The 18-hole final started out well for Games as he hopped to a quick 2 up lead after four holes, but the back nine belonged to Haag. The Olympic Club representative never dropped a hole on the back, playing steady golf all the way in to win 1 up.
Related: Haag v. Games in NCGA Senior Match Play Final
“These NCGA Championships mean the world to me,” Haag said. “I’ve been playing these events for 40-plus years and it’s never easy; you have to beat great players on incredible courses.”
His championship round was no exception. A slow start put him behind a red-hot Games early on, but keeping things close through a tough stretch helped him to pull out a victory.
“I made a putt on No. 5 that kept me 1 down,” Haag said. “Being 1 down is completely different than being 2 down. It means you are only one hole away from a fresh start, one hole away from having all the momentum.”
In a similar storyline, the Super Senior bracket saw the defending champion, Frank Pieper, get off to a slow start against the challenger Mike Watney of Copper River CC. Pieper fell to 2 down after a bogey on the par-5 7th, but responded by winning four straight holes from 9 to 12. With the momentum on his side, Pieper played steady golf to close out the championship with a 2&1 win.
“Today I just tried to play steady golf,” Pieper said. “My short game was good, my putting was great all week, which is unusual for me. It’s really nice to be able to come out and play good golf for an entire week and come away with this thing twice in a row.”