NCGA ams lead pros after Day 1 of Hanna-Wehrman matches

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (Oct. 18, 2018) – The top of the bracket went entirely in the NCGA’s favor on Thursday morning as the Hanna-Wehrman Cup matches kicked off at Poppy Hills Golf Course. The annual competition pits some of the Northern California Golf Association’s top amateurs against the region’s top professionals in a Ryder Cup-like format.

And so far, the amateurs are winning.

The NCGA team jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead following the morning Chapman matches. The amateurs took the first three matches and halved the final two before lunch. Jason Anthony and Mike Stieler took the first point with a 2-and-1 defeat of Dana Banke and Rick Leibovich. Domingo Jojola and Bobby Bucey followed with a point for the NCGA and Nick Moore and Matt Cohn put the last full point on the board for the morning.

The NCPGA made a move in the afternoon, taking two early points. Banke and Leibovich teamed again, but this time with a different outcome. In a four-ball setting, the pair defeated Stieler and Anthony by a 4-and-3 margin. Kevin Roman and Jason Owen followed with a 2-up victory on Bucey and Jojola. It amounted to a bit of redemption after the morning losses.

The NCGA still got two afternoon wins, however, from the teams of Moore and Cohn (4 and 3) and Rick Reinsberg and Garrett Wagner (2 and 1).

After the first day of matches, the NCGA leads 6-3.

The NCGA leads in the overall series, 23-18-10. The NCGA has won 10 of the last 11 years. The NCPGA won in 2017.

Information from the NCGA used in this report