Nicholas Evans, a collegiate baseball catcher, decided he needed another sport to participate in.
And he chose well.
“I had Tommy John surgery and just felt like I needed a fresh direction for sports,” Evans said.
The amazing part is that he picked up golf just three years ago – no doubt a fast learner.
Taking a two-stroke lead into Sunday, Evans bogeyed the reachable par-4 12th only to watch Ryan Gay convert an eagle after a 275-yard tee shot to 12 feet.
But Evans rallied back, stringing together three straight birdies on holes No. 13, 14, and 15. Evans, a Monte Vista High graduate, finished at 1-under par overall, no easy feat over the weekend as Tilden’s greens got progressively slicker.
Evans gave a lot of credit to his coach Steve Watanabe at The Bridges and childhood friend Darren Hannan who was on the bag for him over the weekend.
With some collegiate eligibility remaining, Evans has decided to pursue playing golf and has discussions going on with two teams about joining their squad.
John McCord from Oakland and Ryan Gay from Walnut Creek tied for second place at 2-over, followed by Mark Stephens from Redding at 6-over and 2022 Northern California Golf Association Player of the Year.
Randy Haag had plenty of quality competition on Saturday for the Senior Division at the Bay Regional but he felt pretty comfortable heading down the stretch with a five-shot margin.
“I drained a 40-footer to a tough pin on No. 15 that I was hoping to three-putt and was feeling pretty good,” said Haag. “Then I went to No. 16 and shanked an iron straight out of bounds.”
Haag righted the ship and edged Dean Park of Healdsburg by two shots and Dan Young, last year’s runner-up of Redwood City, by four shots. Haag finished at 2-over.
Park finished at 4-over, Young at 6-over, Jim Williams of Orinda, and Daniel O’Conner of San Francisco tied for 4th at 8-over.
ABOUT THE Bay Regional Championship
54 holes stroke play championship, with a 36-hole
cut for the Men’s Division
only to the top 30 scores plus ties. Senior
divisions will play 36 holes
with no cut. Total entries are limited to 120 players
and the following divisions
will be conducted:
- Men’s Championship (54 Holes Stroke Play, max
handicap 6.4)
- Senior Men’s Championship (Age 55 or older as of
the first day of the
tournament – 36 Holes Stroke Play, max handicap
9.4)
View Complete Tournament Information