Who are the 5 hottest players in California?

July 20, 2014 | by

Xander Schauffele

A in-depth look at the top golfers in the great state of California

by Jack Persons, AmateurGolf.com

If the AmateurGolf.com California rankings could decide the stronger region— Northern or Southern—the very obvious choice would be “SoCal.”

Five of the top six golfers in the rankings hail from the bottom half of the state. While the list starts to even out further down, it is apparent which side of the rivalry has been playing well this summer on a national scale.

In a continuation of AmateurGolf.com’s series on the hottest players in the country, we will be taking a deeper look at the perpetually strong state of California.

It was especially difficult to find just five golfers to analyze, as there are so many golfers playing fantastic this summer. For example, Mark Anguiano of Whittier won the prestigious Sahalee Players this month, but didn’t crack the list.

Without further ado, here are the top five players in California this summer.

Byron Meth

The San Diego resident and Pacific rising senior rose to the top of the California rankings on Friday with his victory at the final U.S. Amateur Public Links. It was quite the week for Meth, as he earned co-medalist honors, never trailed in his first five matches, and then took a 37 hole decision over Doug Ghim in the championship match for a likely invitation to the 2015 Masters Tournament. Top 10 finishes at the Sahalee Players and the NCAA West Regional also stake his claim as one of the hottest players in the state, if not the whole country.

Rico Hoey

While Hoey has yet to break out and win a tournament this summer, he has played very consistently and put his name at the top of almost every leaderboard. The rising sophomore at USC finished fifth at the Sunnehanna Amateur, tied for sixth at the NCAA Central Regional, finished in the top 16 at the North & South Amateur, and made a run to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Amateur Public Links. Oh, and he earned co- medalist at the Public Links alongside Meth. Not a bad couple of months.

Brian Campbell

Although qualifying for the U.S. Open should be enough to earn a spot on this list (sorry, Mav!), Irvine’s Campbell can count that accomplishment as one of many in the past few months. The University of Illinois standout also won the NCAA Central Regional by four strokes, and turned that momentum into a top 10 finish at the NCAA Championship. Most recently, he tied for fourth at the rain-shortened Trans-Miss Championship. If the final 36 had been played, who knows what could have happened. This guy is playing (and putting) that well.

Beau Hossler

The two-time U.S. Open contestant was well on his way to a victory at the Southern Amateur this week until a quadruple and a triple in the final round derailed his otherwise stellar tournament. To put the tournament in perspective, he played so well the first three rounds that a closing 80—on the extremely Honors Course in Tennessee —still garnered him a fifth place finish. Pair that with a runner-up finish at the California State Amateur (Schauffele won the 36 hole match 2-up) and a four-stroke victory at the Southern California Golf Association Amateur, and call it a summer to remember. Might be a bit forgettable in Hossler’s eyes though, seeing as he didn’t even qualify for the Open at Pinehurst.

Xander Schauffele

It seems fair to exempt the California State Amateur champion onto the list, seeing that he proved himself as California’s best for a week. His summer resume does not stop there, however. A top 10 finish at the Sahalee Players and a tie for third at the Sunnehanna Amateur cement his place as one of the best players in California right now.

Check out the AmateurGolf.com California rankings for yourself.

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