An Irish celebration following Daniel Connolly's win at the San Francisco City Championship
Randy Haag photo
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (March 13, 2016) -- The
longest running city championship in the country
concluded its 100th event Sunday with Daniel
Connolly taking the historic title.
Connolly, a resident of San Francisco, defeated
Noah Shiekh 3-and-1 in the 36-hole championship
match hosted by TPC Harding Park. The win
concluded a long month of golf for Connolly that
began with rounds of 71, 76 to earn the 13th match
play seed.
Several of those rounds required serious
comebacks, and the final was no different.
The Stuart Hall high school senior found himself
2 down with three to play in his opening match
against Bryan Baumgarten. Connolly rallied to force
extra holes and matched Baumgarten's three
consecutive birdies on the first three playoff holes,
eventually pulling out the match on the 22nd hole.
A 4&3 win over Aaron Chen in the round of
16 and and a 2-up win over Ben Peters in the semi's
further exemplified Connolly's strong play. Although
St. Patrick's day is around the corner, the Irish
Connolly certainly relied more on his golfing ability
than Irish luck in his final match.
Once again down on a rainy San Francisco day,
vs. the 6 foot 7 Noah Sheikh, Connolly squared the
match, relying on his foul weather play and sheer
determination to square the match, then pull ahead.
“It was pretty brutal out there,” Connolly told
the San Francisco Chronicle. “But to me, it’s kind of
cool; it’s what makes this event unique. You play no
matter what.”
And having his father Martin, the owner of the
most popular Irish bar and restaurant in San
Francisco (Johnny Foley's) on the bag
surely didn't hurt.
The elder Connolly, worn out from a weekend of
caddying, called the weekend magical.
"[It was] very surreal to be a part of
it," he said.
The family had a strong contingency of Irish
golfers and friends in the gallery, including Kitt
Flood, whose brother Ronan caddies for Padraig
Harrington on the PGA Tour. Many of the gallery play
just across Lake Merced at The Olympic Club, known
for its Irish contingency of members. (Notably,
Another Olympic Club member, Randy Haag, won the
Senior Championship.)
Connolly won the match in fashion, with a
downhill, 20 foot putt on the 35th hole, Harding
Park's par-3 17th.
|
Daniel
Connolly (Steve Lewis photo) |
The win the biggest in Daniel's young amateur
career that includes two U.S. Junior Amateur
appearances. In 2013 he recorded a big win at the
AmateurGolf.com Christmas Classic,
where, at age 16, he shot a shocking 8-under 64 in
the final round to grab the title against a field of
collegiate players.
We've been paying attention ever since.
Look out for Connolly as he starts his freshman
year at SMU this fall.
TOURNAMENT NOTES
The 100th playing of the San Francisco City
Championship was dedicated to 1982 champion Ray
Pellegrini (1952-2015), a San Francisco golfing
legend. Pellegrini played in 45 consecutive San
Francisco City Championships, qualifying for an
amazing 40 in a row. Visit the Ray Pellegrini
tribute page.
ABOUT THE San Francisco City Championship
MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION
$375 ENTRY FEE INCLUDES ALL GREEN FEES.
*An NCGA Points Tournament*
**
Entry procedure for 2023: Exempt
players will have first chance to register.
They will be emailed an access code to register, and
registration for these players opens on
January
3. Registration
opens for all other players on
January 15.
Exempt players may email
results@amateurgolf.com to
request an access code.
Exemption categories:
* The past 10 years of the San Francisco City Golf
Champions
* 2022 San Francisco City Men’s Championship
Match Play Qualifiers
* Top 20 men’s 2021-2022 NCGA Points Lists
* 2022 NCGA Champions (Amateur, Mid-Amateur,
Junior)
* 2022 USGA Event Qualifiers (Amateur, Mid-
Amateur, Junior)
On January 15 at 8:00 am, registration will
open to all players with a handicap index of
6.4
or lower as of the date of entry, and will remain
open until the field limit (120 players) is reached.
When the field limit is reached, all additional entrants
will pre-qualify at Presidio Golf Club on Friday,
March 10, 2023.
Players entering pre-qualifying will pay an entry fee
of $150 for the pre-qualifier, and those
advancing from the pre-qualifier will pay
an
additional $225 (must be paid prior to playing).
The 36-hole match play qualifier will be held March
11-12, 2023, with
18 holes played at TPC Harding Park and 18 holes at
Presidio Golf
Course for a combined 36-hole qualifying score.
There will be 156 players in the qualifying round with
64 players advancing to match play. When all
qualifying has been completed, the Men’s
Championship Flight will consist of 64 contestants.
In the event of a playoff to qualify for match
play, a
player must be present in order to retain his
right
to participate in the playoff.
Match play will begin on March 18, 2023. All
match
play for the Championship Flight will be held at
TPC Harding Park.
CART POLICY
The use of carts is prohibited for players and caddies
in the Men’s Championship Flight (Appendix I – Local
Rule
Applies)
A schedule of all dates of
play can be found on the tournament website
sfgolfchampionship.com.
ABOUT THE SAN FRANCISCO CITY
CHAMPIONSHIP
The oldest municipal tournament in the USA. Match
play event with scratch men's, senior men’s,
women's, senior women’s, and open flight divisions.
Past champions include Ken Venturi, Harvie
Ward,
Juli Inkster, Bob Rosburg, George Archer, and
Dorothy Delasin. Some of the “non winners” include
Tom Watson and Johnny Miller. Click the “history” tab
for more about this wonderful event.
View Complete Tournament Information