Seaside, CA—The Golf Channel Amateur Tour held the inaugural Northern California this past weekend on the Bayonet and
Blackhorse Courses. The courses and area got rave reviews by the players
in the 1st of hopefully many Major Championships to be conducted in Northern California! Bayonet and Blackhorse both
proved to be quite challenging layouts in spite of the perfect weather all
weekend. The top three finishers and ties from each flight
successfully qualified for the 2012 Senior National Championship or the 2012
National Championship.
Paxton Song of Los
Altos, CA won the
inaugural Northern California Championship, coming from behind to claim the
Championship. Song, who was in 3rd place entering the final
round, was the only player amazingly to break 80 in the final round on the
difficult Bayonet Course. Song fired a two day total of 8-over par
152. Coming in second place was 1st-round leader Hank McCusker
of Mendocino, CA. McCusker, who recently qualified for the sectionals of
U.S Open, faltered a bit in the final round after opening up with a 1-over par
73. He finished in 2nd place at 10-over par 154. Eric
Morgan of Rocklin, CA, playing in the final group on Sunday,
finished in 3rd place at 14-over par 158.
In the Palmer Flight It was quite the weekend for Shawn
Kim of San Jose,
Ca. Kim made an ace in his opening round on Bayonet on the par-three 6th
hole and that would propel him to a 1-stroke victory in the event!
Kim claimed the Palmer Flight thanks in part to his amazing hole-in-one,
winning at 19-over par 163. Coming in second place and tying for the low
final round was Anacleto Gonzales of Antioch,
CA. Gonzales finished in 2nd
place just a stroke back at 20-over par 164. Dave Schneider of Walnut Creek, CA and
Chris Cagnolatti of Long Beach,
CA each tied for 3rd
at 23-over par 167.
The Hogan Flight saw some very close and exciting action
over the weekend, with three players tying for the lead after 36-holes at
22-over par 166. Kyle Hashimoto of Acampo,
CA (80-86—166), John Usilton of La Mesa, CA (80-86—166)
and Brandon Spalding of Fontana,
CA (79-87—166) needed extra holes
to determine the champion. In the end it was the Northern Californian,
Kyle Hashimoto, coming thru with a par on the first playoff hole to claim the
inaugural Northern California Championship in the Hogan Flight!
In the Sarazen Flight, two players were able to separate
themselves from the field which struggled a bit on the difficult courses at
Bayonet & Blackhorse. Terry Kimberling of Alta Loma, CA would go on
to win the flight at 28-over par 172. Coming in second place was Rafael
Rodriguez of San Mateo, CA. Rodriguez was the only other player
to break into the 170’s, finishing at 32-over par 176. Tom Nguyen of Tracy, CA
earned a qualifying spot in Nationals by virtue of his 3rd place
finish at 36-over par 180.
It was a tough battle in the Jones Flight over the
weekend, with four players out of the nine that started all in contention
coming down the stretch. Brian Huh of Monterey actually held a 1-stroke lead
heading into the final hole. With the pressure on, Sanjay Prasanna of
Foster City, CA finished the event like the champion he became, hitting two
quality shots and then holing a nice 8-foot birdie putt to claim the Northern
California Championship outright at 34-over par 178. Huh would go on to
bogey the final hole and finish in 2nd place at 35-over par 179.
Donovan McCurdy fired the low final round in the flight, a very nice 84,
to finish in 3rd place at 36-over par 180.
In the Snead Flight Jennifer Forsythe of Kirkland, WA
overcame a pace of play penalty issued to her group in the final round to win
the flight. Forsythe shot identical rounds of 96 to win at 48-over par
192. Finishing in 2nd place was Robert Giedt of Belmont, CA.
Giedt finished up at 49-over par 193 and along with Forsythe was the only two
players in the flight to shoot scores in the double digits both days.
Daniel Wu, fresh off his victory in the Western Masters, finished in 3rd
place.
The Senior Palmer Flight saw consistency prevail in a
very tight battle at the top of the leaderboard. After 36-holes were
completed, Kevin Macgillivray of Palm
Springs, CA was tied
with Craig Armstrong of Folsom, CA at 12-over par 156. Macgillivray
posted rounds of 78-78 heading into the playoff, whereas Armstrong went in
after a 74-82 performance. Macgillivray, who was the hottest golfer in
the flight on Sunday, went on to win in the playoff and claim his 1st
Major Championship on Tour. 1st round leader Pamas Bhatti of
Orangevale, CA opened up with a beautiful and low round of the entire
tournament, an even-par 72, but fell a bit on Sunday to wind up in 3rd
place at 15-over par 159.
In the Senior Hogan Flight Phillip May of Leesville, LA
would not be denied, claiming top honors in the flight by two strokes after a
very good performance of 26-over par 170. Scott Goedecke of El Cajon, CA would fire
the low final round in the flight to tie for 2nd place with the 1st
round leader, John Lavaroni of San
Andreas, CA.
Both Goedecke and Lavaroni were two strokes back of May at 28-over par
172.
In the Senior Sarazen Flight David Spalasso of Castro Valley had a dominating performance, catapulting
him to an 8-stroke victory at 26-over par 170. Spalasso played very
consistently as well, firing rounds of 85 each day. Divakar Krishnareddy
of Huntington Beach, CA wrapped up 2nd place with two
scores in the 80’s as well. Krishnareddy finished up at 34-over par
178. Greg Ewald of San Jose,
CA was able to finish in 3rd
place at 37-over par 181.
The Senior Jones Flight saw two players coming down the
stretch with a chance for the win. In the end, it would be Michael Grant
of Snoqualmie, WA who would win, wire-to-wire, at 39-over
par 183. Charles Voss of Cincinnati,
OH would put quite a charge on
Grant in the final round, and finished in 2nd place just a stroke
back at 40-over par 184. Craig King of Southfield, MI
finished in 3rd at 48-over par 192.
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