Parker Mapes (Marty James photo)
by Marty James, Special to AmateurGolf.com
Parker Mapes called it his biggest win as a golfer. Now he’s hoping that the 10-under-par 206 total that he shot over 54 holes to capture the 2022 Silverado Amateur, a Troon Saguaro Amateur Series event, can help propel him into the fall season for Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.
“It feels really good,” said Mapes, standing on the practice green, after being presented with the tournament trophy on Thursday afternoon by Roy Edwards, the Chairman of the Troon Saguaro Amateur Series and the head men’s golf coach at the University of Colorado. “This is definitely my biggest win. I haven’t gotten one in a while.
“It’s a big amateur, a good field. It’s huge – definitely a big boost for my confidence moving forward into the college season, with fall starting. I’m excited for the season. I’ve just got to keep this momentum going.”
Mapes, a resident of Pleasanton who is going into his sophomore year, shot a final round 3-under 69 on the very challenging North Course at Silverado Resort and Spa. He held off
Ian Gilligan of Reno, Nev., winning by a one-shot margin. Gilligan, who plays for Long Beach State and will be a sophomore in the fall, carded a 70.
Max Brenchley of Apline, Utah, who took a one-stroke lead into the final round after the field played 36 holes on Wednesday, finished third, shooting a 73. Brenchley, who was at 8-under after the first two rounds, is going into his senior year at BYU.
The North Course was set up as a par-72, 6,822-yard layout.
Mapes and Gilligan were tied for second place, one shot off the lead, going into the final round.
“Shooting 10-under-par here is no accident. You have to play some serious golf,” said Edwards.
Mapes, a 2021 graduate of Amador Valley High School who plays out of The Club at Ruby Hill in Pleasanton, started out the tournament with rounds of 67 and 70 on Wednesday.
He had birdies on Nos. 4, 8 and 9 on the front nine, and Nos. 12 and 14 on the back nine, in the final round.
He made a 15-foot putt to save par after blasting out of the left greenside bunker on the par-3, 185-yard seventh hole. It was this hole, he said, that got his round going.
“It led me into like a tear after I made that par save,” said Mapes.
He also got up and down to save par on the par-3 15th hole, as he made a four-foot putt after hitting out of the left bunker.
“I hit it perfect out of the bunker. Luckily, I saw the line, but that one breaks quite a bit,” said Mapes.
He crushed his drive to the center of the fairway on the par-4, 14th hole and made the putt for birdie from four feet.
“It kept my confidence there, even late in the round,” he said. “It was just simple. I was making things easy for myself, up until the last hole, and wasn’t really giving anything back. I wasn’t really letting up. I was just hitting fairways and greens, and either making the putt or two-putting.”
One of his only blemishes of the day was making bogey on the par-5, 18th hole, as he had difficulties with his short game out of a bunker near the green and then coming up short in the false front.
Gilligan, playing in the final group with Mapes and Brenchley, also bogeyed the 18th hole.
“I was just telling my mom (Cheryl Mapes), I was in the fairway center of 18. And the goal for me was just lay up on the right side and have a little chip in the alleyway there. But I guess I had a little bit of adrenaline. I was trying to lay up and I hit my 4-iron about like 235 (yards) to that bunker. It cost me there because I was there (Wednesday). I knew I didn't want to be there. I still put it there. I should have probably just gone for the green, to be honest.”
Mapes was happy with his ball striking, accurately hitting fairways and greens.
“When I missed greens, my chipping was on point too. I was making putts. Everything was working for me. Everything was going my way. Not too many bad breaks,” said Mapes, the winner of two Junior Golf Association of Northern California events in 2020 and a participant at the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2021. He also played in American Junior Golf Association events.
The online scoring system showed that Mapes and Gilligan were tied going into No. 18 and were tied after regulation play, both at 9-under. But Mapes said he knew that he had a one-shot lead heading to the final hole.
The online scoring is unofficial, said Edwards. The incorrect score that was inputted was a bogey-4 on No. 7 for Mapes.
“Official scoring in golf is after you’ve signed your scorecard and turned it in,” said Edwards. “It just happened to be that it was the top two guys that it affected. But we thought it was tied, too, until the scorecard came in. The live scoring was wrong by a shot. It’s unofficial. That’s why you have the scorecards turned in to make it official.”
Gilligan finished second at 9-under 207 (68-69-70), Brenchley was third at 7-under 209 (67-69-73), and
Michael Carrillo of Chualar, Calif. was fourth at 3-under 213 (73-69-71).
Gilligan had birdies on Nos. 5, 11 and 16.
Brenchley had birdies on Nos. 10 and 18.
Tying for fifth, at 2-under 214, was
Ryan Firpo of Davis (71-71-72),
Jeewon Park of Tempe, Ariz. (73-72-69) and
Jolo Timothy Magcalayo of the Philippines (72-69-73).
• • • • •
Troon Saguaro Amateur Series continues to gain momentum
The 2022 Silverado Amateur, which drew a field of 70 players, is a world-amateur ranked event and the fifth tournament of the 2022-23 Troon Saguaro Amateur Series.
This week also marks the fifth Troon Saguaro Amateur Series event at Silverado in the last two years.
The Troon Saguaro Amateur Series, founded in 2014 with its first event, is a world-ranked amateur tournament series that is led by Roy Edwards and Joe Jensen.
“It’s nice coming here, both in the winter and in the summer, because it’s like you’re playing two different golf courses,” said Edwards. “It's long and soft and cool in December – plays hard for other reasons. And then when you come in the summer, it’s playing firm and fast and (temperatures) are great. It’s obviously a championship test, with championship conditions here at Silverado. And it’s a nice lead-up to the PGA Tour’s Fortinet Championship.”
For the second year in a row, Silverado will host the Fortinet Championship, a FedEx Cup regular season tournament, Sept. 15-18, that has an $8 million purse and 156-player field. It’s the kickoff event to the PGA Tour’s 2022-2023 schedule.
This is the ninth year in a row for the PGA Tour at Silverado, which also hosted the Frys.com Open (2014-2015) and the Safeway Open (2016-2020).
“It’s the first-class nature of the golf courses that we want to host our tournaments on for our players,” said Edwards. “Silverado checks every one of those boxes at an incredibly high level. It’s just a spectacular place. It’s a really, really good test of golf. Just what an amazing place to have a tournament at.”
Highly-regarded juniors, college players and high-level amateur players compete in Troon Saguaro Amateur series events.
Said Edwards: “Because kids wanted to play, we wanted to provide an opportunity for them to do that.”
“What’s going to differentiate us from other (events) is to try and get these kids on properties, like Silverado, that have some history, and there’s a story. And, so for sure, Silverado is that for us,” said Jensen, the vice chairman of the Troon Saguaro Amateur Series and the Director of Golf at the University of Wyoming.
Silverado was also the site of two other PGA Tour stops: Kaiser International Open Invitational (1968-1976) and Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic (1977-1980).
In addition, two PGA Tour Champions events, The Transamerica and Napa Valley Championship, were played at Silverado from 1989-2002.
The Silverado Showdown, a major college women’s tournament that draws top teams from around the country, was played here for the seventh year in April. It’s co-hosted by the University of Colorado and the University of Oregon.
“Guys are just trying to get better. Kids are concerned about their ranking. They’re trying to be seen. They’re trying to post some scores. I think with our series, we have found a solid niche. And the players have realized that – a clean, competitive, fair experience,” said Jensen.
The Troon Saguaro Amateur Series resumes later this year, with the 2022 Gobbler Amateur, Nov. 21-23, at Sewailo Golf Club, Tucson, AZ. The 2022 Grapevine Amateur is Dec. 28-30, at Silverado Resort.
Marty James