Winner Mark Morgan
(NCGA Photo)

Mark Morgan, a member at Serrano CC and a USC alumnus, had a day to remember in Wednesday’s final round, posting a final round 2-under 69 to come from two strokes back to capture the title at par-71 Pauma Valley Country Club. He’d finish with a 54-hole total of 1-under 212, defeating runner-up David Nelson of Reno by six strokes.

In 2016, Morgan, who turned 58 last Saturday, grabbed his first NCGA title with a win at the annual Senior Valley Amateur. In 1981, he lost in the finals of the NCGA Amateur Match Play Championship, 1-up.

Now, he’s a State champion.

“It feels really unbelievable,” said an emotional Morgan. “It was a long three days and I’m just blessed to be standing here as champion.”

Entering the final round, Morgan trailed second round leader Don DuBois of Newport Beach. DuBois fell back into a tie for third after a 77. First round leader John Mack, who was also a threat, slipped backwards as well with a 78.

Morgan, meanwhile, was one of the few to figure things out. Coming off a ho-hum 1-over 36 on the front-nine that concluded with a double-bogey, he’d go on to post a back-nine 33 with four birdies. The big surge came on holes No.13-No.15, where he carded three straight birdies to get to a total of 2-under. After that, it was just a matter of avoiding big mistakes.

“I made double bogeys on all three days,” said Morgan. “But I came back from them and just hung in there.”

Following Morgan and Nelson, the next highest Northern California finish was from recent NCGA Senior Championship winner Tony Padilla, who carded a 73 to place ninth at 220.