Casey Boyns goes back-to-back at NCGA Senior
(NCGA Photo)

The longtime Pebble Beach caddie shot a final round 1-under 70 Friday at par-71 Poppy Hills Golf Course to come from two strokes back and win the 55th annual NCGA Senior Championship.

In winning the title last year, Boyns had shaken off a rare monkey on his back. At the 2013 championship at Spyglass Hill, Boyns appeared to have his first Senior Championship title locked up but he’d go on to card a disastrous quintuple-bogey 10 on the par-4 14th at Spyglass Hill. He’d eventually lose in a sudden-death playoff to Gary Vanier.

The 60-year-old becomes the first back-to-back winner of the NCGA Senior Championship since Jim McMurtrey won two in a row in 1994-1995.

“I’m satisfied to win it once. This is big. I’ve kind of been floundering,” said Boyns, who finished with a three-day total of 1-under 212. “It feels good.”

The only player in the field to shoot par or better each of the three rounds, Boyns got going with a pair of birdies on holes No.4 and No.5. On the par-5 4th, he’d reach the green in two with a 3-wood. A hole later on the par-4 5th, he drained a 32-foot putt for birdie.

“After those two holes I was like, ‘OK, I’m in the game,'” said Boyns, who has now won a record 21 NCGA overall titles. “I was just trying to make par on every hole.”

While Boyns finished with a front-nine 1-under 35, second round leader Steve Wilson and record 6-time NCGA Player of the Year Randy Haag, who began the day four behind Wilson, had front-nine scores of 41 and 39, respectively. After making the turn, Boyns continued to apply the heat. On the par-5 10th he card another birdie, while on the par-3 11th he sank a curling 18-footer to save par.

“On the back-nine I just wanted to keep it in play and not make any big mistakes,” Boyns said. “Usually, I can get quick and that’s when things can go sour. I just told myself to slow down.”

Wilson, who was looking for his first NCGA title, never recovered en route to a 78 and third place finish at 218. Haag managed to pull out a 73, but came in at 271, five behind the winner.

“I just had a bad day,” Wilson said. “I didn’t hit the ball well enough.”

Haag and Boyns, two of the greatest California amateurs of all time, couldn’t remember the last time the pair had been in the same final pairing. The championship did mark the first time the pair finished one-two in an NCGA championship.

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