Walicki Comes in from the Desert to Win the San Diego City
7/15/2018 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff
see also: View results for San Diego City Amateur, Torrey Pines Golf Club - South Course
Escaping the heat of the Arizona summer, Adam Walicki heads to Torrey Pines and wins by two shots
LA JOLLA, CA (July 15, 2018) - Adam Walicki shot a final-round 1-under 71 to hold off San Diego State sophomore Zihao Jin (Beijing, China) and win the San Diego City Amateur by two shots.
The 38-year-old from Scottsdale, AZ traveled to San Diego and won in his second time playing in the event. He was introduced to the San Diego City last year by another Arizona player, Shankar Natarajan. Then, he took the lead after the first round but struggled at the North Course at Torrey Pines and eventually finished sixth.
"With it being in the middle of July in the desert, and over a weekend, it made for an easy decision to play," said Walicki. "I played last year for the first time, actually went in completely blind, first time seeing and playing the courses. I loved them right off the bat."
Walicki tried his hand at professional golf but got his amateur status back in 2010. Since then he has enjoyed success in Arizona, representing the state in the USGA State Team Championship in 2012, and more recently winning the Arizona Southern Amateur in 2014, the Phoenix City Championship in 2015, and the Arizona Short Course tournament earlier this season. He also qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur last year.
Like the pros do at the PGA Tour stop in January, Walicki did most of his damage on the North Course at Torrey Pines. After an opening round of 2-under 70 at Balboa Park which put him in third place two shots behind Jin, Walicki shot a 4-under 68 on the North Course to take a one-shot lead.
In the final round, Jin fell behind early with a bogey at the first and a Walicki birdie at the second. But Walicki would bogey three of the next five holes, and when Jin went eagle-birdie at six and seven, he found himself leading by a shot.
If it were match play, there would have been no halved holes through the first seven and only one on the front nine. In fact there would be only four tied holes all day between the two.
Jin's double-bogey on the long par-5 9th proved to be costly, as he gave the lead back to Walicki for good. Jin was still just one shot behind through 15 holes, but another double-bogey, at the par-3 16th, ended his chances and allowed Walicki to par in for the win.
"Winning always feels good and boosts confidence, but there's definitely an added boost when you can pull one off at a great venue and Torrey Pines is obviously that," said Walicki. "I love California golf; it's a great contrast from desert golf and, growing up in Michigan, I miss the 'tradaitional' type of golf as there isn't much of that in the desert."
Walicki's winning total was 7-under 209, with Jin the runner-up at 5 under.
University of San Diego junior Fred Copley (San Diego, CA) finished third at 3 under, with San Jose State commit Parker Sisk (San Diego, CA) the only other player under par at 1 under.
San Diego mid-amateur Scotland Schmidt rounded out the top 5 at even-par 216.
From here, Walicki plans to attempt U.S. Amateur qualifying in the hopes of making it back to California to play in the championship at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill. This fall he will return to California for the Stocker Cup at The Preserve Golf Club.
Results: San Diego City Amateur
| Place | Player | Location | Pts | Scores |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phoenix, AZ | 100 | 70-68-71=209 | |
| 2 | San Diego, CA | 65 | 68-71-72=211 | |
| 3 | San Diego, CA | 30 | 74-68-71=213 | |
| 4 | San Diego, CA | 30 | 76-67-72=215 | |
| 5 | San Diego, CA | 30 | 71-74-71=216 |
About the San Diego City Amateur
The format is 36-hole Gross Stroke Play with no cut and is open to all amateur golfers (no residency requirement), 18 years of age and over. Round 1 is at the North Course at Torrey Pines, and Round 2 at the site of the 2008 and 2021 U.S. Opens, the ...
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