Ban, a red shirt on the top-ranked Cal golf team, opened play with a 69 and was three shots behind leader Danny Ro but his Sunday 67 was enough to take a lead after the first weekend of play. He'll be the leader next weekend when play continues.
The cut for the large field of 208 that started play fell at 147 -- a big logjam of 10 players at that number were happy with the news. One of the most enjoyable things about the Commuters is watching the scoreboard as the "green coats" post scores onto individual sheets and summary boards. Making it to the next weekend is a badge of honor in a field that typically fills both of Alameda's 18 hole courses, the Earl Fry North and the Jack Clark South.
The final two rounds are played the following weekend (April 27-28) at the Earl Fry North Course only. The Senior Division plays both courses, in a 36- hole championship that will also be played next weekend.
Teammate of Ban (also a Cal red shirt) Andrew Morgan (69-69), Hayden Shieh (70-68) and Ryan Sloane (67- 71) are all tied for second place --- two shots behind the leader.
Isaiah Salinda, who reached the championship match of last month's San Francisco City Championship, is alone in fifth place after rounds of 71-68 while leader Shotaro Ban's younger brother Shintaro (70- 70) is four back. (Amateurgolf.com still confuses the two but we're working on getting it right.) All told, 21 golfers came through the 36 holes of qualifying with scores of 142 or better. With 57 surviving players making the cut, only 11 strokes separate the field set for this weekends play.
This weekend’s golf also will include the 26th Alameda Commuters Senior Golf Championship. A field of 52 of the NCGA’s BEST seniors 55 and over will tee it up. Among the competitive field are defending champion Jeff Burda, 3-time champion and NCGA player of the year Jim Knoll, past champions Gary Vanier, Jay Guerin, Bob Olds, Mark Miller, Jeff Early and Bob Callan. Others in the field include AHS standout and NCGA stalwart Mark Merrigan, John Enright and 1982 NCGA player of the year Bruce Zulaica.
Spectators are welcome and admittance is free to the public.
Follow continuing coverage here on amateurgolf.com next weekend. Information from the Alameda Commuters was used in this report