San Jose State's Yu takes top seed at California Amateur

The format is about to change at the California Amateur. The bracket is set at Monterey Peninsula Country Club and San Jose State’s Sean Yu is at the top of it.

With rounds of 68-66, Yu, who will be a senior for the Spartans in the fall, edged UC Davis’ Thomas Hutchison by two shots for the No. 1 seed. Yu had 11 birdies in 36 holes, and only one bogey, which came in Tuesday’s second round.

“I like where the balance of his game is at right now,” said San Jose State University men’s golf coach John Kennaday.

Yu will open match play against No. 32 seed Ramiz Jamal of Huntington Beach. Hutchison, who won last year’s NCGA Amateur Match Play Championship and recently competed in the Amateur Championship at Portmarnock (Ireland) Golf Club, will meet No. 31 Joseph Benedetti of Playa Vista.

If Yu advances. He’ll meet the winner of the match between No. 16 Jason Anthony and No. 17 Robert Hamilton. Anthony, of course, already has won the Billy Bell Cup and the NCGA Mid-Amateur this month.

Earlier in the college golf season, Yu finished second at the Western Collegiate, one of the most prestigious – and longest running – events on the West Coast. He has a tall task to fight his way all the way to the final match this week. The last stroke-play medalist to win this event was Geoff Gonzalez in 2009, according to the NCGA.

The No.3 seed went to San Diego State sophomore Christian Banke of Danville. He had the low score on Tuesday with a 63 on the Shore Course. First-round leader Cameron Sisk, a sophomore at Arizona State who reached the quarterfinals at Portmarnock, ended up as the No. 4 seed.

Information from San Jose State University, NCGA used in this report