-- NCGA Photo
ELK GROVE – Ron Johnson has been waiting a long time to win an NCGA Championship and on Tuesday at Valley Hi CC he finally was able to mark that item off his bucket list. The 67-year-old from Walnut Creek won the fourth annual NCGA Super Senior Championship putting together rounds of 74 and 73 to post a 36-hole score of 147, 3-over-par, and win by a margin of three strokes.
“I have been playing in NCGA events for 50 years and I’ve never won [an individual event] before, so I couldn’t be more thrilled,” said Johnson, who acknowledged he won the 2010 NCGA Senior Four-Ball with partner Peter Moren.
Johnson, who finished third in this event last year, looked like he may come up short once again in an individual championship as he struggled for his first 11 holes going 4-over-par, with four bogeys on Nos. 6, 9, 10 and 11. However, on No. 12 his fortune turned around with a chip-in birdie that sparked two more birdies on Nos. 13 and 16 to fire a 1-under-par 35 on the back-nine.
“That [chip-in] changed my attitude and it changed my whole round,” he said.
Johnson began the day in a tie with fellow-competitors Earl Stewart of Fairfax and Bob Olds of Brentwood, and for most of the final round Stewart remained there right with him, while Olds led the three early before fading down the stretch.
Despite opening with back-to-back bogeys on the first two holes, Stewart quickly got those strokes back with birdies on Nos. 4 and 5, before giving them right back on Nos. 6 and 8. After matching a bogey on No. 10 with Johnson to remain tied, Stewart took a brief lead with a par on No. 11. Johnson then took a brief lead with his birdies on Nos. 12 and 13, but Stewart answered right back with a birdie of his own on No. 14. With the two tied through 14 holes, the turning point of the duel came over the next two holes. Stewart took back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 15 and 16, while Johnson made par on the par-4 15th and sank a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th. From there, all Johnson needed was two pars to be crowned champion.
As for Olds, a solid front nine of 37, which included eight pars and a bogey on the par-4 sixth, gave the 73-year-old a one-shot advantage at the turn. However, mistake after mistake hurt the Brentwood resident on the back nine as he bogeyed Nos. 10, 11, 14, 15 and 16 before finally converting his first birdie of the day on the par-5 18th.
Stewart finished with a 36-hole score of 150, 6-over-par to finish alone in second place, while Olds finished right behind him in third place at 151, 7-over-par. In a tie for fourth place at 152 were Jim McMurtey and Rich Paiko. McMurtey had one of the better rounds on the day following his first round 78 with a 74, while Paiko posted a 76 for the second straight day. Tied for sixth place at 154 were Jay Guerin, Bob Rowland, Lee Jaberjahn and Ronnie Truhett, while in a tie for 10th place at 155 were Gil Wymond, Dennis Allion, Gene Ackerman and Merton Goode.
View results for NCGA Super Senior
ABOUT THE NCGA Super Senior
The Super Senior Championship was created in 2010 to
give golfers 65 and older their own championship.
Format is 36 holes of stroke play. Players must have
reached their 65th birthday by the start of the
tournament and have a numeric handicap index on
their club’s Master Report of 9.4 or less on the date of
registration.
View Complete Tournament Information