MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA (May 28, 2006) -- Things got confusing at the end of the Monterey Bay Championship on Sunday. Terry Foreman of Antioch and Andrew Bowdish of San Jose, the round one co-leaders at 1-over-par, thought that Foreman had a one stroke advantage on the last hole of the tournament. The long hitting Bowdish bombed a drive and followed it with a second shot to 20 feet, giving himself an excellent chance for eagle. Foreman, whose drive had found the trees well left of the fairway, threaded an iron through a tiny opening, then hit a 7 iron to 40 feet short of the hole.

Thinking a two putt would force Bowdish to make his eagle putt to tie, Foreman watched in brief horror as his putt raced down the wind-slickened slope towards the hole. The horror turned to relief as Foreman, and the small gallery around the 18th green realized that while he might have miscalculated the speed part of the putt, he had dialed in the direction to the exact center of the back of the hole. In Arnold Palmer-style, the ball lifted several inches before falling squarely into the bottom.

Bowdish pushed his putt wide right (but nailed the distance part, perhaps scared by the speed of Foreman's putt) and the two shook hands thinking the victory was Foreman's. In the clubhouse, the cards were added and it became apparent that the on-course calculations where a stroke off, and the two had tied at 3-over-par for the tournament.

Anyone in the field can attest to the quality of these scores, given the tour-tested Bayonet Black Horse courses' ratings of over 75 each. As competitor Darryl Donovan put it, "there are no water hazards, or out-of-bounds, but these courses are all the golf you would want." With yardages over 7000 and the kind of trees that don't just block the way, but occasionally grab a ball to keep for themselves, the former State Amateur champion couldn't have said it better.

The ensuing playoff, starting at the par-5 first hole, had Bowdish licking his chops as he reached for his 300-plus yard club, his driver.

"Have you seen him hit it?" asked Foreman, after launching his own drive 300 yards down the right-center of the fairway, giving him a tough angle at the tree-guarded green.

Bowdish made solid contact, clearing the bunker on the left that sits 280 yards out. If not for one of the aforementioned "smart trees" he would have had a perfect angle at the green.

Foreman nailed a left to right utility club to the front fringe, then Bowdish tried to hit a big hook around the tree that stood just feet in front of his ball. He made solid contact, but the ball found the right trees and all fifteen gallery members couldn't locate it. Possibly another victim of the same trees that swallowed a ball in a sudden death playoff in the first playing of this event six years ago.

After Bowdish put another ball in play (hitting a better shot but failing to hit the green) Foreman clipped a perfect pitch to four feet, giving him the luxury of three putts for a win but requiring only one. The 1977 NCGA Amateur Champion added another title to his solid amateur career.

SENIOR DIVISION
Another player with a long history in NCGA play, but a short one on the Senior side of things, won the 100 NCGA point Senior title - John Enright.

Enright, a member of Olympic Club who is back in California after several years in Texas, followed his first round of 72 with a solid 74 on Sunday for a 5 stroke victory over Joe Zanassi of Martinez, Clem Richardson of Salinas, and Michael Harding of Antioch.

Enright entered the tournament with a good feeling about the venue, having gone all the way to the semi-finals in the 2000 California State Amateur at Bayonet. He was fifty years old then, playing against a much younger field. His 55th birthday came just a day before the start of the tournament, making him eligible for the first NCGA Senior Points of his career.

NET DIVISION
Fred Luper of Suisun has been coming to the Monterey Peninsula for years to compete in the Christmas Classic at Del Monte, an event founded by Casey Boyns and now run by amateurgolf.com. He came close to winning that one, losing once in a playoff. This weekend, Luper found the magic and recorded his first career victory with an even par net total that edged regular amateurgolf.com competitors Dave Joenk of San Francisco and Andrew Loftus of Salinas by one. Luper encountered some difficulty on the ninth, taking a double-bogey after his ball was grabbed (those trees again) and not returned to him.

"I thought I might have given away a great round," said Luper. "But I brought it in with three solid pars, giving myself a chance."

CLOSING NOTES
Special thanks to Director of Golf Joe Priddy, Head Professional Evan Boone, Tournament Coordinator Julio Rodriguez, and the entire staff at Bayonet Black Horse for hosting us for the sixth straight year. This was the original event in the amateurgolf.com Tournament Series, and while we all leave the courses a little beat up we know our games are better off for it. The facility will be undergoing some changes including the re-routing of several holes and the construction of a hotel and additional homes. We have been assured that while there will not be 36 holes available for play next year, we will hold the tournament Memorial Day Weekend. Great news.

Our next event is the Monterey Peninsula Four Ball at the fantastic Fred Couples-design, San Juan Oaks in Hollister. The tournament is July 1-2 and open the scratch, senior, and net players. Information and registration can be found at: http://www.amateurgolf.com/tour/schedule.asp. Please join us Fourth of July weekend!

* * * *

Final round results from the amateurgolf.com Monterey Bay Championship are shown below.

Round 1: Black Horse Golf Course - Par 72, 7009 yards, 75.2/134 (Championship flight only)
Round 2: Bayonet Golf Course - Par 72, 7116 yards, 75.6/136 (Championship flight only)

CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION
First	Last	City	ST	Rd1	Rd2	Tot	Prize
Terry	Foreman	Antioch	CA	73	74	147 *	$500
Andrew	Bowdish	San Jose	CA	73	74	147	$350
Randy	Haag	Burlingame	CA	77	74	151	$200
Tyler	Crawford	Rancho Mirage	CA	76	76	152	$100
Andrew	Biggadike	Palo Alto	CA	75	79	154	$100
Darryl	Donovan	Morgan Hill	CA	80	74	154	$100
Charles	Van Sicklen	Stockton	CA	77	78	155	$100
Matt	Jacobsen	Portland	OR	75	81	156	$75
Adam	Beckman	Lodi	CA	82	74	156	$75
Amit	Odaiyar	Lodi	CA	77	80	157	$75
Steve	Wilson	Discovery Bay	CA	76	81	157	$50
Chris	Marin	Marina	CA	82	76	158	$50
Martin	Renaud	Hayward	CA	82	77	159	$50
Timothy	Tipton	Del Rey Oaks	CA	82	77	159	$50
Jeff	Dare	Pleasanton	CA	83	77	160	$25
Dean	Meagher	Sydney	NSW	83	77	160	$25
Joe	Drago	Tracy	CA	78	83	161
Robert	Goodwin	Atherton	CA	80	81	161
Tim	Cushing	Carmel	CA	83	78	161
Adam	Sides	Camarillo	CA	80	82	162
Matthew	Herrick	Ann Arbor	MI	81	81	162
Robert	Matias	Discovery Bay	CA	81	81	162
Jeff	Campbell	Bakersfield	CA	79	84	163
Jason	Melvin	Carmel	CA	80	83	163
Mickey	Carson	Sacramento	CA	79	85	164
Pete	Wlodkowski	Carlsbad	CA	80	84	164
Freddy	Wolfe	Piedmont	CA	82	82	164
Donald	Gerber	Menlo Park	CA	84	81	165
Mike	MacDonald	Palo Alto	CA	84	81	165
Steve	Donnelly	Salinas	CA	86	80	166
Steve	Batte	Las Vegas	NV	89	79	168
John	Allison	Santa Maria	CA	85	84	169
Tom	Gottwald	San Jose	CA	85	86	171
Phillip	Hall	Atherton	CA	86	85	171
Christopher	Linkey	Tahoe City	CA	96	78	174
Donald	Cox	Mountain View	CA	85	90	175
Cary	Chiappone	Moraga	CA	85	91	176
Mark	Pitchford	Atherton	CA	87	89	176
Harald	Vaernes	Honolulu	HI	88	88	176
John	Estes	Fort Worth	TX	90	86	176
Corey	Donnelly	Salinas	CA	85	93	178
Adam	Barkow	Albany	CA	94	84	178
Edward	Medak	San Jose	CA	91	88	179
Ron	Siskey	Grover Beach	CA	96	87	183
Logan	Woodruff	Oakland	CA	93	95	188
Steve	Sovik	Lafayette	CA	98	91	189
Ryan	Lester	San Jose	CA	79		wd
Thomas	Baur	Newport Beach	CA	89	wd	wd
SENIOR DIVISION
First	Last	City	ST	Rd1	Rd2	Tot	Prize
John	Enright	Montara	CA	72	74	146	$250
Clem	Richardson	Salinas	CA	76	75	151	$150
Michael	Harding	Antioch	CA	76	75	151	$150
Joe	Zanassi	Martinez	CA	77	74	151	$100
Rob	Thompson	Merced	CA	75	80	155	$75
Ben	Whipple	El Dorado Hills	CA	76	79	155	$75
Howie	Knodt	Chula Vista	CA	79	77	156	$75
David	Gill	King City	CA	80	76	156
John R	Jones	La Quinta	CA	79	77	156
Terry	Ackerman	Monterey	CA	81	76	157
Mark	Miller	Antioch	CA	77	81	158
Tom	O'Grady	Los Altos	CA	81	78	159
Bob	Cayton	Aptos	CA	79	81	160
Greg	Saiki	Sanger	CA	85	80	165
Bill	Foley	San Ramon	CA	85	82	167
John	Anderson	Fresno	CA	81	86	167
Frank	Ontiveros	Exeter	CA	78	91	169
Leith	Anderson	Palo Alto	CA	89	82	171
Gary	Petersmeyer	Los Altos	CA	84	88	172
Eugene	Medlock	Westlake Village	CA	90	85	175
Dave	Patty	Newport Coast	CA	92	89	181
Thomas	Moore	Carmel	CA	90		wd
NET DIVISION
First	Last	City	ST	Rd1	Rd2	Tot	Prize
Fred	Luper	Suisun	CA	71	73	144	$400
Dave	Joenk	San Francisco	CA	68	77	145	$300
Andrew	Loftus	Salinas	CA	70	75	145	$200
Mark	Kavanaugh	Pacific Grove	CA	72	75	147	$100
Lee	Paulos	Suisun	CA	69	79	148	$100
Todd	Spafford	Elk Grove	CA	68	81	149	$100
Tim	Yager	San Jose	CA	77	72	149	$100
Daniel	Kuper	Sunnyvale	CA	79	70	149	$75
Meredith	Glacken	Salinas	CA	74	76	150	$75
Alan	Parker	San Francisco	CA	76	74	150	$75
H. Curtis	Abbey	Portola Valley	CA	74	77	151	$50
Noel	Rush	Pacifica	CA	76	75	151	$50
Charles	Balisha	Turlock	CA	78	73	151	$50
Bill	McKinley	Stockton	CA	76	75	151	$50
Ron	Morris	Aptos	CA	74	78	152
Kaz	Maruyama	Napa	CA	75	77	152
Jim	Robertson	Moraga	CA	75	77	152
Dan	Gray	Patterson	CA	75	77	152
Harvey	Hunter	Elk Grove	CA	77	75	152
James	Priscaro	Santa Clara	CA	81	71	152
Richard	Mathers	Palo Alto	CA	76	77	153
Gene	Booth	Pleasanton	CA	76	78	154
Geoff	Rill	Santa Cruz	CA	75	79	154
Jeff	Hollstien	Grass Valley	CA	81	73	154
Michael	Murphy	Carmel	CA	77	78	155
Jim	Fuoti	Orangevale	CA	82	74	156
Dave	Page	Lafayette	CA	79	78	157
Al	Richardson	Santa Clara	CA	78	79	157
Bill	Strahan	Burlingame	CA	78	79	157
Peter	Funt	Monterey	CA	83	75	158
Frank	Angelo	Moraga	CA	75	85	160
Korsen	Yu	Sunnyvale	CA	78	82	160
Mark	Roth	Salinas	CA	81	80	161
Valerie	Robertson	Moraga	CA	76	86	162
Roger	Soell	salinas	CA	85	77	162
Tim	Burke	Claremont	CA	85	79	164
Dave	Nikitin	Vacaville	CA	82	82	164
Alan	Hirschbein	San Francisco	CA	82	84	166
John	Picone	Hollister	CA	86	88	174
Bll	Penney	Benicia	CA			0
Dick	Jones	Sacramento	CA			0
Jeff	Traweek	Auburn	CA	77		wd

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