Gary Vanier (AmateurGolf.com photo)
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (March 8, 2017) -- Top seeds Gary Vanier and Randy Haag were among those to move on to the Round 16 in the San Francisco City Senior Championship.
Top-seed Vanier, a three-time champion of the event, ousted 32-seed Jim Himler 5&4 in the first match of the day at TPC Harding Park. Vanier will now face 17-seed Malcolm Fairbairn who also won his match 5&4 against Chansavy Ly.
Haag, the second seed and defending champion, had a bit more trouble with his opening round match than Vanier, edging Maurice Monserez in 19 holes. Haag will now face 18-seed Mel Collins.
Tim Grunksy, Dean Prince, and David Ujihara, the third, fourth, and fifth seeded players, were each upset. In fact, the next highest remaining seed to advance was 10-seed Alred Oppenheim who beat Jeff Mertel 4&3.
Grunsky was upset by No. 30 Ray Kong, Prince was defeated by 29-seed Mike Benham while Ujihara fell to No. 28 Steve Donnelly.
Match play will continue with the Round of 16 Saturday, March 14th.
QUALIFIER STORY
The Round of 32 is set at the San Francisco City Senior Championship with many familiar names taking the top seeds.
Gary Vanier, a three-time champion of the event, fired a 1-under 71 to be the lone man under par on the 18-hole stroke play qualifying day. Vanier tallied three birdies and two bogeys on the day to take medalist honors.
Defending champion Randy Haag hasn't missed a beat since defeating Doug Price in the finals last year. His opening 1-over 73 puts him in a tie for second with Tim Grunsky who has been playing well since finishing solo third at the California State Fair Senior last September.
Dean Price and David Ujihara shared fourth with 2-over 74's while four players tied for fifth at 3-over 75. AmateurGolf.com founder Pete Wlodkowski was one of those four.
Wlodkowski, who turned 55 on Sunday, got off to a tough start with a double-bogey five on the par-3 11th (his second hole of the day). However, he was able to bounce back right away with a birdie on the par-5 12th and play the next fifteen holes in a steady 2-over par.
Past champion Jim Knoll (76) will be another play to keep an eye out for when match play begins Wednesday. The cut to the Round of 32 fell at 8-over 80.
View results for San Francisco City SENIOR
ABOUT THE
San Francisco City SENIOR
NOTE: 2017 REGISTRATIONS CLOSED ON JAN.
15.
MEN'S SENIOR DIVISION $275
ENTRY
FEE INCLUDES ALL GREEN FEES.
Open
to
the first 72 entries received. Participants must
have
an
index of 9.4 or lower on 12/01/16 and must have
an
age of 55 or older as of March 7, 2017.
Qualifying
will
consist of one 18-hole stroke play round. Along
with
the defending champion, who will hold the
number
two
seed, the low 31 scores will advance to the Men's
Senior Championship Flight. Individual scores will
determine seeding for match play.
Contestants
who don’t qualify will be refunded $125.
No-
shows
will not be entitled to a refund. All rounds will be
played at TPC Harding Park Golf Course. Those
contestants who post the 32nd and 33rd low
scores
will
be deemed alternate #1 and #2, respectively.
ABOUT THE SAN FRANCISCO CITY
CHAMPIONSHIP
The oldest municipal tournament in the
USA.
Match play event with scratch senior,
women's
and open divisions. Past champions
include Ken
Venturi, George Archer, and Dorothy
Delasin.
Some of the 'non winners' include Tom
Watson
and Johnny Miller. Click the 'history' tab for
more about this wonderful event.
View Complete Tournament Information