Joe Fryer (Long Beach State photo)
MURRIETA, Calif. (Aug. 6, 2018) – A year ago, Jeff Wilson became the oldest winner of the SCGA Match Play Championship. This year, however, he’s not on the bracket, which leaves room for a new champion to be crowned at Bear Creek Golf Club.
That player, however, has plenty of work ahead of him.
Top seed Joe Fryer, who plays for Long Beach State, led the way to the Round of 16 with his 4-and-3 defeat of Jimmy Bonham at the top of the bracket. Fryer, of Long Beach, Calif., threw out two unanswered birdies at the end of the match to move on. Last month, Fryer won the SCGA Amateur, wire-to-wire style.
It was not the longest match of the day, however. That honor went to Zihau Jin of San Diego, who defeated Joey Herrera, 7 and 6. Jin went bogey free in the 12 holes he played, and Herrera couldn’t keep the big numbers of his card. Jin is a sophomore at San Diego State.
A day removed from winning his second Los Angeles City Match Play title – and his ninth overall city title – Tim Hogarth squeaked through his match with Jacob Montes, 1 up. Hogarth was down most of the match thanks to two Montes birdies in the first three holes. Hogarth birdied Nos. 9 and 10 to get back in it, then strung together seven pars and let Montes lose holes with bogey.
Tyler Moore, brother of University of Arizona standout Haley Moore, moved on with a 4-and-2 victory over Stephen Bemis. Corby Segal, who won his second Kelly Cup earlier this year, took a 5-and-4 victory over Chris Casey thanks to a bogey-free round. Stanford’s Ashwin Arasu also moved on, defeating Christopher Adnams, 4 and 3, to punch his ticket.
ABOUT THE Southern California Match Play
The Match Play and Senior Match Play
championships
began in 2008 as a means of bringing new credence
and incentive to the SCGA points program. The
SCGA
points program awards points to golfers who give
strong performances in SCGA, USGA, CGA and other
selected outside tournaments. This Championship is
open to SCGA members with a
Handicap index of 5.4 or below. Players must qualify
or earn an exemption into the
championship field.
The championship format is single-elimination match
play.
View Complete Tournament Information