San Francisco City Men's Championship: Daniel Connolly takes medalist honors

March 10, 2024 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

Daniel Connolly (AmateurGolf.com Photo)

The 2016 champion was a model of consistency, shooting 71 at Presidio Golf Course and 70 at TPC Harding Park

Daniel Connolly of San Francisco, Calif., finished on top of the 36-hole medal play portion of the San Francisco City Championship at Presidio Golf Course and TPC Harding Park. Connolly won the 2016 San Francisco City Championship.

Connolly, who has dual citizenship with the United States and Ireland and played his collegiate golf at SMU, shot a first-round 1-under 71 at Presidio Golf Course on Saturday and a second-round 2-under 70 at TPC Harding Park. He recorded ten birdies and seven bogeys over the 36 holes.

18-hole leader Parker Mapes of Pleasanton, Calif., finished in solo second place at 1-under. He shot 4-under at TPC Harding Park and 3-over 75 at Presidio Golf Course.

Connolly's family owns Johnny Foley's, a popular Irish pub in San Francisco and Connolly is a member of the Olympic Club.

The highlight of his weekend was his birdie on Hole No. 12 at Presidio Golf Course, one of the toughest holes in San Francisco.

He had two different strategies for the two courses over the two days.

"It is a different strategy," Connolly said about TPC Harding Park. "Big and flat greens, you can be more aggressive when attacking pins. There is more of an emphasis on the tee ball with thick rough and a longer course."

However, Connolly wasn't concerned about where he was on the leaderboard. He just wanted to play great golf.

"I had no idea where I stood," Connolly said. "I just wanted to play as best as I could and get in the house."

Suffice to say, mission accomplished.

In 2023, Connolly won the NCGA Mid-Amateur and the Alameda Commuters.

Griffin Chiu of Los Altos, Calif., finished T3 at even par, but got off to an insane start on Sunday, shooting a 5-under 31 on the back nine (his front nine) at Presidio Golf Course. He shot a 3-over 39 on the front nine coming home to shoot a 2-under 70 in the second round.

Arnold He of Fremont, Calif., Matthew Lin of Orinda, Calif., and Nikolai Friedman of Mill Valley, Calif., all finished T3 along with Chiu at even par.

Match play will begin on March 16, 2024. All match play for the Championship Flight (Mar 16-17, 23-24) will be held at TPC Harding Park.

PLAYOFF

It took three times playing the storied 18th hole at Harding Park to determine the last two spots for match play.

And how about this for a twist?

We started with a nine-for-one spot playoff, but in the middle of the playoff, we learned a player had withdrawn due to injury, making a second spot available.

It took three long trips down the dogleg left No. 18th -- with the steep slope to Lake Merced guarding the left side -- to determine the final two spots. Chris Audi and Nick Nienken both parred for the third straight time and will take the No. 63 and 64 seeds next weekend.

QUALIFIER NOTES

Grant Johnson of Walnut Creek, Calif., an investment advisor and recent Gonzaga grad, made a 70-foot “bomb” on No. 12 from the front right of the green and also holed a big 15-foot putt for the world’s best bogey on No. 1 after “knifing” it out of the bunker, as he said. He made match play.

Papon Sawatyanon

Ben Gould of Carlsbad, Calif., who plays for Dominican College, shot 85 at Presidio and 70 at Harding to get to 11-over for the tournament and make the playoff. The Carlsbad resident flew up the night before the first round after having a golf lesson. “I think I three-putted every hole on the back nine yesterday,” he said. “I found something today.” He lipped out for par on the second playoff hole to get eliminated.

Sean Kwok of Pleasanton, Calif., showed a 16-shot improvement, going from 86 at Presidio to 70 at Harding. “I didn’t have a single part of my game that went well yesterday,” said Kwok. “But I was striping my irons today."

If not for a missed 2 -footer for birdie on No. 15 that hit a bump and lipped out, he would have made the playoff.

Papon Sawatyanon of Berkeley, Calf., shot the low round today - his 4-under 68 a huge improvement over his 79 at Presidio on Saturday. “I worked on my putting at Presidio after the round for a while, then went over to Richmond CC to grind a little longer.”

Nobody has played more golf than Sawatyanon in the last three days. The junior at Cal Berkeley from Taiwan played the pre-qualifier on Friday, rushed over to a college qualifier Friday afternoon, then back to Presidio and Harding for 36 holes this weekend. And he’s not done yet.

"I have qualifiers on Monday and Tuesday”, he said. But don’t feel sorry for him, the team is playing Cal Club and San Francisco G.C.

Results: San Francisco City Men's Championship

Place	Player	Location	Pts
Win	Mikey Burkland	Alamo, CA	180
Runner-up	A.J. Fitzgerald	Salinas, CA	120
Semifinals	Ryan Vaughan	San Jose, CA	80
Semifinals	Giulio Zanichelli	San Francisco, CA	80
Quarterfinals	Grant Johnson	Walnut Creek, CA	50

View full results for San Francisco City Men's Championship

About the San Francisco City Men's Championship

San Francisco City Men's Championship: Daniel Connolly takes medalist honors

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