NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA (April 4, 2006) -- Defending champion John McClure of West Los Angeles, two-time SCGA Amateur champion Scott McGihon of Bermuda Dunes and reigning California Amateur champion Don DuBois of Newport Beach head one of the most impressive fields in all of amateur golf that will tee it up in the 23rd Southern California Golf Association (SCGA) Mid-Amateur Championship April 10-11 at Bear Creek Golf Club in Murrieta.
The 84 golfers will play 36 holes on Monday over the Jack Nickaus-designed layout in southern Riverside County, after which the field will be cut to the low 42 golfers and ties for the final round Tuesday. Tee times Monday begin at 7 a.m. and 12 noon. Live scoring will be available on www.scga.org .
The 46-year-old McClure, a well-respected amateur who plays around the country, defeated Josh Warthen in a three-hole aggregate playoff to win last year¹s event at North Ranch CC, McClure¹s first SCGA title.
This year¹s tournament was shifted from its traditional late summer date to April in an effort to avoid conflicts with the many USGA and SCGA events taking place in August and September. One consequence of that shift is that Warthen, a senior at San Diego State, cannot compete because of NCAA eligibility
regulations.
Warthen and defending U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Kevin Marsh are about the only major players missing this year (Marsh is competing in the Masters this week). In addition to McClure, the field includes:
€ McGihon, the 2002 SCGA Mid-Amateur champion who added last year¹s SCGA Amateur Championship at Tijeras Creek GC to the title he won in 2000 at Rancho Santa Fe GC. McGihon also won the 2004 Trans-Mississippi Mid-Amateur Championship.
€ DuBois, who with his partner, Will Tipton, won last week¹s SCGA Foursomes Championship at Pala Mesa Resort, and will return to Pebble Beach this summer to defend the state amateur title he won last year.
€ Four-time SCGA Amateur champion Craig Steinberg of Oak Park, who is seeking to become just the second three-time SCGA Mid-Amateur winner. Steinberg won in 1996 at Victoria Club and again in 2001 at Lakeside GC.
Mark Johnson, now a member of the PGA Tour¹s Champions Tour, is the only three-time winner in the event¹s nearly quarter-year history and Steinberg is the only other two-time champion.
€ Tim Hogarth of Northridge, who followed up his victory in the 1999 California Amateur by capturing the SCGA Mid-Amateur later that summer at Victoria Club. When Hogarth won the 2004 SCGA Amateur at Hillcrest CC, he
became the first player to win the Southern California ³Triple Crown² (SCGA Amateur and Mid-Am and California Amateur). Hogarth won the 1996 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship and played in the 1997 Masters.
€ Kemp Richardson of Laguna Niguel, the 2001 and 2003 U.S. Senior Amateur and 2003 British Senior Amateur champion.
€ John Pate of Santa Barbara, the 2000 SCGA Mid-Amateur and 1999 SCGA Amateur champion.
€ David Bartman of Los Angeles, the defending Trans-Miss Mid-Amateur champion.
€ Ed Cuff of Rancho Santa Fe, the 1998 California Amateur champion who may have a bit of a ³home court² advantage since he is a former member at Bear Creek GC.
€ Pat Duncan of Rancho Santa Fe, who won the 1990 SCGA Am at Wilshire CC and the 1998 SCGA Mid-Am at Saticoy CC.
About Bear Creek GC:
Opened in 1983, Bear Creek GC was the second Nicklaus design in Southern California. It hosted the 1994 Pacific Coast Amateur Championship and several early editions of The Skins Game. At 7,067 from the back tees, with a course rating of 75.0 and a Slope rating of 142, Bear Creek remains one of the premiere championship tests in the country.
ABOUT THE SCGA Mid-Amateur
The SCGA Mid-Amateur Championship is open to
members ages 25 and older with a Handicap Index
of 5.4 and below. Competitors undergo 18 holes of
qualifying play in order to reach the final field of 84
players. In the Championship, players compete over
54 holes of stroke play with the top 42 players and
ties advancing after 36 holes to the final round.
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