HOLLISTER, Calif. (July 6, 2008)--It was an amateurgolf.com first this weekend at San Juan Oaks in Hollister. Three divisions – three ties.

First there were the seniors, finishing early as they enjoy their customary “dawn patrol” times that allow them to set the pace. Mark Miller of Antioch, our current senior points leader, and his partner Mike Harding posted a 3-under 69 on Sunday to catch Marco Dusi (Escalon) and Ken Webb of Turlock. Since Dusi and Webb had not both reached the age 55 minimum required by the NCGA for senior points, Miller and Harding took the points and gave the trophies to Dusi and Webb. Bob Reed and Jay Guerin of Fremont took third place, while defending champs Neil Duffy and Bob Cayton finished fourth.

In the Net Division, the two leading teams (James Grensted/Bill Strahan and Bart Goldie/Sunil Bhalla) were battling it out in the final group, with Grensted and Strahan making up a three-shot deficit with five holes to play. Strahan saved par from the bunker on No. 18, for a net three that did the trick. At the scoreboard, Korsen Yu and partner Greg Yates, who had also posted 11-under 133, not only got the good news that they had caught the leaders; they also won a card-off for the crystal.

But the biggest comeback belonged to Randy Haag of Burlingame and partner Andrew Biggadike of Palo Alto, two excellent golfers who have been paired together in the past but who had not partnered together until amateurgolf.com founder Pete Wlodkowski made the suggestion last week. (“Thanks for the partner,” Haag said on Sunday as the team posted a remarkable 8-under par 64 on a San Juan Oaks course that was fully tipped out at 7,133 brutal yards.

Haag and Biggadike’s 64 put them in a tie with first round leaders Scott Hardy and James Hay, who had posted 65 on Saturday and were paired with Ryan Sloane and the UCLA-bound Taylor Travis of Fremont (66). When Sloane and Travis had trouble finding red numbers in Sunday’s final round, Hardy and Hay knew to look ahead to the group in front of them, that included the always-a-threat Haag and Biggadike. When Biggadike holed a 30 footer for birdie at No. 17, with Hardy and Hay watching from the fairway, it was game on.

Alas, the comeback fell short after a short gathering in the clubhouse, as the four players headed out for a sudden death playoff, which was ended with a Hay birdie on the third hole, an uphill dogleg left par four.

“My partner couldn’t hit the earth on the first two playoff holes, but he sure made a nice birdie on three,” joked Hardy, head coach of the St. Mary’s College golf team that recently made a trip to the NCAA Division I Golf Championship.

TOURNAMENT NOTES:

* Nice Call – Bart Goldie of Mill Valley made an eagle two on No. 10 on Saturday, holing a four iron from the fairway. “Hey, it was VERY windy,” said Bart about his club selection.

* Our new website – As we grow the amount of content and “reach” of amateurgolf.com, it may be a bit harder to find the Tournament Series results and pairings during the event. A quick tip – look at the regional news in the upper right for a headline, or you can always go directly to the Tournament Series website by visiting www.amateurgolf.com/tour or by selecting “amateurgolf.com Tournament Series” from the “Tournaments” dropdown menu. (we hope you like the site and welcome your feedback)

Next up in the amateurgolf.com Tournament Series is the San Diego County Amateur on July 14-15, followed by the historic Bay Regional at Berkeley’s Tilden Park Golf Course. Although the Bay Regional tournament has been shortened to 36 holes this year, it is still a 100 NCGA points event and newly-added NCGA senior points event, at the 50 point level. Entry fees are well under $200 and if you have never played this one, we encourage you to join us.

Full results from 7,133-yard, par-72 San Juan Oaks Golf Club follow:

	Championship Flight	Rd.1	Rd.2	Tot.
T1	Scott Hardy, Pleasant Hill, CA	65	69	134
	James Hay, Fremont, CA
T1	Andrew Biggadike, Palo Alto, CA	70	64	134
	Randy Haag, Burlingame, CA
3	Taylor Travis, Fremont, CA	66	72	138
	Ryan Sloane, Campbell, CA
4	Pat Phillips, Mountain View, CA	69	71	140
	Kyle Gentry, Palo Alto, CA
5	John Driver, Palo Alto, CA	71	71	142
	Jason McHargue, Redwood City, CA
T6	Patrick Burda, Modesto, CA	75	68	143
	Brent Gardner, Modesto, CA
T6	Tak Taoyama, San Jose, CA	74	69	143
	Sean Dyer, Aptos, CA
T6	Pete Wlodkowski, Carlsbad, CA	70	73	143
	Dave Rathjen, San Jose, CA
T6	Ernesto Moreno, San Jose, CA	71	72	143
	Marlo Bramlett, Saratoga, CA
10	Rick Lindsey, Pleasanton, CA	77	71	148
	Rob Schneider, Lafayette, CA
11	Randall Schwartz, Burlingame, CA	77	78	155
	Keith Schwartz, San Mateo, CA
12	Robert Furgurson, Watsonville, CA	81	78	159
	Pete Galea, Royal Oaks, CA
	Senior Flight	Rd.1	Rd.2	Tot.
T1	Mark Miller, Antioch, CA	70	69	139
	Michael Harding, Antioch, CA
T1	Marco Dusi, Escalon, CA	69	70	139
	Ken Webb, Turlock, CA
3	Bob Reed, Fremont, CA	69	74	143
	Jay Guerin, Fremont, CA
4	Neil Duffy, Santa Cruz, CA	71	73	144
	Bob Cayton, Aptos, CA
5	Jeff Ford, Carmel, CA	73	72	145
	Craig Ling, Monterey, CA
6	Frank Pieper, Carmel, CA	72	75	147
	Bob Schoenherr, San Jose, CA
7	Sam Reeves, Fresno, CA	74	78	152
	Conrad Nilmeier, Fresno, CA
	Net Flight	Rd.1	Rd.2	Tot.
T1	Korsen Yu, Sunnyvale, Ca	65	68	133
	Greg Yates, Los Gatos, CA
T1	James Grensted, Belmont, CA	62	71	133
	Bill Strahan, Burlingame, CA
3	Sunil Bhalla, Fremont, CA	63	71	134
	Bart Goldie, Oakland, CA
4	Scott Rhine, San Jose, CA	69	66	135
	Jeff Krogen, San Jose, Ca
5	Robert Vernon, San Francisco, CA	70	66	136
	James Murphy, San Francisco, CA
6	Gary Anderson, Pacific Grove, CA	67	69	136
	John Biason, Carmel, CA
7	Rick Pittenger, San Jose, CA	65	72	137
	Jeff Lerner, Sunnyvale, CA
8	Bill Ebert, Morgan Hill, CA	69	71	140
	Paul Hammond, Los Gatos, CA
9	Al Richardson, Santa Clara, CA	78	75	153
	Tim Ochsner, Santa Clara, CA

 

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