By Peter Conroy
amateurgolf.com

MONTEREY, Calif. (December 3, 2006) — When you’re hot, you’re hot, and when David Leuterio of Sacramento notched his second ace in as many months Sunday in second round play of the amateurgolf.com Christmas Classic at Del Monte Golf Club, he was on his way to a 4-under 68, and a spot at the top of the leaderboard.

But a few groups away, 17-year-old Sam Chavez outplayed his foursome in the leaders group, finishing with a 2-under 70, for a two-day score of 142, tied with Leuterio.

That sent the tournament into a sudden-death playoff that saw Leuterio triumph by notching consecutive birdies. The win culminated with a 30-foot putt, capping what amateurgolf.com founder Pete Wlodkowski called the most exciting ending in the site’s seven-year history.

Leuterio, a UC-Davis product, needed an eight-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to stay alive, after Chavez put his second shot on the par five in the fringe, then chipped to within inches and tapped in.

Chavez kept the pressure on for the second hole, shaping a three-wood around the dogleg left to within 60 yards. Leuterio looked to be in serious trouble when he pushed his four-iron into the right-rough, between two large trees.

“I was under the tree, but I had a shot, I always like hitting it low anyway,” said Leuterio. “It was almost better that it was kind of restricted because earlier in the round, first hole of the day, that’s the one I doubled. I was in a similar position but I had a clear shot and caught a huge flyer and almost went out of bounds because I tried to hit a full shot.”

He punched his shot onto the right side of the green, while Chavez wedged to 12 feet.

“I thought I could make it, I canned a long one on my last hole, and having made one on the first hole of the playoff I had a lot of confidence in the putter,” said Leuterio. “I had good speed the whole tournament so that allows you to free up your stroke and focus on the line.”

He rolled the 30-footer into the cup, and Chavez pushed his putt wide right to seal the tournament.

“It seems like in the playoff, I didn’t really lose it as much as I got beat,” said Chavez. “Making those two long putts is pretty clutch.”

Still, the Hillsborough-native was happy with his performance.

“I thought it would be a good experience knowing that I’m going off to college next year, playing in the final group is where you want to be,” said the Arkansas-bound Chavez. “If you can’t perform under pressure in the final group, it’s hard to win.”

Leuterio started his day with a double, but got things back on track with a birdie in the third hole and his second career ace on the fourth.

“I hit a seven-iron right at the pin. From the tee it looked like it hit and jumped, I thought it might have gone over,” said Leuterio. “I was looking for it over and couldn’t find it when someone in my group asked if I checked the hole. I go look and it was in there, I’m like, ‘Wow, awesome.’”

From there, it was a matter of keeping a level head.

“It definitely gave me momentum, but also sometimes when you get a hole-in-one it gets you a little bit too high, so I was constantly telling myself to calm down,” said Leuterio. “I was a little riled up.”

Andrew Bowdish, the co-leader coming into the day, tied for third with Kevin Fitzgerald at even-par 144. Bowdish, who entered the day at 2-under, was 5-over after the first eight holes off the day, but righted himself in the back-nine by shooting a 3-under 33. Matt Marshall, the other co-leader coming into Sunday, never got things together, finishing with 146, good for fifth.

In the senior division, Charles Richesin maintained his steady performance, posting scores of 74-75-149 to edge Tom Lyons 76-74-150.

“I was just trying to get the ball up and down, the greens were really treacherous,” said Richesin. “I had a couple birdies today and an eagle and a couple birdies yesterday, I was just trying to get the ball around the hole and make the putts.
“The trick on this golf course is just staying below the hole, I’ve played this event for two of the last three years. I was introduced to amateurgolf.com three years ago, so now I come out and play with you guys.”

While the approach shots weren’t always the best Sunday for Dan Gray, his putter more than made up for it as he took net division with a 71-65-136.

“I hit two greens, and made everything I looked at, it was just one of those days,” said Gray. “I’ve played here almost 10 years now and have never been lucky enough or good enough to win it, so this is nice. But my secret today is the 22 putts, I’ve been bragging about it.”

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Final results from the 2006 Christmas Classic, played at the par 72 Del Monte Golf Course follow: