California Amateur: Eddy Lai Earns #1 Seed for Match Play

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (June 20, 2017) - Eighteen-year-old San Jose resident Eddy Lai was a buzzsaw at last year’s NCGA Amateur Match Play Championship. That is, until he ran into eventual champion Shintaro Ban in the final. Lai, who’s headed to UCLA in the fall and is a member at the Olympic Club, now will have a chance at redeeming himself by capturing one of the other big prizes Ban won in 2016. The former Bellarmine College Preparatory standout and former NCGA Junior champion earned the No.1 seed at this week’s California Amateur Championship at the Olympic Club on Tuesday, finishing stroke play qualifying with a two-day score of 5-under 137 following a 1-under 70 on the Lake Course. Ban, who is not back to defend to his Cal Am crown, won last year at Valencia CC. Overall, what was another busy day saw 32 players secure coveted spots in the brackets. Everyone else went home. The No.2 seed will be former Junior Tour of Northern California Player of the Year Justin Suh. Suh, who now plays at USC and also hails from San Jose, earned that spot with a solid 67 on the tougher Lake Course that featured seven birdies. Also moving on was fellow former JTNC Player of the Year Joshua McCarthy, who finished T-3 at 140 after a 73 on the Lake Course. In the redemption category, there’s also Roseville’s Joshua Sedeno. Sedeno, who fell to Ban’s brother Shotaro in the 2015 California Amateur finals at Lake Merced GC and now plays at Alabama, advanced with a two-day score of 142. Other notable NorCal names advancing were defending Alameda Commuters champion Sebastian Crampton (143) and 2016 San Francisco City champion Daniel Connolly (140). Connolly’s father, John, owns the popular Johnny Foley’s Irish House on O’Farrell Street in The City. The final eight spots in the brackets came down to 10 players who all came in tied at the cutline (144). Among the eight who advanced were Campbell resident Ryan Sloane, former Alameda Commuters champ Peter Kuest and Olympic Club member Jason Anthony, who came into the week leading in the points standings for NCGA Player of the Year honors.