A day after setting a course record at The Preserve Golf Club with a much talked about 8-under 64,
Christian Banke decided to up the ante’. On Tuesday, Banke earned the No.1 seed at this week’s California Amateur after carding a record 63 to finish the 36-hole stroke play qualifying portion of the event at 17-under 127. His score was six shots better than anyone else in the field.
The No.2 seed for match play, which begins with the Round of 32 on Wednesday, will be Junior Tour of Northern California alum
Noah Woolsey. Woolsey finished second in stroke play qualifying at 11-under after rounds of 67-66.
The last medalist to go on and win the title was
Geoff Gonzalez in 2009. Overall, only 12 players have ever been medalist-champion.
The cutline for match play came at 3-under 141. Nine players will compete for eight spots in a playoff to fill out the brackets on Wednesday morning.
Thursday’s action will consist of the Round of 16. Friday’s play will see the quarterfinals and semifinals. The 36-hole final will be contested on Saturday.
In the North-South Challenge, which annually pits six NCGA players versus six players from the SCGA (best five-of-six scores), the NCGA and captain Gary Fox won the Roger Lapham Trophy over the SCGA by two strokes (702-704). Representing the NCGA were Noah Woolsey (66),
Finigan Tilly (72),
Thomas Hutchison (72),
Lucas Carper (71),
Drake Mendenhall (70) and 10-time NCGA champ
Nick Moore (76). Team SCGA was represented by
Devon Bling,
Tommy Stephenson,
Charlie Reiter,
Steve Sugimoto,
Caden Fioroni and
Luke Potter.
Following Tuesday’s second round, a cut will be made with the low 32 advancing to match play.
The winner of the Challenge receives the Roger Lapham Cup.
About the California Amateur Championship
The California Amateur Championship is one of the nation’s oldest state amateur golf championships and dates back to 1912 when the California Golf Association was founded. The California Amateur Championship was originally held at Del Monte GC but shifted to Pebble Beach Golf Links when it was built in 1919. The championship remained at Pebble Beach through 2006, with the exception of 2000 when it was played at Bayonet and Blackhorse GCs due to the U.S. Open being hosted at Pebble Beach. In 2006, the championship began a new tradition of rotating to courses around the state, alternating between Northern California and Southern California. The tournament has seen many top names including Ken Venturi in 1951, Johnny Miller in 1968, Bobby Clampett in 1978/1980, Duffy Waldorf in 1984 and Mark O’Meara in 1979. Standout golfers who have tried to win the title and failed, include Craig Stadler, Corey Pavin, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods. Woods reached the semifinals in 1994 before falling to Ed Cuff. The oldest champion remains Vern Callison, who won in 1967 at the age of 47. Mac Hunter is the youngest champion, having won in 1972 at the age of 16.
ABOUT THE California Amateur
The Championship is open to amateur golfers
who have established current indexes of 4.4
and are members in good standing of the
Southern California Golf Association, the
Northern California Golf Association, or the
Public Links Golf Association of Southern
California. Nonexempt players must qualify. An
entrant may play in only one qualifying event,
even
if
the golfer
belongs to clubs in both Southern California
and Northern California. The 18-hole
qualifying
rounds will determine the qualifiers.
The championship field will play 36 holes of
qualifying at a Northern or Southern California
Location, with the low 32 golfers from that
combined field moving on to match play (with
a
playoff, if necessary, to determine the final
spots).
Two rounds each of 18-hole match play will
follow on Thursday and Friday and the 36-hole
final match will be on Saturday.
The location will rotate yearly between
Northern and Southern California locations.
View Complete Tournament Information