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amateurgolf.com Metropolitan Am: Bowdish's 1st AGC Win
Andrew Bowdish's winning putt on Sunday at the Metropolitan Am

OAKLAND, California (Oct 29, 2006) -- The 17th hole at Metropolitan Golf Links is a risk-reward par-5 where the second shot says "you've got this shot" as well as the fictional US Open water hazard that tempted Kevin Costner's Roy McEvoy in "Tin Cup."

The two leading players in this weekend's Metropolitan Amateur no doubt heard their inner voice repeat the same phrase that McEvoy heard, and the way they were both playing over the weekend there is no doubt that they both could have pulled it off.

Standing in the middle of the 17th fairway at five-under on the day, and riding the adrenaline rush of birdies on Nos. 11, 13, and 14, tournament leader Jason Stone hit a nearly perfect fairway metal second shot from 250-yards that finished just a few maddening feet short of a dry landing. His closest pursuer, Andrew Bowdish of San Jose, was out of view behind a bush after missing the fairway wide-right, and didn't know what had happened.

"It's actually a good thing that I didn't see Jason's shot," said Bowdish, a former Division 1 pitcher at Long Beach State. "I figured I had to go for it and fortunately I hit a solid 4-iron to 30 feet and two-putted for birdie."

The resulting two-shot swing reversed Stone and Bowdish's place on the leader board standing on the 18th tee.

Both players had earlier passed first round leader Martin Trainer, who set the competitive course record on Saturday at Metropolitan Golf Links with a flawless 8-under-par 64. Trainer suffered back-to-back double bogeys at Nos. 9 and 10 on Sunday, allowing Bowdish to pass him on the front nine, and the red-hot Stone to come from even farther back to take the lead on the back nine with his own string of red numbers.

Stone and Bowdish found the fairway with their tee shots on No. 18. Stone went after the back-right flag with another solid iron shot that left him ten feet for a much needed birdie. Bowdish played a low nine iron to chase up to the second tier, but it hit the ridge and backed up to the front of the green, leaving him 40 feet of nerve-wracking ground to cover in order to two-putt for par.

Bowdish's first put was well struck, but left him with almost as tough a putt for par as Stone had for birdie. It was down to two players, two putts, and three possible outcomes.

Stone's putt slid by to the right, and Bowdish smoothly stroked his in for the victory. (note: click the button over the picture on the right to watch a video of Bowdish's winning stroke.)

"I borrowed a belly putter from Chris [Kilkenny] when caddying for him at the NCGA Cup Matches," explained Bowdish. "It felt good all weekend. On that last putt, I just thought, keep it simple."

Bowdish credited his experience watching the NCGA's top players up close last week (the NCGA beat their professional counterparts by a whopping 15-5 margin) with helping him take his game to the next level.

Bowdish's final score of 6-under-par (68-70=138) put him one in front of Stone (71-68=139), and four ahead of first round leader Trainer (64-78=142) and Arvo Voip (70-72=142) who tied for third. Voip hurt his right wrist on the second hole, trying to dig his second shot out from the top lip of the devlish pot bunker in the middle of the fairway. He played in pain all day and showed a lot of courage in playing so well on a day when even his putts hurt (he went to the claw grip it got so bad).

In the Net Division, which was one of amateurgolf.com's strongest of 2006, Tamara Holmes of Albany made history in becoming the first woman to win any division in an amateurgolf.com Tournament Series event. The 12-handicap Holmes, who plays Metropolitan Golf Links regularly, fired net rounds of 66-68=134 to win by five-shots over Gary Koshaba of San Francisco. In the relatively small Senior Division, Tom Lyons of Pleasanton -- suffering with a bad back all weekend -- scored his own five-shot win over Jay Guerin of Alameda, following a first round of 69 with a 74 for a 1-under-par total of 143 on the tournament. Daniel Kuper fired a 72 on Sunday to grab solo third.

Tournament Notes:
* Special thanks to Steve Porter, Leonard Monroe, and the entire staff of Metropolitan Golf Links for hosting us once again. The course and greens were in great shape this weekend. Next year, we plan on combining the Oakland City Championship and Metropolitan Amateur into one grand event with local sponsors, volunteers, and at least a 54-hole format, so stay tuned!

* Thanks to amateurgolf.com Tournament Director Liz McQueen, and officials Leonard "Googie" Kirtley and Laura Lee Pixton for their hard work all weekend, and to website/Tournament Series sponsors UST Golf Shaft, Bridgestone Golf, Callaway VIP Program, and Lamkin Grip. Lamkin is our newest sponsor, having recently signed up for the entire 2007 season. We expect to be doing grip sampling and installation at several of our events, and at the Christmas Classic we will be helping raise money for "Arnie's Army Battles Prostate Cancer" with a closest to the pin contest at Del Monte. Prostate cancer survivor Arnold Palmer uses and endorses Lamkin products, and Lamkin has raised well over $300,000 for this worthy cause.

Photos of the winners, and final results, are shown below:



* * * *

Final results from the amateurgolf.com Metropolitan Amateur, played at Metropolitan Golf Links in Oakland, California follow (a story and photos will be posted shortly):

- Championship Division: Par 72, 6959-yards
- Senior/Net Divisions: Par 72, 6529-yards

CHAMPIONSHIP
Pos Name Hometown R1 R2 Tot Proshop$
1 Andrew Bowdish San Jose, CA 68 70 138 400
2 Jason Stone Antioch, CA 71 68 139 300
T3 Martin Trainer Palo Alto, CA 64 78 142 200
T3 Arvo Voip Magalia, CA 70 72 142 150
T5 Samuel Chavez Hillsborough, CA 72 75 147 120
T5 Taylor Travis Fremont, CA 73 74 147 100
T7 Justin Tambunting Elk Grove, CA 71 77 148 100
T7 Sal Felice II Hollister, CA 76 72 148 100
T9 Greg Hutton Oakland, CA 72 77 149 100
T9 Mike Granelli Clayton, CA 72 77 149 75
T11 Buck Branson San Francisco, CA 73 77 150 75
T11 Brian Thibault San Jose, CA 74 76 150 60
T11 Chip Doyle Castro Valley, CA 74 76 150 60
T11 Matt Cohn San Francisco, CA 74 76 150 60
T11 Matthew Garcia Burlingame, CA 74 76 150 60
Bryan Kiss Coronado, CA 73 78 151
Zach Burton Manhattan, KS 78 74 152
Andrew Biggadike Palo Alto, CA 74 79 153
Jack Paton Hillsborough, CA 75 78 153
Patrick Pernice Oakland, CA 76 77 153
Jon Mygrant Redding, CA 77 76 153
Bradford Thomas San Anselmo, CA 78 75 153
Mason Mallory Hillsboro, CA 77 80 157
Sean Nadir Los Altos, CA 81 76 157
Martin Renaud Hayward, CA 82 75 157
Blake Andrus El Dorado Hills, CA 77 81 158
John Hasse Berkeley, CA 80 79 159
Mathew Park Alameda, CA 81 78 159
Randall Schwartz Burlingame, CA 77 83 160
Keith Schwartz Burlingame, CA 79 81 160
Michael Shwe Cupertino, CA 77 85 162
Matthew Wallach Los Altos, CA 79 87 166
Albert Conceicao San Jose, CA 81 86 167
Jon Burkard Alameda, CA 80 88 168
Adam Cioth San Francisco, CA 88 80 168
Mark Douglas San Jose, CA 79 90 169
Evan Green San Francisco, CA 80 89 169
Ryan McCole El Cerrito, CA 85 86 171
Donald Gerber Menlo Park, CA 84 88 172
Andrew Brooks San Francisco, CA 86 92 178
Esan Geroux Mill Valley, CA 82 wd
Todd Edwards Sunnyvale, CA 82 wd
Weston Payne Menlo Park, CA 78 wd
Bryan Martin Thousand Oaks, CA 75 wd
Randy Haag Burlingame, CA 75 wd
Stan Morrison San Francisco, CA 75 wd
Jim Heidel Burbank, CA 74 wd
SENIOR
Pos Name Hometown R1 R2 Tot Proshop$
1 Tom Lyons Pleasanton, CA 69 74 143 200
2 Jay Guerin Fremont, CA 70 78 148 130
3 Daniel Kuper Sunnyvale, CA 77 72 149 100
T4 Mark Miller Antioch, CA 72 79 151 25
T4 Terry Ackerman Monterey, CA 77 74 151 25
Bob Reed Fremont, CA 78 75 153
Thomas Hitchcock San Mateo, CA 83 91 174
Michael Donnelly Clayton, CA 78 82 160
James Clouser Danville, CA 78 83 161
Mike Reidy Pleasanton, CA 78 83 161
Walt Edgerley Pleasanton, CA 82 79 161
Kevin Tierney Sunnyvale, CA 85 83 168
NET
Pos Name Hometown R1 R2 Tot Proshop$
1 Tamara Holmes Albany, CA 66 68 134 300
2 Gary Koshaba San Francisco, CA 67 72 139 200
3 Dave Nikitin Vacaville, CA 71 69 140 150
4 Vincent Steele Concord, CA 67 75 142 100
5 James Grensted Belmont, CA 70 73 143 100
6 Roger Soell Salinas, CA 73 70 143 100
7 Bryan Dailey Signal Hill, CA 71 73 144 75
8 Joe Garske Vacaville, CA 70 75 145 75
9 James Murphy San Francisco, CA 73 73 146 50
10 Harvey Hunter Elk Grove, CA 75 71 146 50
Fred Luper Suisun, CA 71 76 147
Bill Strahan Burlingame, CA 74 74 148
Jeff Kier San Jose, CA 77 72 149
I. Joe Ceniceros La Mirada, CA 79 72 151
Gary Basilio Novato, CA 73 79 152
Philip Hacker Martinez, CA 78 75 153
Noel Rush Pacifica, CA 77 78 155
Kevin Smith Richmond, CA 78 81 159
Al Richardson Santa Clara, CA 82 79 161
Morrie Birnbaum Concord, CA 85 78 163
Robert Vernon San Francisco, CA 80 85 165
Lucas Heller Piedmont, CA 77 90 167
Bruce Stinson Emeryville, CA 87 84 171
Russ Burch Walnut Creek, CA 71 wd
Korsen Yu Sunnyvale, CA 73 wd
Bart Goldie Oakland, CA 76 wd
Mike Sly Los Altos, CA 83 wd
Paul Agriesti Orinda, CA 87 wd
Renato Madamba Albany, CA 99 wd

ABOUT THE amateurgolf.com 2006 Metropolitan Amateur

SUNDAY TEE TIMES - A 7:30 SHOTGUN START IS SCHEDULED FOR SUNDAY. (please remember to turn your clocks back). NCGA Points and Senior Points event at the wonderful Metropolitan Golf Links in Oakland. Entry fee includes two rounds of golf, generous prize fund. (carts not included at this very walkable course) Morning starting times will be utilized both days. Field limited to 120 players.

View Complete Tournament Information

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