Jonathan de los Reyes
The last time Sacramento resident Jonathan De
Los
Reyes played competitively at Lake Merced Golf
Club
was at the NCGA Junior Championship when he
was
13 years old.
Almost a decade later, and despite the stakes
being
a bit higher now, De Los Reyes appeared right at
home at the club in Monday’s first round of
stroke
play qualifying at this week’s California Amateur
Championship.
The St Mary’s senior was one of five players
grabbing a share of the lead, posting a solid 4-
under
68 in the wind and cold of Daly City. All five
were
part of the morning wave of tee times.
“I had a slow start but got comfortable pretty
fast,”
De Los Reyes said. “After that, it was smooth
sailing.”
Starting on the back-nine, the2014 Alameda
Commuters champion began his day with a
bogey on
No.11. He’d quickly get to red figures with back-
to-
back birdies on holes No.13 and No.14, and later
dipped deeper into red after posting a 33 on the
front-nine that featured four birdies and a
bogey.
De Los Reyes has had the hot hand before.
In winning last year’s Alameda Commuters, he’d
tie
the tournament record for low score (18-under
266),
set by former NorCal amateur great and current
PGA
Tour member Matt Bettencourt in 2002.
At Lake Merced, he’s on another course that fits
his
eyes.
“I really like the look of the tree-lined fairways,”
said De Los Reyes, who sank a 30-footer for
birdie
on No.2. “It helps me visualize the shot better.”
The four others opening with 68 were Jake
Knapp of
Costa Mesa, KK Limbhasut of Berkeley, Lorens
Chan
of Honolulu and former Penn golfer Max Marsico.
Knapp, a senior at UCLA who missed the cut at
last
week’s U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, shot a 3-
under
33 on the front-nine that included an eagle on
the
par-5 6th hole.
“I was being tentative early then I made the
eagle
and got going,” Knapp said.
Limbhasut, a sophomore at Cal originally from
Loma
Linda, was the epitome of steady, posting 14
pars
and four birdies.
Three players, including San Jose State senior
Cody
Blick, are one behind after opening with
matching
69’s. Blick was co-medalist in a U.S. Open local
qualifier in May at Silverado Resort in Napa.
A group of six players, including Cal’s Shotaro
Ban
and Fresno City Amateur runner-up Michael
Tolladay
are two back after shooting 70.
San Francisco City champion Justin Suh, former
S.F.
City champ Will Brueckner and Ryan Han of UC
Davis
were among a pack of nine players shooting 71.
Playing Lake Merced for only the
second
time, Suh missed seven putts under 5 feet.
In a role reversal, Brueckner had Cal senior and
recent NCGA Women’s Amateur champion Carli
Childs on his bag as caddie. Brueckner caddied
for
Childs in the NCGA Women’s Amateur.
In the North/South Challenge, which takes the
best
five of six scores from each squad, the South
squad
leads, 357-368. Suh had the low score for the
North
while Knapp led the South.
Tuesday’s second round of stroke play qualifying
begins at 7 a.m. Following play, a cut will be
made
with the low 32 advancing.
story courtesy NCGA
ABOUT THE
California Amateur
The Championship is open to amateur golfers
who have established current indexes of 4.4
and are members in good standing of the
Southern California Golf Association, the
Northern California Golf Association, or the
Public Links Golf Association of Southern
California. Nonexempt players must qualify. An
entrant may play in only one qualifying event,
even
if
the golfer
belongs to clubs in both Southern California
and Northern California. The 18-hole
qualifying
rounds will determine the qualifiers.
The championship field will play 36 holes of
qualifying at a Northern or Southern California
Location, with the low 32 golfers from that
combined field moving on to match play (with
a
playoff, if necessary, to determine the final
spots).
Two rounds each of 18-hole match play will
follow on Thursday and Friday and the 36-hole
final match will be on Saturday.
The location will rotate yearly between
Northern and Southern California locations.
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