INDIO, Calif. (April 15, 2013) -- Tim Hogarth hasn't let many others get a sniff of the SCGA Mid-Amateur title recently. The SCGA veteran (pictured right) has won three of the last four, and four of the last six, Mid-Am titles for a record-setting total of five. Eighty-three other golfers will try to dethrown Hogarth next week, however, as the 30th SCGA Mid-Amateur Championship heads to Bermuda Dunes CC in the Coachella Valley Monday for two days and 54 holes of stroke play competition.
This year’s champion will earn an exemption into the 102nd California Amateur Championship at Monterey Peninsula CC on June 17-22. The top-5 finishers will earn exemptions into the 114th SCGA Amateur Championship at San Diego CC on July 12-14.
Bermuda Dunes CC opened in 1959 and was designed by world-renowned designer Billy Bell. It has the unique distinction of having hosted the PGA TOUR event, The Bob Hope Classic, for 49 years. The "Classic" style course has been played by celebrities and professionals from around the world including the likes of Clark Gable and Arnold Palmer, who both lived in the Bermuda Dunes community at one time. The 7,017-yard, par 72 layout brings an “old-school” desert feel that will certainly challenge the players.
The SCGA Mid-Amateur Championship is limited to players with Handicap Indexes of 5.4 and below, and ages 25 and older. Competitors undergo 18 holes of qualifying play in order to reach the final field of 84 players. In the Championship, players compete over 54 holes of stroke play with the top 42 players and ties advancing after 36 holes to the final round.
Southern Cal Mid-Am tees off Monday
5-time champion Tim Hogarth goes for his 5th title in the last 6 years at Bermuda Dunes CC