SF City Championship: Saturday 3/12 Results

12 Mar 2005
see also: San Francisco City 2025 MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP, TPC Harding Park Golf Course
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Story by Elizabeth Kricfalusi, for amateurgolf.com

Defending Senior’s champion Earl Stewart missed his putt by mere inches on Harding Park’s 18th green to force a playoff against Jack Bieber at Saturday’s San Francisco City Golf Championship semifinals round. However, Bieber’s bogey on the 19th hole paved the way for Stewart to take his fourth straight 1-up win in the match-play tournament.

“Every match I’ve played, I’ve gone to the 18th or the 19th hole,” said Stewart, a retired firefighter with the San Francisco Fire Department. “So I feel very fortunate to be in this position right now, because every match I’ve had is tough. There are no ‘gimmes’ out there.”

Stewart said he felt particularly fortunate to have won today’s match because he played poorly on the back nine. At one point, Stewart found himself 3-up with five holes to play, but “I was giving them away,” he said. “I was fading. I just couldn’t keep the pressure on him and I bogeyed three or four holes in a row back there and let him back in the match.”

Stewart will face off against Rob Thompson, who also won on the 19th hole against Mike Butler, in Sunday’s finals match. Thompson is currently the leader on the NCGA’s 2005 Senior Points list (as well as the amateurgolf.com list); Stewart is in third place.

In the Men’s championship, which comprised 36 holes, Daniel Lim finished 1-up against Will Johnson. On Sunday, Lim will play Michael Wilson, who defeated Bob Niger 2-up.

The Women’s #1 seed and defending champion, Sally Krueger, will challenge #2 seed, 16-year-old Christina Hirano, after a 6 and 4 win against Michelle Mitra. Hirano defeated Saana Rapakko 5 and 3.

The Open division’s flights played their semifinals at Harding Park today as well, after having played their previous matches at Lincoln Park. Harding's Director of Golf George Price noted that there are many challenges in accommodating both the tournament and the daily guests.

“There are a lot of moving parts on the semifinal and final weekend of the San Francisco City, and there’s a lot of coordination that has to be done,” said Price, adding that today’s rounds had gone very smoothly. “The morning matches got done with the championship and everybody’s right on schedule, on time, and there’s been some exciting golf.”

For Sunday’s finals matches, the Men’s and Women’s divisions will play 36 holes; the Senior’s and Open’s matches will remain 18 holes. For complete tournament results, visit the San Francisco City Golf Championship Web site.

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

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.

View Complete Tournament Information

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