InstagramXFacebook
  LOGIN  |  JOIN  |  INFO  |  BENEFITS

amateurgolf.com Bay Regional: Final Results
Berkeley, Calif. (Aug. 6, 2006) -- Chris Kilkenny and his friends have an expression that summarizes their attitude on the golf course.

"30 Seconds," goes the saying, according to the energetic Kilkenny. "After a bad shot, or bad break, you have 30 seconds. If you're not over it by then, you're going to wind up stewing over it for the rest of the round and you're done."

At Berkeley's Tilden Park Golf Course -- a well-traveled public course that sits smack dab in the middle of one of the most scenic public land preserves in Northern California (The East Bay Park District) -- Kilkenny, 25, of Arcata won the 69th Annual amateurgolf.com Bay Regional today and used the 30 second rule on several key occasions.

Leading by one over Jim Williams, 50, of Orinda heading into the final round, Kilkenny faced pressure from the veteran former-USC golfer (1978) and owner of 13 club championships at Orinda C.C.

"At a course like this, my competitive experience and memories of growing up on the muni courses in Los Angeles really help," said the soft-spoken Williams, who easily won the 50-and-over Senior Division.

Williams may have given up 30 yards off the tee to the consistent 300 yard drives of Kilkenny, but he made up for it with steady iron play and a strong short game that was shown off on No. 14, a par-5 where Kilkenny had less than 200 yards into the green while Williams was closer to 230. Williams missed the green short with a 3-wood, then hit a deft pitch up and over the firm front ridge to a pin tucked on the front portion of the upper tier. His birdie narrowed the margin to one as Kilkenny had missed the green with his 4-iron and failed to convert the up-and-down, settling for par.

Kilkenny got over it in 30 seconds.

With Kilkenny's lead down to one, the players exchanged bogeys on No. 15, and Kilkenny sensed an opening when Williams hit an uncharacteristically poor chip well short of the hole.

"I thought I had an opening making par on that pivotal hole, but Williams holed a 15-footer for his par," explained Kilkenny.

With both players in the trees to the right on No. 17, a downhill hole guarded by giant redwoods on each side, Kilkenny holed a pivotal par putt of a similar length to the one Williams made on No. 16 -- while Williams failed to convert his up-and-down for par -- and closed out the victory with solid chip and putt for par from behind the 18th green, where the pin was tucked in its traditional Sunday position.

The former UC Davis golfer -- who recently qualified for the USGA Amateur being played at Hazeltine CC in Minnesota in late August -- posted a 54-hole total of 2-over-par 212.

Net Division: Rush grabs his first amateurgolf.com Victory

In the Net Division, Noel Rush of Pacifica posted a 9-under-par total of 201 (net), fueled by a final round gross total of 75 (net 64) to win by 3 over Korsen Yu of Sunnyvale.

Rush, who hails from County Donegal in the Northwest of Ireland, has played all the great links courses of his homeland. His handicap has fluctuated between 7 and 10 over the last few years, and he has played in almost all of amateurgolf.com's tournaments, steadily improving his consistency.

In Saturday's second round, the golf gods seemed to be shining on the likeable Rush.

"I hit a nice hybrid club off the tee on No. 12, and had 89 yards to the center with the pin a few more back," said Rush. "I hit a wedge that flew into the hole, taking a good piece of the lip of the cup with it."

At the end of the day, however, it was Sunnyvale's Yu that had the advantage, by two strokes. On Sunday Yu, playing with Rush, hit a wedge that nailed the flag stick and cup, ending up just feet from the cup for an easy birdie.

"I thought, 'this is payback,' said Rush.

But it was Rush's day, as the seesaw match between he and Yu swung in his direction on No. 16, one of the Bay Area's finest par 3's with views of the Bay on a clear day at the highest point on the course. Rush had tripled the hole the day before -- this time he nailed a 5-iron that found the plateau green where he two-putted for par to take a 4 stroke lead into the final holes. At the same time, he was enjoying one of his career rounds at 3-over-par gross on the day. Rush double-bogeyed No. 17, then came home with a solid par for a round of 75 gross and 3-stroke victory.

Tournament Notes:
Special thanks to the Tilden Park Men's Club and Bay Regional Tournament Committee for trusting amateurgolf.com with the stewardship of this fine tournament, which will enter year 70 next year with a similar 54-hole format. Thanks to Marc Souza, Shelley Hara, and the entire staff at Tilden Park for helping with the transition, and to our amateurgolf.com staff including Tournament Director Liz McQueen and a fine team of spotters for keeping play moving all weekend. Despite a hiccup on the first day at the turn, we were able to play in the 4 1/2 hour timeframe all weekend.

bay regional champions
Champion Chris Kilkenny (2nd from left) with Chris Moreno-Hunt (far left), Andrew Bowdish (far right) and Jim Williams
net winners bay regional
Net Champion Noel Rush (center) picked up his first amateurgolf.com Crystal. Runner-up Korsen Yu is on the far right, and T3 James Murphy is on the far left

Final results from the 69th Annual amateurgolf.com Bay Regional Championship, played at the 6246-yard, Par 70 Tilden Park Golf Course follow (note only players who survived the 36-hole cut of 149 in the Championship and 140 in the Net Division are shown):

Championship
Name Hometown R1 R2 R3 Tot
Chris Kilkenny Arcata, CA 71 69 72 212
Jim Williams Orinda, CA 72 69 73 214
Chris Moreno-Hunt Berkeley, CA 71 73 72 216
Andrew Bowdish San Jose, CA 72 72 73 217
Giuliano Delecce Carmel Valley, CA 70 75 73 218
Patrick Pernice Oakland, CA 71 72 76 219
George Gandranata Berkeley, CA 71 74 74 219
Michael Fajardo Lafayette, CA 73 70 77 220
Jake Bieber Alamo, CA 77 69 74 220
Andrew Sanchez San Bruno, CA 76 71 73 220
Garth Watrous Watsonville, CA 75 72 74 221
Wayne McClintock Palo Alto, CA 71 71 80 222
John Enright Montara, CA 74 72 76 222
Bryan Moquin Redwood City, CA 73 74 75 222
Brett Viboch Moraga, CA 74 73 75 222
Tom Pera Scotts Valley, CA 75 73 74 222
Brent Booth Los Altos, CA 79 70 73 222
Jason Stone Antioch, CA 75 73 75 223
Nick White Sacramento, CA 73 76 76 225
Brendan Wong Orange, CA 75 74 77 226
Senior
Name Hometown R1 R2 R3 Tot
Jim Williams Orinda, CA 72 69 73 214
Dave Ware Martinez, CA 81 79 80 240
Mike Merritt Livermore, CA 80 82 78 240
Jim Thurman Clayton, CA 86 83 WD
NET
Name Hometown R1 R2 R3 Tot
Noel Rush Pacifica, CA 71 66 64 201
Korsen Yu Sunnyvale, CA 69 66 69 204
James Murphy San Francisco, CA 71 67 67 205
Alex Hwang Orinda, CA 68 71 66 205
Paul Agriesti Orinda, CA 68 70 70 208
Cary Lapidus Berkeley, CA 70 67 73 210
James Grensted Belmont, CA 72 68 70 210
Jon McCurdy Rancho Murieta 74 66 77 217


ABOUT THE amateurgolf.com 2006 Bay Regional Championship

Untitled Document


The cut for was made at 149 for the final round in the Bay Regioinal Championship to be played on Sunday 6th August. Net Division cut at 140.

To view final round pairings, Click here Hotel Rate: Hotel Rate Code: Lodging Info: