Miguel Delgado (NCGA Photo)
ALAMEDA, Calif. — Miguel Delgado, a senior in
high-school from Novato, Calif., broke away
from a four-way tie atop the leaderboard
entering Sunday's final round to win the Alameda
Commuters Tournament by three strokes.
Delgado, who has committed to play for Notre
Dame next fall, shot 11-under 273, including a
final-round 68, to win the event's 88th annual
running.
Delgado was gridlocked at the top of the
leaderboard with second-round leader and Santa
Clara sophomore Carlos Briones, as well as
Jonathan Keane of San Mateo and Finigan Tilly of
Redwood City. But of the four, Delgado was the
only player to break par on Sunday at Chuck
Corica Golf Complex's Earl Fry course.
“This is my first big amateur win,” Delgado told
the NCGA. “Hopefully, it jump-starts my
collegiate career.”
Briones posted 73 and finished in a tie for third
alongside recent San Francisco City medalist
Jason Anthony while Keane and Tilly shot 74 and
75, respectively.
Anthony, the 2014 NCGA Player-of-the-Year
runner-up from Fairfield, started the tournament
slowly with rounds of 72 on the first weekend
before carding a 66 and 68 in the third and
fourth rounds to jump into the top-three. Keane,
a former Santa Clara golfer originally from
Oregon, tied for fifth along with defending
champion Jonathan De Los Reyes.
De Los Reyes, of St. Mary's College, rebounded
nicely from an opening-round 75 with three
straight rounds in the 60s, including a 66 in
Saturday's third round. The junior from Antioch
was one of eight Gaels, as well as the team's
coach Scott Hardy, to make the cut at this
year's Commuters.
Second-place finisher Steven Chung of
Sacramento fired 66 on Sunday — a nine-shot
difference from his 75 a day earlier. Chung was
low amateur at the 2014 Northern California
Open, placing eighth at Almaden Country Club
last September.
Players were met with a unique challenge at this
year's event. With the Jack Clark course
being closed due to complete renovation, the
tournament was played completely on one
course.
“Not since 1955 has the Commuters been
contested on one course," PGA professional Jack
Cummings said.
Because of the tight squeeze, with 208 players in
the Championship Flight on the first
weekend, players were sent out in two separate
waves, beginning with early morning tee
times and concluding with afternoon tee times.
KNOLL WINS SENIOR
DIVISION
Jim Knoll captured the senior title with his final-
round score of 67, which, as the lowest score
of the tournament for the division, proved to be
the winning formula for the recent NCGA
Senior Amateur champion. First-round leader
Dale Bouguennec struggled to a 77 on Sunday
after firing a 68 in the first round.
The win was Knoll's fourth at the Commuters —
a tournament record. The Sunnyvale native
just returned from the desert where he took
fourth at the Senior Masters Tournament, hosted
by the Society of Seniors at Indian Wells Resort.
Knoll is the four-time defending NCGA
Senior Player-of-the-Year, and is looking to
make it five.
Gary Vanier, who was fresh off his win at the
San Francisco Senior City, finished in the
runner-up spot for the second straight year,
shooting 71-70 to be the only player besides
Knoll to finish the 36-hole event under par.
Terry Foreman took third at even-par 142,
including a nice 69 on Sunday.
BLANCHARD LENDS A HELPING HAND
Patrick Burda, who finished tied for 13th at
three-under par, was heading toward Chuck
Corica on Sunday morning of the second round
and made a wrong turn. Burda told
AmateurGolf.com that he hit a pothole in West
Oakland, resulting in a flat tire. He then
decided to leave his car and deal with fixing the
vehicle until after the round.
After his round, in which the Modesto native shot
76, Burda arrived at his car and realized
his car didn't have a spare tire, forcing him to
wait in, what Burda referred to as a "sketchy"
neighborhood for nearly five hours until a tow
truck could pick him up.
Thankfully, there was help on the way.
"I was able to reach the man, the myth, the
legend Bob Blanchard, who, after spending all
day on the golf course as a marshal, was more
than happy to get in his car and come pick
me up," Burda said. "Bob took me to McGee's, a
great watering hole in Alameda, to kill some
time until the tow showed up."
Burda went on to fire back-to-back 69s on
weekend number two, finishing inside the top-
15.
ABOUT THE
Alameda Commuters
What's in a name? In the case of the Alameda
Commuters Championship, the logo of the
almost 100
year old tournament would be a dead
giveaway. It's
a steam ferry, which was the only way to
"commute"
to San Francisco from the East Bay before the
Bay
Bridge was built. Started as an informal event
-- the
original first prize was a bag of nails -- the
tournament has grown into one of the top
independent events in California.
A
dedicated tournament committee prides itself
on
running the competition
as if
it were a PGA Tour event. Two of the best
public
courses at the city-owned Chuck Corica Golf
Complex
are prepared with care. Slick greens, Sunday
pins,
and even that rarity in amateur golf –
spectators are
all part of the fun. The roped-off scoreboard is
a
particular area of pride for the "green jackets"
who
were wearing dark green blazers before they
were
made popular by another tournament you
might be
aware of in Augusta Georgia. The 250 player
championship division is cut to 50 and ties for
the
second weekend, at which time the 36-hole
senior
division tees off to join them.
View Complete Tournament Information