-- photo NCGA
DALY CITY, Calif. (June 12, 2011) -- A week from now 156 players from 15 qualifying spots will meet at the Olympic Club for the 100th playing of the California State Amateur. The top 32 that make it through qualifying on both the Ocean and Lake Courses will advance to match play on the Lake layout.
Players and spectators will get a first-hand look at the extensive renovation in preparation for the U.S. Open next year. Now all of the greens on the Lake course feature bentgrass. There are new tees at the par-4 seventh and the par-3 eighth.
Players to watch-- Past champions Casey Boyns ('89, '93), Nick Delio ('08), Darryl Donovan ('01), Don DuBois ('05), Geoff Gonzalez ('09) Jordan Nasser ('06), Steve Woods ('94) and defending champion Scott Travers. Also playing are NCGA champs Jeff Wilson and Olympic Club member, Randy Haag.
Scott Travers, a recent Santa Clara University graduate from Trabuco Canyon, is also the defending SCGA champion and WCC Player of the Year. Travers looks forward to defending his title and hopes the knowledge he's learned from college tournaments he's played at Olympic Club will come in handy.
The 100 years of the State Amateur has produced great champions, but the difficulty in winning the event might best be illustrated by the two native Californians who never won- Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.
The Olympic Club has hosted four U.S. Opens ('55, '66, '87, and '98) and will host its fifth in 2012. After that championship the club will have hosted ten total USGA national championships.
Qualifying rounds are on Monday and Tuesday June 20 and 21. If necessary a playoff for the 32nd spot will begin on #9 of the Lake Course and continue to hole #18. Wednesday, June 22 is the first round of match play with 32 players starting at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, June 23 is the second round of match play with 16 players starting at 7:30 a.m. Friday, June 24 is the quarterfinals in the morning at 7:30 a.m. followed by the semi-finals starting at 1:00 p.m. The 36-hole final begins on Saturday, June 25 at 7:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.
Pairings are available on the NCGA website, www.ncga.org and the SCGA website, www.scga.org.
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.
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