California Amateur: Take it to the Banke

June 23, 2021 | by Northern California Golf Association

Course-record rounds of 64 and 63 nets Christian Banke top-seed at California Amateur

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.

Banke On It: A day after carding a record 8-under 64 at The Preserve, Christian Banke went a stroke lower with a 63 to earn medalist honors at the California Amateur with a 36-hole score of 17-under 127--six shots better than anyone else https://t.co/h1tch5z4fU pic.twitter.com/d8z6JFdMCl
— NCGA (@ncga1901) June 23, 2021

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.

The brackets are set at this week's 110th California Amateur at The Preserve GC in Carmel Valley https://t.co/bqlnGVntDQ pic.twitter.com/mdXf3E7e5h
— NCGA (@ncga1901) June 23, 2021

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.

Results: California Amateur

Place	Player	Location	Pts
Win	Noah Woolsey	Pleasanton, CA	600
Runner-up	Weston Payne	Menlo Park, CA	400
Semifinals	Tommy Stephenson	Carlsbad, CA	300
Semifinals	Thomas Hutchison	San Jose, CA	300
Quarterfinals	Youssef Guezzale	San Diego, CA	200

View full results for California Amateur

About the California Amateur

California Amateur: Take it to the Banke

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 So...