-- photo NCGA

Philip Chian followed his stellar 67 Monday with a 69 Tuesday on the more challenging Lake Course at the Olympic Club. With that 136 total, Chian earns medalist honors at the 100th California State Amateur and the number one seed in match play competition beginning tomorrow.

It didn’t look good for Chian early in the round as he had three consecutive bogeys on holes two through four. Then, after converting his first birdie on the eighth hole, he gave it right back on the ninth with another bogey, making the turn at 3-over for the day, 1-under for the tournament.

“I guess I was nervous [at the start of the round],” said Chian, “I scrambled the first six holes.”

But something changed at the start of his second nine and he came out firing scoring five birdies and four pars, posting an incredible 31, 5-under par.

“My putter just started getting hot,” said the Long Beach State junior. “I was just a lot more focused on the back nine; instead of thinking not where to hit it, I thought of where I should hit it.”

Chian’s closest competitor was Cameron Park’s Jake Johnson who shot a 36-hole 139 (3-under), good enough for the second seed in match play. Santa Cruz’s Cory McElyea and San Diego’s Xander Schauffele round out the top-4 seeds as both players finished in a tie for third at 2-under, 140.

The low round of the day went to Los Osos’ Matt Hansen, who shot a 5-under 66 on the Ocean Course. Hansen, whose home course is the Olympic Club, shot his 66 with five birdies and no bogeys after a first round 75 on the Lake Course. He draws fellow Olympic Club member and multiple NCGA player of the year recipient Randy Haag in the first round of match play, guaranteeing that an Olympic Club member will make it to the round of 16.

“It’s too bad we have to play each other this early, it would probably be better if we played each other in the finals,” said Haag.

The cutline for match play came at 145 (4-over) and had nine players competing for the last two spots in a sudden death playoff. John Catlin of Carmichael and Mark Harding of Hermosa Beach outlasted the other seven players and draw the top two seeds in the first round, respectively. Defending champion Scott Travers missed match play finishing at 6-over par, 147. Geoff Gonzalez, the 2009 champion, drew the 24th seed and will face the 9th seed Cameron Rappleye.

Match play commences tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. with medalist Phillip Chian taking on Mark Harding.

North/South Challenge

Twenty-one NCGA players and 11 SCGA players qualified for match play, reversing the usual roles between the north and the south. Additionally the NCGA team reclaimed the Roger Lapham Trophy bettering the SCGA’s 736 with a 724. It was the first time the NCGA has had the trophy in its possession since 2008 when the NCGA beat the SCGA 721-722. The NCGA team was led by Palo Alto’s Martin Trainer, who shot a two-day 141 and earned the sixth seed in match play.