photo courtesy SCGA
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (Feb. 28, 2008)-- The Visa San Francisco City Championship is already well underway, with the Round of 16 starting Saturday at Harding Park Golf Course for the men's and women's championship flights. amateurgolf.com will be on site over the weekend providing video coverage, but before we touch down in San Francisco, we thought we'd bring you up to date on what you may have missed.
Colby Smith of Auburn was the medalist at 137, winning his first two matches against Derek Chang and Pat Phillips. Smith, who will play at UNLV next season, will meet up with amateurgolf.com tournament series veteran Freddy Wolfe in the Round of 16. Wolfe, a UC Berkeley golfer, topped Trent Tessler and Dylan Smith.
In typical SF City Championship fashion, the up-and-coming Smith was followed in qualifying by Bay Area golfing legend Gary Vanier, who is in his 50's. It should be no surprise that Vanier, an Olympic Club member, is still in the hunt, as he is a six-time winner of the event. For the tournament's history, and a full list of champions, click here.
Vanier topped Devin Hexner (30 years his junior) in the second round, and will have his hands full with the long-hitting Taylor Travis in the Round of 16.
Another golfer that surprised no one by making it this far was amateurgolf.com Tournament Series Player of the Year Randy Haag. The NCGA runner-up for POY defeated fellow Olympic Club member Stephen Molinelli, who had a moment in the sun last summer caddying for eventual U.S. Amateur champion Colt Knost at his home club.
Haag will take on Scott Hardy in what may be the marquee match up on Saturday.
Hardy, the golf coach at St. Mary's, has came very close to taking home the U.S. Mid-Amateur title in the past, and survived a scare from Sam Smith in the Round of 32, winning in 20 holes.
For the full championship flight bracket, click here.
The senior championship flight will feature another amateurgolf.com Player of the Year, Jay Guerin, who took medalist honors at 70 and will now take on James Miller in the quarterfinals, which take place March 8th.
Also still in the running are Jim Knoll, a veteran of several U.S. Senior Amateurs, and Frank Pieper, son of another Bay Area legend, Frank Pieper.
Defending champ Carl Selkirk will face off with Bob Fleming.
For the full senior championship bracket, click here.
In the women's flight, there will be a 4-for-6 playoff before action kicks off on Saturday, March 1, with medalist Diane Kwon of Fremont looking for her third straight title.
For the full women's championship bracket, click here.
A pair of regulars in the amateurgolf.com Tournament Series are still alive in the John Susko Flight of the Open Division. We wish Rick Shumate and James Grensted the best of luck.
For the full John Susko Flight bracket, click here, for the Ken Venture bracket, click here, and for the Harvie Ward bracket, click here.
ABOUT THE
San Francisco City Men's Championship
>> The weekend qualifier is now closed, except for exempt players. Please email Info@SFGolfChampionship.com to register as an exempt player. Or, you may enter the Pre-Qualifier by clicking the link below>>
PRE-QUALIFIER REGISTRATION
TOUR
PORTAL (coming soon)
*An NCGA Points Tournament*
**
Entry Procedure:
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
* 2024 San Francisco City Men’s
Championship
Match Play Qualifiers
* Top 20 men’s 2023-2024 NCGA Points
Lists
* 2024 NCGA Champions (Amateur, Mid-
Amateur,
Junior)
* The top 3 finishers in each of the 6
AmateurGolf.com Winter
Tour
events (Dec 2024-Feb 2025)
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 Lincoln Park on Friday,
March 7,
2025.
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
8-9, 2025, with
18 holes played at TPC Harding Park and 18
holes at Lincoln Park 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 15, 2025. All
match play for the Championship Flight (Mar
15-16,
22-23) 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/contact/. Players withdrawing
before
the entry deadline of
February 18
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
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.
View Complete Tournament Information