From left, Schroeder, Knoll, Haag, Gabelman (Photos by Mark Benham)
Only four men remain in the senior division of the San Francisco City Championship, but there will be no easy pass to the championship match no matter what corner of the bracket you look at.
If there’s an upper hand to be had at TPC Harding Park, then Randy Haag has it. Haag, the 60-year-old from Orinda, Calif., has a strong history in this event. He is not only the defending champion in this division, but also won the senior title in 2016. He won the championship division in 1999.
After taking the No. 1 seed in stroke-play qualifying, Haag skated into the Round of 16 with a 6-and-5 victory. He won his next two matches by smaller margins but arrived at the semifinals nonetheless.
Haag is a four-time NCGA Player of the Year as well as a member of the NCGA Hall of fame, but his next opponent will likely be his toughest. He will face off against Jim Knoll, another of the NCGA’s most decorated players.
Knoll is a former PNGA Senior Amateur champion (2014) and U.S. Senior Amateur semifinalist (2012). He is the No. 21 seed in this event, but after a 19-hole scare against Jeff Britton in the Round of 16, has continued to advance through the bracket.
Consider Haag vs. Knoll the marquee senior match-up, but on the bottom of the bracket, Andrew Gabelman and Steve Schroeder will also be a tough contest.
Gabelman is a 60-year-old veteran of nearly a dozen USGA championships who also competed in this year’s Stocker Cup.
Schroeder, meanwhile, played the 1989 and 1990 U.S. Open, missing the cut both times, and was runner-up at the 2014 San Francisco City Senior Championship.
Both senior matches will be played Saturday March 16. In the super senior division, however, the bracket will be whittled from eight men to four on Wednesday March 13. Ely Orquiza already took down top-seeded Mark Miller in the opening match, 2 and 1, but No. 2 seeded Stuart Francis remains.
View results for San Francisco City Senior
ABOUT THE
San Francisco City Senior
>>
TOUR
PORTAL (coming soon)
*An NCGA Points Tournament*
Open to the first
84 entries received.
Participants
must have an index
of
9.4 or lower as of the date of entry and
must be 55 or older as of the first day of
the tournament. Qualifying will consist of one 18-
hole stroke play round (Tue Mar 18) after which the
Senior Men's
Championship Flight will
consist of 32 match-play contestants.
In case of ties, a card-off (see SF City Golf
Championship Playoff Procedures) will determine the
players who
will advance to match play. Players’ scores will
determine seeding for
match play. All rounds will be played at
TPC Harding Park
Golf Course.
Match play starts Wed Mar 19, with
matches scheduled for Thu-Fri March 20-21 and the
semis and finals on Sat-
Sun
Mar 22-23.
A schedule of all dates of
play can be found on the tournament website
sfgolfchampionship.com.
WITHDRAWALS AND REFUND POLICY
Players needing to withdraw should do so by filling
out the form at
sfgolfchampionship.com/contact/
. Players withdrawing
before the
entry deadline
of
February 18 will receive a
refund of their entry fee minus
$50.
There will be no refunds after the entry
deadline.
SPECIAL OFFER TO SF CITY PLAYERS:
SF City
players get 50% off Strackaline Yardage Books! CLICK HERE for
detailsThe oldest municipal
tournament in the
USA.
Match
play event with scratch men's, senior, women's,
senior women's
and
open flight
divisions. Past champions include Ken
Venturi, Harvie Ward, Juli Inkster, Bob Rosburg,
George Archer, and Dorothy Delasin.
Some of the 'non winners' include Tom
Watson
and Johnny Miller. Click the 'history' tab for
more about this wonderful event.
View Complete Tournament Information