Jerry Ledzinski (NCGA photo)
MEADOW VISTA, CA (August 7, 2018) - Monterey Peninsula Country Club member Jerry Ledzinski returned to the winner's circle in dramatic fashion.
Ledzinksi, whose last NCGA win came at the 2015 NCGA Mid-Amateur, captured the annual NCGA Valley Amateur Championship on Tuesday, defeating Jeffrey Inouye-Wong and Evan Peterson in extra holes at par-72 Winchester Country Club.
One of four co-leaders at 72 after the first round, the 45-year-old Ledzinski posted a second round 73 to come in at 145. Inouye-Wong had a final round 70, while Peterson made a move with a 69.
Nick Moore, the 2016 NCGA Player of the Year and winner of this year’s NCGA Amateur Stroke Play Championship, nearly got into the playoff. Moore carded a championship-low 68 to move up into a tie for fourth with Spencer Hulsey at 146.
Moore, the only three-time winner of the event, last won in 2016. Hulsey, an e-Club San Francisco member, followed up a 72 with a 74.
Senior Division
Serrano Country Club member Mark Morgan has a knack for coming up big when it counts.
The 58-year-old did it again Tuesday at Winchester CC, carding a final round 2-under 70 to come from behind and win the NCGA Senior Valley Amateur. It’s the second Senior Valley Am title for Morgan in three years. In 2016, he won at Morgan Creek GC.
Morgan, who joins Gary Vanier and Jim Knoll as the only players to win the event at least twice, finished with a two-day total of 4-under 140.
Having entered the final round trailing by four, Morgan posted six birdies to offset a double-bogey and two bogeys. The double-bogey and bogeys came on holes No.9 through No.11, respectively, dropping him to 1-over for the day. He’d respond by playing his final seven holes at 3-under to clinch the win.
Randy Haag and Tony Padilla each finished tied for second at 142 following rounds of 76 and 74, respectively. Haag, who was looking for his first Valley Am title, could only muster two birdies. Padilla, the winner of last year’s NCGA Senior Championship, had three birdies but also three bogeys and a double-bogey.
ABOUT THE
NCGA Valley Amateur
Played for the first time in 2004 as a replacement
for
the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valley
championships, the NCGA Valley Amateur has
become a staple in the tournament season. The 36-
hole
stroke play event is played at a venue in the San
Joaquin or Sacramento valley each year and
provides
a top-level championship opportunity. Open to
players with a handicap index of 5.4 or less, and
seniors
with a 7.4 handicap index or less.
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