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