Defending Champion Randy Haag (photo courtesy of NCGA)
PEBBLE BEACH, California (August 17, 2017) -- Just one round for the Senior and Super Seniors on Thursday, but there was no shortage of excitement. In the Senior Semifinal Matches, Randy Haag, who was pushed to 19 holes on Wednesday afternoon, birdied No. 15 to win 4 & 3 over Casey Boyns. On the other side of the bracket, David Games continued his run from the Monday qualifier all the way to the Final after a 20-hole showdown with Jim Knoll.
In the Super Senior Bracket, Mike Watney of Copper River won seven of the last nine holes to CC defeated Henry Guerin of Alameda GC 4 & 2. Joining Watney in the Finals will be Frank Pieper, who took an extra hole to defeat Rich Gleghorn. Both the Senior and the Super Senior Final Match will consist of 18 holes and begin Friday morning.
Round of 16 and Quarterfinals
With the Round-of-16 and the Quarterfinal Round both on the docket for Wednesday, play ramped up.
In the morning, a pair of Round-of-16 matches went to extra holes, with Ray Kong of Bayonet / Blackhorse GC forcing a playoff on No. 18 and winning it outright on the 21st hole over Thomas Ansbro of E-Club South Bay, and Ray Camaione also of Bayonet / Blackhorse GC came all the way back after being 4 down through nine to win it in 19 holes against Jeff Britton of Tehama GC.
In the afternoon Quarterfinal matches, David Games of E-Club Monterey Bay became the last remaining qualifier after defeating Ray Kong 8 & 7.Olympic Club’s Randy Haag needed an extra hole to complete his comeback against James Camaione. He will face Casey Boyns of Nicklaus Club – Monterey, who won 6 & 5 over Jeff Hoffman of Granite Bay GC.
The final four is rounded out by Jim Knoll of Rooster Run GC who defeated Kimble Cater of Corral de Tierra CC. Semifinal matches begin Thursday at 7:44 a.m.
Round-of-32
2015 NCGA Match Play Champion Jim Knoll proved his top-seeding was no fluke on Tuesday, defeating Greg Olson in a blowout by a score of 7&6. Knoll, who was the first to leave the tee at 7:30 this morning at Poppy Hills Golf Course, made a tone-setting par to win the first hole as his opponent stumbled out with a double-bogey. Olson seemed to get back on his feet with a par on 2, but Knoll is a former NCGA player of the year and was simply playing too well to be bested. The 65-year-old Knoll did his damage on the par fives, going a total of four under par on the three they faced before the match ended early on number 12.
Other lopsided victories included defending champion and six-time AmateurGolf.com player of the year Randy Haag defeating Mike Benham 7&5, and a 6&5 win for Kenneth Noonan over Ron Collet.
The morning did provide a few nail-biters as well. Jeff Britton squeaked out a win on the twenty-first hole of his match with Clayton Davis, and he didn’t lead in the match once until that point. Britton followed up a winning par on the par-3 15th with a birdie 3 to tie the match on 16. The pair would halve holes until reaching their third playoff hole, where Britton would make a 5 to win the match.
Despite leading for the first fourteen holes of his match, Kevin Kobalter was forced into extra holes by his opponent Rick Dollarhide. Dollarhide in fact could have won the match on No. 18 with a halved hole, but instead made bogey 6 giving Kobalter one more chance to get a hold of the match that he controlled for so long earlier. Another 6 for Dollarhide on the 19th would put an end to his comeback.
View results for NCGA Senior Match Play
ABOUT THE NCGA Senior Match Play
The NCGA Senior Match Play Championship was
historically an invite-only event in which the top
16 players on the NCGA Senior points list were
invited to participate in the Senior Match Play
Championship, held concurrently with the NCGA
Amateur Match Play at Spyglass Hill, over a three-
day period. However, beginning in 2012 the event
was modified to a 32-player match play field,
still allotting 16 spots to the top 16 of the NCGA
Senior points list, while allowing the other half of
the field to qualify.
Senior players (ages 55+) must have a handicap
index of 7.4 or
less. There is no handicap limit for super
seniors (ages 65+).
View Complete Tournament Information