Scott Gibson is among the semifinalist
(SCGA Photo)
SANTA BARBARA, CA (August 21, 2017) - The 10th SCGA Match Play Championship will crown a first-time winner when the event wraps up Tuesday.
After two days and three rounds of action, a field of 64 has now become a field of four, as Mark Manwaring, Jeff Wilson, Haruki Miura and Scott Gibson advance to Tuesday's semifinal action.
Long Beach's Manwaring was able to defeat a hot Tyler Gullicksen, who hadn't even needed holes 17 or 18 to win his first two matches of the tournament. Manwaring would play the first five holes in 2-over par to jump out to a 3 up lead he would never relinquish, eventually winning 4 and 3. He will face two-time SCGA Mid-Amateur Champ Jeff Wilson Tuesday morning, who himself jumped out to an early 1 up lead in his match with a birdie on the first hole before battling Hunter Epson of Pepperdine all the way to 18 to secure a 1 up victory.
In need of some well-deserved rest, Gibson will tee off in the last match of the day Tuesday at 8 a.m. after surviving 37 holes of play to win both his matches Monday. In a tough Round of 16 match against Jason Pridmore, Gibson birdied the 21st hole of the match to secure his spot in the quarterfinals, ending a back-and-forth battle between the two mid-amateur golfers that saw neither golfer take more than a 2 up at any point in the match. After Pridmore jumped out to an early 2 up lead through four holes, the 43-year-old Gibson brought things back to even at the turn. An eagle on No. 13 would give Gibson his first lead of the match, but a late birdie on No. 17 by his opponent would push things to extra holes.
With little time before his next match, Gibson would go right back out there against Tavit Garabedian of Pasadena, making things a little easier on himself by winning in just 16 holes. Gibson would play those holes in 1-under par, advancing to face Haruki Miura of Torrance Tuesday. Miura is coming off a big victory over SCGA Mid-Amateur Champion Dan Sullivan, who birdied the 17th hole to push the match to 18, before a nice up and down by Miura on the par 3 would halve the hole and seal the deal.
The 18-hole final match will immediately follow the semifinals.
ABOUT THE
Southern California Match Play
The Match Play and Senior Match Play
championships
began in 2008 as a means of bringing new credence
and incentive to the SCGA points program. The
SCGA
points program awards points to golfers who give
strong performances in SCGA, USGA, CGA and other
selected outside tournaments. This Championship is
open to SCGA members with a
Handicap index of 5.4 or below. Players must qualify
or earn an exemption into the
championship field.
The championship format is single-elimination match
play.
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