He was in the first group teeing off this morning on the Shore Course, thus avoiding some of the strong, cold winds that raked the club's two courses, and he certainly knows the layout because he's the club's chef (in fact, he went right to work after finishing his round.
Sanchez's 1-under-par 71 included a wild front nine, which saw him make three birdies, three bogies, a double-bogey and just two pars for a 2-over-par 37. However, he rallied with three birdies on his last eight holes and held the lead for nearly six hours until Trimble came in at the end of the day.
Sanchez is a shot in front of a quartet of golfers who shot 72. Defending champion Jordan Nasser of Anaheim Hills is one of three golfers who posted 1-over-par 73s today. Nasser also led the South team to a five shot lead after the first round of the Roger Lapham Challenge Cup, which is played concurrently with the stroke-play rounds.
The stroke-play portion of the event continues tomorrow (Tuesday) with the players switching courses starting times being somewhat altered. It may not help; the forecast is for even strong winds tomorrow. The low 32 scorers at the conclusion of play tomorrow advance to match play on the Shore Course beginning Wednesday. Match play continues Thursday and Friday with the 36-hole championship match scheduled for Saturday.
Trimble was in the next-to-last group to tee off today, which meant he felt the full force of the 30-mph winds that howled across the courses. Although his birdie-eagle finish was impressive, he was happiest to escape with a bogey on the 177-yard, par-4, 14th hole where the tee shot that must negotiate the Pacific Ocean waves crashing on the rocks all along the right side of the hole.
"I was happy I birdied Nos. 9 and 10 because I wanted as many shots as possible heading into the 14th," said Trimble later. On a hole where without wind he might hit seven iron or even eight iron, Trimble blasted a hybrid club to the edge of the green and then three-putted for bogey.
"I hit a lot of fairways and greens today," said Trimble after his round (in fact, he hit 15 of 18 greens and made two birdies and the eagle on the par-5 holes). "I told my dad that even-par would be a good score in this wind, so I'm really happy to finish the way I did."
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--Story courtesy SCGA
ABOUT THE California Amateur
The Championship is open to amateur golfers
who have established current indexes of 4.4
and are members in good standing of the
Southern California Golf Association, the
Northern California Golf Association, or the
Public Links Golf Association of Southern
California. Nonexempt players must qualify. An
entrant may play in only one qualifying event,
even
if
the golfer
belongs to clubs in both Southern California
and Northern California. The 18-hole
qualifying
rounds will determine the qualifiers.
The championship field will play 36 holes of
qualifying at a Northern or Southern California
Location, with the low 32 golfers from that
combined field moving on to match play (with
a
playoff, if necessary, to determine the final
spots).
Two rounds each of 18-hole match play will
follow on Thursday and Friday and the 36-hole
final match will be on Saturday.
The location will rotate yearly between
Northern and Southern California locations.
View Complete Tournament Information