A birdie on the last lifts Willy Walsh to the Silicon Valley Amateur title

February 26, 2023 | by Jim Young of AmateurGolf.com

Willy Walsh

The 18-year-old puts his name alongside Collin Morikawa and Max Homa on the list of champs; O'Connor takes senior division title

In a battle of two of the Bay Area's top high school players, Willy Walsh and Niall Shiels Donegan went head-to-head over the last round of AmateurGolf.com's Silicon Valley Amateur that went down to the wire at Baylands Golf Links in Palo Alto, Calif.

The golf was exquisite, as both players shot 4-under rounds of 68 and it wasn't until Walsh, a senior at Serra High School in nearby San Mateo, made a birdie on the par-5 18th hole that the title was decided.

In what quickly turned into a match-play final, Walsh and Donegan matched scorecards with six birdies and two bogeys. Donegan, a senior at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley who will attend Northwestern next fall, pulled even with Walsh at 9-under with a birdie on the par-3 17th hole but Walsh answered quickly with a deciding birdie on the last.

Senior Division champion Daniel O'Connor

"I didn't hit it as well as yesterday and it was kind of a battle for 18 holes but I stayed in it mentally," said Walsh. "It helped Niall was playing so well because he was forcing me to make every single putt."

With the win, Walsh joins a list of past champions which includes PGA Tour stars Max Homa and Collin Morikawa.

For Donegan, it marks his second consecutive runner-up finish after he finished one back of Edan Cui at the Pacific Grove (Calif.) City Championship last weekend.

Mid-Amateur champion Chris Goin

Chris Goin, a 36-year-old mid-amateur who started the day just one off the pace, shot a final even round 72 to drop into a four-way tie for third with Mitchell Hoey, Brandon Knight and Joshua Kim.

"It was an interesting round," said Goin, who was the low mid-amateur in the field. "The weather finally showed up and the wind was in the opposite direction. It was challenging on the front and the back nine really dug in and showed its teeth at the end."

Daniel O'Connor turned in rounds of 68-74 to earn a three-shot victory over Chris Hyland in the senior division.

"Today was quite a bit tougher than yesterday," said O'Connor. "The wind was quite a bit stiffer than yesterday and it was a lot colder, for sure. I struggled on the first nine with four bogeys and a birdie but managed to make three birdies in a row to start my back nine which settled me down a bit."

Photo gallery from the 2023 Silicon Valley Amateur:

2023 AmateurGolf.com Silicon Valley Amateur

Results: AGC Silicon Valley Amateur

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	William Walsh	San Mateo, CA	150	66-68=134
2	Niall Shiels-Donegan	Mill Valley, CA	100	67-68=135
T3	Mitchell Hoey	Alamo, CA	50	72-67=139
T3	Brandon Knight	Pleasanton, CA	50	72-67=139
T3	Joshua Kim	La Palma, CA	50	70-69=139

View full results for AGC Silicon Valley Amateur

About the AGC Silicon Valley Amateur

A birdie on the last lifts Willy Walsh to the Silicon Valley Amateur title

2026 TOURNAMENT PORTALThe Silicon Valley Amateur is now a 54-hole, limited-field WAGR points event! The field will consist of 64 scratch players and 18 invited scratch seniors. After 36 holes are contested (one round on Monday, one on Tuesday), the f...