Zachery Pollo is the California Amateur champion (NCGA photo)
When it was all finally over, Rocklin resident Zachery Pollo finally cracked a big smile.
Pollo (pronounced Po-Lo) joined the likes of Johnny Miller, Ken Venturi and Xander Schauffele as a California Amateur champion, defeating runner-up Dylan Oyama, 5 and 4, in the 36-hole final held Saturday at par-72 Lake Merced Golf Club.
An 18-year-old sophomore-to-be at University of Arizona, Pollo is one of the event's youngest winners. Mac Hunter won the 1972 title at 16.
Immediately after his victory, Pollo started receiving congratulatory texts from Wildcats head coach Jim Anderson as well as some of his teammates, including 2021 NCGA Amateur champ Sam Sommerhauser.
"It feels good. Coming into it, I knew it would be a long week," said Pollo, a former standout on the Junior Tour of Northern California. "There's a lot of golf. You just try to prepare yourself. Fortunately, I was able to come out on top."
In the morning portion of the final, Pollo and Oyama see-sawed with neither ever holding more than a 2-up lead. Tied through 16 holes, Pollo grabbed a 1-up lead on the 17th when Oyama failed to reach the green in regulation, leading to a bogey. The two tied the 18th hole with pars.
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