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San Francisco City: Round of 16
- Frankie Albelda photo, for amateurgolf.com
- Frankie Albelda photo, for amateurgolf.com

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (March 6, 2011) -- Round-of-16 matches were played Sunday at Harding Park, and defending champion George Gandranata advanced to the quarterfinals with a 3-and-1 victory over the very solid Kevin Wentworth, a player from Arnold who qualified for two national USGA Championships in 2010.

The qualifying medalist, Patrick Grimes, was defeated today by Cal Berkeley player Brandon Hagy, 3 and 1. Hagy has performed well in the clutch this year; he eagled the final hole to win the New Years Invitational in Florida in January and pick up a national "major" amateur win.

Randy Haag's back probably could have used a better preparation for today's match than the 25 hole marathon it took him to defeat another solid Cal player, Jamie Core on Saturday. Still, Haag, at age 52 and playing a field with competitors often half his age, went 19 holes with Jack Persons, the 29 seed before bowing out. Persons holed a clutch 8-foot "make or go home" putt on No. 18 to force the match to sudden-death; on the 19th hole (Harding's 1st) Haag made bogey after going for the back-right pin and finding the soggy bunker.

"I'm not sure what's going on in the universe," said a bemused Haag, "but the last five matches I have played [starting with the Olympic Club Championship, ed.] have gone extra holes."

And for those that don't know Jack Persons, Haag said the 18-year-old may have the perfect match play short game for the demands of Harding Park and San Francisco weather. Playing on greens that often required drops away from casual water, Persons' putting style matches his all-around solid short game.

"He gets up, aligns his putter in front of the ball, doesn't take a practice stroke and smoothly rolls it," said Haag.

It's certainly anyone's game in match play, but with Hagy and Gandranata on opposite sides of the bracket it's very possible we could see a Cal sophomore (Hagy) vs. Cal Alumnus (Gandranata, '09) final.

PHOTO GALLERY:

Many players noticed a very professional- looking photographer and thought he was from one of the local publications like The San Francisco Chronicle. Not so, that was Frank Albelda of Alameda, on assignment for amateurgolf.com. To view his photo gallery, visit our Facebook page. While you don't have to "like" our page, we would really appreciate if you would.

previously reported:

* * * SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (March 5, 2011) -- The first round of match play in the San Francisco City Championship got underway today at San Francisco's historic Harding Park Golf Course.

Defending champion George Gandranata was solid in defeating Stephen Molinelli of the Olympic Club, 5 and 4. Molinelli enjoys Harding Park almost as much as his home course and is never an easy opponent there, but Gandranata, as evidenced in this fantastic photo by Frank Albelda, came out determined.

Medalist Patrick Grimes defeated Taylor Bromley, 4 and 3.

Michael Vera and Ricky Stockton battled through extra holes, with Stockton coming out on top on the 2nd extra hole.

And the match of the day was one that shows why golf is great - current division one golfer Jamie Core (Cal Berkeley) went 25 holes with 2010 NCGA Player of the Year Randy Haag, 52 with this one going the way of the veteran Haag.

Round two gets underway on Sunday. To view stories about the senior and women's divisions, see "regional news" on the right side of the page. A match play bracket for the men's division is available by clicking on the link below.

Results: San Francisco City Men's Championship
WinCABrandon HagyWestlake Village, CA180
Runner-upCAJack PersonsSan Francisco, CA120
SemifinalsWAT.J. BordeauxTacoma, WA80
SemifinalsCAPatrick KucichStockton, CA80
QuarterfinalsCAGeorge GandranataEmeryville, CA50

View full results for San Francisco City Men's Championship

ABOUT THE San Francisco City Men's Championship

>> The weekend qualifier is now closed, except for exempt players. Please email Info@SFGolfChampionship.com to register as an exempt player. Or, you may enter the Pre-Qualifier by clicking the link below>> PRE-QUALIFIER REGISTRATION

TOUR PORTAL (coming soon)

*An NCGA Points Tournament*

**Entry Procedure: Registration opens for all players on October 1. There will be 50 spots held for exempt players under the following categories:

* The past 10 years of the San Francisco City Golf Champions
* 2024 San Francisco City Men’s Championship Match Play Qualifiers
* Top 20 men’s 2023-2024 NCGA Points Lists
* 2024 NCGA Champions (Amateur, Mid- Amateur, Junior)
* The top 3 finishers in each of the 6 AmateurGolf.com Winter Tour events (Dec 2024-Feb 2025)

Registration for exempt players, and for non- exempt players with a handicap index of 6.4 or lower as of the date of entry, opens on October 1 and will remain open until the field limit (120 players including spots reserved for exempt players) is reached. When the field limit is reached, all additional registrants will be entered in the pre-qualifier at Lincoln Park on Friday, March 7, 2025.

Once entries close, if there are any unfilled spots in the Men's Championship (due to fewer than 50 exempt players registering or withdrawals), they will be filled by Pre- Qualifier registrants in the order in which they registered.

Players entering pre-qualifying will pay an entry fee of $165 for the pre-qualifier, and those advancing from the pre-qualifier will pay the remainder of the entry fee (must be paid prior to playing).

The 36-hole match play qualifier will be held March 8-9, 2025, with 18 holes played at TPC Harding Park and 18 holes at Lincoln Park for a combined 36-hole qualifying score.

There will be 156 players in the qualifying round with 64 players advancing to match play. When all qualifying has been completed, the Men’s Championship Flight will consist of 64 contestants. In the event of a playoff to qualify for match play, a player must be present in order to retain his right to participate in the playoff.

Match play will begin on March 15, 2025. All match play for the Championship Flight (Mar 15-16, 22-23) will be held at TPC Harding Park.

A schedule of all dates of play can be found on the tournament website sfgolfchampionship.com.

WITHDRAWALS AND REFUND POLICY
Players needing to withdraw should do so by filling out the form at sfgolfchampionship.com/contact/. Players withdrawing before the entry deadline of February 18 will receive a refund of their entry fee minus $50. There will be no refunds after the entry deadline.

CART POLICY
The use of carts is prohibited for players and caddies in the Men’s Championship Flight (Appendix I – Local Rule Applies)

SPECIAL OFFER TO SF CITY PLAYERS:

SF City players get 50% off Strackaline Yardage Books! CLICK HERE for details


ABOUT THE SAN FRANCISCO CITY CHAMPIONSHIP
The oldest municipal tournament in the USA. Match play event with scratch men's, senior men’s, women's, senior women’s, and open flight divisions. Past champions include Ken Venturi, Harvie Ward, Juli Inkster, Bob Rosburg, George Archer, and Dorothy Delasin. Some of the “non winners” include Tom Watson and Johnny Miller. Click the “history” tab for more about this wonderful event.

View Complete Tournament Information

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