Southern Calif. Am: Hossler leads by 1

July 13, 2013 | by Southern California Golf Association

Beau Hossler birdies the 18th to provide him with a one stroke cushion over Xander Schauffele heading into the final round

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (July 13, 2013) -- Hole No. 18 povided the toughest test at San Diego CC Friday, with the 84 competitors averaging a score of 4.77 on the par 4, 450-yard finishing hole. Today, however, it was a friend to Beau Hossler, who carded a birdie on it to take sole possession of first place heading into the final round of the 114th SCGA Amateur Championship.

“It’s been windy all day today, and for once I was actually able to leave the ball below the hole,” said Hossler. “I made a great putt there for birdie which was definitely a nice cap on the round.”

Hossler, a University of Texas golfer, will be joined in the final pairing of the day Sunday with hometown star and San Diego State golfer Xander Schauffele (pictured), who sits just one stroke off the lead at 5-under par. Schauffele is no stranger to the top of the SCGA Amateur Championship leader board, having secured a runner-up finish at the event last year, and knows he needs to continue to play his own game if he is going to secure his first SCGA championship title.

“I need to stay patient,” said Schauffele. “I’ve been in this situation a couple of times before and I have a tendency to get stuck in whatever the other person is doing, so I really want to formulate a game plan and stick to it. Hopefully that will be enough.”

Schauffele’s round provided a colorful scorecard Saturday, as the rising Aztec senior carded just seven pars, mixing in one eagle, five birdies and four bogeys. Holes two through eight were a wild ride, resulting in zero pars and a lot of up and down play.

“That was a tough stretch,” said Schauffele. “It was unfortunate to go bogey-bogey-bogey, I got a little impatient on those holes, but I really kept my head down and was able to bounce back.”

Hossler began his round with five straight pars, extending a bogey-free streak he started Friday to an impressive 35 holes, before tripping up on the 377-yard par 4 seventh hole. The hole of the day though was his birdie on 18, when he stuck his approach shot of 170 ft. to about 15 feet below the hole. An uphill, right-to-left putt ended the third round, giving Hossler, who clearly had the largest gallery of the day, the slight edge heading into the final 18 holes. San Diego CC members are expected to be out in full force Sunday, as Hossler, a two-time U.S. Open participant, and local star Schauffele battle it out in the final pairing of the day. Not to be counted out, however, are San Diego CC member and La Jolla High School golfer Ben Doyle and mid-am Dan Sullivan, who sit a 3- under par and three strokes off the lead. Doyle, a rising high school senior and two-time club champion, has had a nice following of his own throughout the first two days of the championship.

Round 4 action begins at 8 a.m. Sunday, with tee times running through 9:30 a.m. One golfer will join a list of champions that includes Tiger Woods, Al Geiberger, John Merrick and countless other notable golfers.

Results: SCGA Amateur

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Beau Hossler	Mission Viejo, CA	400	70-69-71-70--280
2	Xander Schauffele	San Diego, CA	260	70-70-71-72--283
T3	Tyler Torano	Chula Vista, CA	160	73-69-72-71--285
T3	Niall Platt	Santa Barbara, CA	160	66-73-75-71--285
T3	Stewart Hagestad	Newport Beach, CA	160	73-73-68-71--285

View full results for SCGA Amateur

About the SCGA Amateur

This is the longest standing championship conducted by the SCGA. Started in 1900, this event crowns the best amateur player of the Association. Since the inaugural event, the SCGA Amateur has enjoyed an illustrious history of great champions, includi...