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amateurgolf.com 2006 N. Orange County Am: Final results
- Righted the ship on the back nine on Sunday
- Righted the ship on the back nine on Sunday

By Pete Wlodkowski, amateurgolf.com

YORBA LINDA, Calif. (August 13, 2006) -- Marvin Dumandan sat at the scoring table reading aloud from his scorecard as he checked his numbers before turning it in.

"Bogey-par-bogey-birdie-par-birdie ... BOGEY-BOGEY-BOGEY," his voice getting louder as he finished the front nine.

There was a hint of self deprecation, as opposed to anger, in the animated Dumandan's voice (this is a guy who carries a squeaking bird headcover on his driver). And while his front nine score of 3-over-par 39 had turned a two stroke lead over Freddy Wolfe at the beginning of the day into a two stroke deficit at the turn, the back nine numbers looked a lot better.

"Par-par-birdie-eagle-par-birdie-bogey-par-birdie," Dumandan went on, the closing nine adding up to a much-improved 4-under-par 32, and a final round total of 71. Dumandan's 36-hole total of 4-under-par 140 -- he opened with a 69 -- was good for a one stroke victory over Wolfe, who birdied the final two holes to shoot 70 and finish one behind at 3-under-par 141 for the tournament.

Wolfe looked over at Dumandan and smiled.

"That was a pretty good battle," he said. "Yes, it was," replied the top Philippine finisher in an event where three of the top four places went to members of the Philippine National team, who decided to enter this event after failing to qualify for the U.S. Amateur, which starts August 21 in Minnesota.

Wolfe, 20, a member of the Cal Berkeley golf team who resides with his parents in Palm Springs when not at school, has been a regular player in amateurgolf.com events as he works to find a regular spot on the team's roster. The likeable 6,' 5" fluid-swinger doesn't try to dominate the course with his distance, but he is good for one 350-yard drive per round (In Saturday's first round he hit wedge into the 485-yard par-5 sixth hole, from 135 yards out).

Dumandan is a control player who got caught up in trying to stay with Wolfe off the tee on Sunday's front nine.

"I tried to kill the ball on the front nine playing with Freddy," said Dumandan. "On the back nine, I stayed with my game plan to keep the ball low, out of the wind."

Whatever the reason, there was no question that Dumandan, 25, managed to turn things around after making a string of 3-straight bogeys to close the front nine, falling 2-behind Wolfe. Dumandan gained four strokes in as many holes as Wolfe bogeyed No's. 10 and 12 and he made birdie at No. 12 and followed it with an eagle on the Par-5 13th, where he hit 6-iron to the hillside-tucked green for his second shot, and made the putt.
freddy wolfe
Freddy Wolfe has steadily improved his performance in amateurgolf.com events

Wolfe responded with a birdie at No. 14 to close the gap to one stroke, but Dumandan continued on his back nine roll with a birdie at No. 15, where Wolfe was forced to make a 10-foot par putt to stay two back. The players both bogeyed the 216-yard 16th, an example of Black Gold's give and take layout where several reachable par 4's are balanced by one of Orange County's toughest string of par 3's.

Wolfe wouldn't go away quietly.

Faced with a downhill lie in the right-hand rough with a tricky shot to the elevated 17th green, Wolfe's wedge shot struck the flag cleanly, echoing off the canyon surrounding the green. The ball settled four feet away and Wolfe's birdie narrowed the gap to one with a reachable par 5 to close the round. Both players hit solid drives, and Dumandan was first to hit to the water-guarded green, with the clubhouse and scoring area framing the scene. His 4-iron shot from 200 yards found the surface, 20-feet from the hole.

"That was my big shot," said Dumandan. "If I miss that shot, hit it in the water, maybe I'm lost."

Wolfe followed with a 6-iron from 180 yards that hit the green, and when he failed to hole the eagle putt, the tournament belonged to Dumandan, who safely two-putted to close out a stellar back nine of 32.

"No. 18 is a tough hole to make three," said Wolfe, who seemed satisfied to have applied the pressure with two closing birdies.

Senior Division: High School Golf Coach Enjoys his First "Senior Moment"

Dave Baydala, 50, of Murrieta, coach of the Temescal Canyon H.S. golf team in Lake Elsinore, scored his first senior victory after posting a final round 69 on blue-tee layout playing just 300 yards shorter than the black tees the championship division used.

"My wife laughs at me for being excited about playing senior golf, but it's great," said Baydala, holding the crystal trophy and first place prize certificate.

Baydala's 4-birdie, 1-bogey round -- punctuated by a nearly-holed 5-iron on his 17th hole, No. 8 -- was enough to make up four strokes on first round leader James Lynch of Placentia, who posted solid rounds of 73 and 75 to finish two strokes back at 148. Steve Pircher of Manhattan Beach, winner of the amateurgolf.com San Diego County Amateur earlier this month in Fallbrook, fell victim to No. 18 both days, taking a double bogey on Saturday, when he shot 75, and a triple on Sunday's round of 76. Pircher still finished in 3rd place at 151.

senior and net winners amateurgolf.com n. orange county amateur
Senior Champ Dave Baydala (left) with Net Winner Randy Eck (right) and Net Runner-up Rick Cook (c)

Net Division: "Even-par Cashes" at amateurgolf.com
Randy Eck of San Juan Capistrano, a Customer Service Staff Manager for SCG&E, posted steady rounds of 87 and 84 to win the Net Division title at 1-under-par 143.

The 12-handicapper was inspired by a comment made by Pete Wlodkowski of amateurgolf.com at the beginning of the day on Sunday.

"I heard, 'even par makes money in these events' and I tried my best to post that number," said Eck.

Unlike many tournaments, where inflated handicaps are the rule rather than the exception, amateurgolf.com has a reputation for attracting players serious about their game who enjoy competing in the Net Division on the same course where a scratch championship is taking place. If the handicap system is working, even par net should be a good score.

"It's hard to shoot your handicap, the system isn't set up for it," explained Art Law, PGA, amateurgolf.com's Tournament Director and Website Content Editor.

The 12-handicap Eck edged Rick Cook of Mission Viejo by one stroke. Cook, a Mortgage Consultant for Wells Fargo, carries an 11. Ken Schwoerer of Villa Park finished solo third at 145 after matching the lowest net round of the tournament with a 3-under-par 69 on Sunday.

Tournament Notes:

- The game to backup the outfits: The tournament field became much more competitive (and colorful!) thanks to the presence of the Philippine National Golf Team, who took three of the top four Championship positions. The lowest round of the tournament, a 68, was fired by Michael Bibat on Sunday. Bibat tied his teammate Gene Bondoc at 143. The team's orange and black matching outfits would make Jesper Parnevik look like a conservative dresser. (ok, maybe not...) The team will head to the Singapore Amateur next, and we wish them the best of luck.

phillipine national golf team
Members of the Philippine National Golf Team stopped for a photo on Saturday. Champion Marvin Dumandan is on the far right.

- Most improved department: Karl Katnik of Santa Ana jumped way up the leaderboard into a tie for 9th after bettering his first round 79 by 10 strokes. His 69 on Sunday tied champion Dumandan for second-lowest of the tournament.

- A tough start but an excellent finish: The tournament got off to a delayed start on Saturday due to following a, shall we say nicely, "less serious" even than ours. The staff at Black Gold apologized to players and promised a different setup next year. As a gesture of their interest in having us back, they offered all players a 50% discount certificate for a game in the next 30 days for up to four players. If you didn't get yours, please email petewl@yahoo.com and we'll forward it on to you.

* * *
Final results from the amateurgolf.com North Orange County Amateur, played at Black Gold Golf Club follow. Note: A story and photos will be posted Sunday evening.

- Championship Division: Par 72, 6756 yards
- Senior (Scratch) and Net Divisions: Par 72, 6439 yards

CHAMPIONSHIP
Pos First Last Hometown Div Rd1 Rd2 Tot
1st Marvin Dumandan Philippines CH 69 71 140
2nd Freddy Wolfe Piedmont CA CH 71 70 141
T3 Gene Bondoc Philippines CH 72 71 143
T3 Michael Bibat Philippines CH 75 68 143
5 David Staszko San Jose CA CH 72 72 144
T6 Chris Lavery Mission Viejo CA CH 72 75 147
T6 Ryan Bailey moorpark CA CH 75 72 147
T6 Darren Schwartz Westlake Village CA CH 77 70 147
T9 John Yeun brea CA CH 73 75 148
T9 Karl Katnik Santa Ana CA CH 79 69 148
Jay Bayron Philippines CH 78 71 149
Tim Cha Chino Hills CA CH 76 74 150
Louie Pullen Roanoke TX CH 75 76 151
Patrick Sklarski Lafayette CA CH 79 72 151
John Lorenzo Laguna Hills CA CH 79 75 154
Erick Thorson Westlake Village CA CH 78 77 155
Andrew Nelsen Laguna Niguel CA CH 79 76 155
Peter Israel santa monica CA CH 82 75 157
Danny Min Cypress CA CH 75 83 158
Michael Fajardo Lafayette CA CH 78 80 158
Mike Leibfried Rolling Hills CA CH 77 82 159
Joe Drago Tracy CA CH 82 77 159
Jonathan Noori Tarzana CA CH 83 76 159
Mason Mallory Hillsboro CA CH 81 79 160
William Clayton San Bernardino CA CH 81 81 162
matt montford Orange CA CH 82 87 169
Geoff Rill Santa Cruz CA CH 84 87 171
Amer Taha irvine CA CH 88 88 176
Jacob Herold Tustin CA CH 91 88 179
Brendan Wong Orange CA CH 83 wd wd
Michael Reese Apple Valley CA CH 84 wd wd
Jin Han La Jolla CA CH 86 wd wd
Jeff Stewart San Ramon CA CH 86 wd wd
First Last Hometown Div Rd1 Rd2 Tot
1st Randy Eck San Juan Capistrano CA HC 73 70 143
2nd Rick Cook Mission Viejo CA HC 74 70 144
3rd Ken Schwoerer Villa Park CA HC 76 69 145
T4 Charles Adams Huntington Beach CA HC 71 75 146
T4 Garry Regier los angeles CA HC 70 76 146
6 John Johnson Perris CA HC 78 69 147
Bryan Dailey Signal Hill CA HC 73 75 148
Jay Ware villa park CA HC 74 75 149
William Easley Hesperia CA HC 69 84 153
James Griffin Long Beach CA HC 78 80 158
Corey Milbrandt la quinta CA HC 76 84 160
John Priem orange CA HC 86 76 162
Ron Staley Huntington Beach CA HC 76 86 162
Thomas Marr Newport Beach CA HC 88 75 163
Jeff DeHart Altadena CA HC 70 93 163
I. Joe Ceniceros La Mirada CA HC 89 wd wd
Jay Patterson Lawrence KS HC 80 wd wd
Pos First Last Hometown Div Rd1 Rd2 Tot
1st Dave Baydala Murrieta CA SR 77 69 146
2nd James Lynch Placentia CA SR 73 75 148
3rd Steve Pircher Manhattan Beach CA SR 75 76 151
John Lavery Mission Viejo CA SR 82 78 160
Charlie Eastman Laguna Beach CA SR 84 79 163
Lee Mason San Diego CA SR 83 84 167
Wayne Spencer San Bernardino CA SR 82 88 170
Dave Patty Newport Coast CA SR 89 85 174
Gary Gable Huntington Beach CA SR 89 86 175
Gilbert Hanson Yorba Linda CA SR 88 wd wd

ABOUT THE amateurgolf.com 2006 North Orange County Amateur

Inaugural event at the fantastic Black Gold Golf Club in Yorba Linda. 36-hole stroke play championship, with 18 holes on Saturday and 18 holes on Sunday. No cut. Part of the amateurgolf.com Tournament Series, California's premier amateur golf tournament circuit.

Championship Division, Senior Championship Division, and limited-handicap Net Division (maximum index 15.0). College and H.S. Team members receive a $10 per player discount.

ENTRY FEE:
$250 includes 2 rounds of golf with carts, generous total prize fund of $4000 (based on a full field)

View Complete Tournament Information

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