Gale force winds, WDs, and a 12-putt: the story of the SCGA TOC
- Andy Ho (@techtrainingtip) video screen shot
If you live in Southern California and finished a heartbreaking second in your club championship this year, your silver lining has arrived -- you did not have to play in the SCGA Tournament of Club Champions.
Club champions from across the region had no idea what would hit them before they arrived at Rustic Canyon Golf Club on Monday, but when the winds kicked up, eventually hitting 40 mph, chaos ensued.
There is a reason that golf was match play for the first 500 years, and Exhibit A was on full display at Rustic Canyon.
Want to see a +1 handicap 6-putt? Here you go:
When the wind turns a 1-footer into a 40-footer, it might be time to suspend play. Thankfully for this story, they didn't.
It's not often a player beats the field average by 14 shots, but eventual winner Ricky Montanez did just that, shooting a 6-over 78 (without a birdie) and taking advantage of going off in the first group of the day at 7:00am. Jeffrey Pih was also in that group, and shot a 79 to finish second. No one else broke 80.
The 2018 SCGA Player of the Year and PGA Tour caddie Corby Segal posted an 87. Former SCGA Mid-Amateur champ and recent Ojai Senior Cup winner Dan Sullivan shot 89.
How hard was it? More players had rounds in the 100s (nine) than broke 85 (six). Another six players gutted it out to sneak in at 99 and avoid triple figures.
According to the course statistics, the scoring average on the back nine was 48.4 and only one hole on the back averaged under a bogey. The par-4 18th averaged 6.12.
26 golfers who either didn't have a sense of adventure, a tolerance for punishment, or enough golf balls withdrew from the event. But one player should be saluted for sticking it out to the very end. Grant Beachley, a 2-handicap, took 123 shots (with a birdie), including 12 putts on the final hole.
We at AmateurGolf.com got to know Grant earlier this year at our
Two Man Links at Bandon Dunes, where in winds of 25-30 mph he shot 76 at Bandon Dunes and 74 at the Sheep Ranch on his own ball, so the guy can play in the wind.
Incredibly, the scores at Rustic Canyon were posted to GHIN for handicap purposes.
ABOUT THE
SCGA Tournament of Club Champions
Men’s club champions are invited to play in this 18-
hole event. The club
champion must have a Handicap
Index of 2.4 or below as of the date of registration.
They must be an amateur member in good standing
with the SCGA and a member on the club’s active
SCGA roster at the time they won the championship.
This Division will compete without handicaps. Men’s
club champions with a Handicap Index of 2.5 and
above will play in the net divisions.
View Complete Tournament Information