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San Francisco City quarters set; title defense still possible
Travis Peterson (Photo by Mike Benham)
Travis Peterson (Photo by Mike Benham)

For defending San Francisco City champion Jason Anthony, the weekend got progressively easier. The 64-man field played three matches at TPC Harding Park over Saturday and Sunday, and Anthony won each by a larger and larger margin.

The former Fresno State player barely scraped by in the first round and needed an extra hole against Gary Knight just to guarantee himself a match on Sunday. From there, he took down Aaron Chen, 2 and 1, before needing only 14 holes in his Round of 16 match against Andrew Bernick.

Anthony, 35, has logged top-10 finishes at the Fresno City Amateur and the Stocker cup since his San Francisco City win a year ago. He was affectionately dubbed as an “old guy” in a tournament that – like many – skews young.

While Anthony ran the gauntlet as the No. 2 seed, top-seeded Finigan Tilly, a member of the Cal roster who earned that spot through 36 holes of qualifying, went down in his first match. After trading the lead back and forth with No. 64 seed George McNeely for 18 holes, Tilly lost on the 20th hole to a McNeely par.

For McNeely, an 18-year-old from Carmel, Calif., the thrill of victory was short-lived. Travis Peterson pulled the same trick on Sunday morning, taking down McNeely in 20 holes. Peterson went on to defeat Dylan VanderVeer, a junior at St. Mary’s College, in the afternoon by a 1-up margin.

Along with Anthony on the bottom of the bracket, San Francisco City returners Brett Viboch and Bobby Bucey also advanced to the quarterfinals. The two men must win the next match to face off against each other, which would make for an excellent match considering that they are also four-ball partners. The two were medalists at last year’s U.S. Amateur Four-Ball and won the NCGA Four-Ball title in 2016.

Quarterfinal play will resume on Saturday March 16 in the championship division, while the open division has been whittled down to four players in each of six brackets.

In the women’s division, top-seeded Sophie Thai got a big 6-and-4 victory over Andrea Gomez to move into the quarterfinals. Only Danielle Suh’s victory was bigger. The No. 4 seed defeated Grace Bettis, 7 and 6, to earn a tee time for next weekend.

Results: San Francisco City Championship
WinCAEvan PetersonClovis, CA180
Runner-upCAJason AnthonyFairfield, CA120
SemifinalsCAAnthony VernaOrinda, CA80
SemifinalsCABobby BuceyConcord, CA80
QuarterfinalsCATravis PetersonSanta Rosa, CA50

View full results for San Francisco City Championship

ABOUT THE San Francisco City Championship

>> TOUR PORTAL

*An NCGA Points Tournament*

**New Entry Procedure for 2024: Registration opens for all players on October 1. There will be 50 spots held for exempt players under the following categories:

* The past 10 years of the San Francisco City Golf Champions
* 2023 San Francisco City Men’s Championship Match Play Qualifiers
* Top 20 men’s 2022-2023 NCGA Points Lists
* 2023 NCGA Champions (Amateur, Mid- Amateur, Junior)
* The top 3 finishers in each of the 6 AmateurGolf.com Winter Tour events (Dec 2023-Feb 2024)

Registration for exempt players, and for non- exempt players with a handicap index of 6.4 or lower as of the date of entry, opens on October 1 and will remain open until the field limit (120 players including spots reserved for exempt players) is reached. When the field limit is reached, all additional registrants will be entered in the pre-qualifier at Presidio Golf Club on Friday, March 8, 2024.

Once entries close, if there are any unfilled spots in the Men's Championship (due to fewer than 50 exempt players registering or withdrawals), they will be filled by Pre- Qualifier registrants in the order in which they registered.

Players entering pre-qualifying will pay an entry fee of $165 for the pre-qualifier, and those advancing from the pre-qualifier will pay the remainder of the entry fee (must be paid prior to playing).

The 36-hole match play qualifier will be held March 9-10, 2024, with 18 holes played at TPC Harding Park and 18 holes at Presidio Golf Course for a combined 36-hole qualifying score.

There will be 156 players in the qualifying round with 64 players advancing to match play. When all qualifying has been completed, the Men’s Championship Flight will consist of 64 contestants. In the event of a playoff to qualify for match play, a player must be present in order to retain his right to participate in the playoff.

Match play will begin on March 16, 2024. All match play for the Championship Flight (Mar 16-17, 23-24) will be held at TPC Harding Park.

A schedule of all dates of play can be found on the tournament website sfgolfchampionship.com.

WITHDRAWALS AND REFUND POLICY
Players needing to withdraw should do so by filling out the form at sfgolfchampionship.com/con tact/. Players withdrawing before the entry deadline of February 19 will receive a refund of their entry fee minus $50. There will be no refunds after the entry deadline.

CART POLICY
The use of carts is prohibited for players and caddies in the Men’s Championship Flight (Appendix I – Local Rule Applies)

SPECIAL OFFER TO SF CITY PLAYERS:

SF City players get 50% off Strackaline Yardage Books! CLICK HERE for details


ABOUT THE SAN FRANCISCO CITY CHAMPIONSHIP
The oldest municipal tournament in the USA. Match play event with scratch men's, senior men’s, women's, senior women’s, and open flight divisions. Past champions include Ken Venturi, Harvie Ward, Juli Inkster, Bob Rosburg, 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.

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