CARMEL, Calif. (Oct. 19, 2008) – John
Pietro, the head pro at The Preserve Golf Club,
warned golfers at the start of the Stocker Cup
Invitational that he would be going “hog wild”
with pin placements on Sunday, and he didn’t
lie.
So it was fitting that as the final field of 20
golfers to make the cut struggled with the
course’s lightning-quick greens, the only golfer
to break par on the final day was rewarded
with the Stocker Cup victory.
Joe Sanders, the winner of the 2007
Trans-Miss Four Ball (with Ryan Mitchell),
birdied the final two holes to take a two-stroke
victory over amateurgolf.com California Mid-Am
winner Chris Marin and two-time U.S. Mid-Am
champ Tim Jackson. Sanders, a resident of
Incline Village, Nevada, finished at 1-under-par
287 after putting up rounds of 74-70-72-71.
Marin had a four-stroke lead with four
holes to play, but ran into trouble on the
vicious 15th hole when his approach shot
settled above the hole. His birdie try careened
past the cup and didn’t stop rolling until it was
25-yards away on the fairway. He ended up
making triple bogey without hitting one real
poor shot on the hole, giving Sanders the
opening he would need.
“I made a good par on 15 with that really
tough pin and my buddy who was out
spectating told me that someone was 3-under
and I was 1-over,” said Sanders. “I told my
girlfriend, ‘Let’s birdie the last three and see if
someone comes back.’”
Waiting to tee off on 16, he saw the
difficulties golfers below him were having on
the 15th green and realized that he was still
well in the hunt.
Sanders nearly missed a birdie chance on
16, but responded by carding birdie on 17 after
sticking his approach shot to within three feet,
and on 18 with his longest putt of the day, an
18-footer.
“I didn’t make a putt longer than four feet
all day, but it was nice to curl that one in,”
said Sanders.
Marin finished in a tie for second with
Jackson at 1-over 289, followed by 54-hole
leader Steve White at 291.
The chase for the Elliott Cup, a 54-hole
best-ball team competition that pits one of the
scratch A-Players with a B-Player competing
at their assigned handicap from the gold tees,
began Saturday with a logjam atop the
leaderboard But in the end, it was the team of
Brady Exber and John Rodenburg taking a one-
stroke victory.
Rodenburg noted that he made “a mile of
putts” while Exber didn’t miss a single fairway
all day as the pair finished at 22-under 194
(68-63-63).
Exber, a Nevada amateur stalwart who
finished tied for 8th at 295, was comparing his
B-Player partner to Ben Crenshaw by the end
of the day because of his skill with the
flatstick.
*****
amateurgolf.com reporter's notes *****
- Steve
White, who played his collegiate golf at
Clemson, also got his round off to a hot start
on Friday, acing the 189-yard second hole with
a 7-iron. It was his fourth career hole-in-one.
- The blooper of the day came
when Sanders bent down on the 11th hole to
assess his lie, only to rip his pants. "My
girlfriend an I were laughing so hard I didn't
think I could make the two-footer," he said.
"But I made it, maybe that helped lighten
things up."
- The character of the
tournament was B-Player Kitt Flood. The
Irishman seemed to try to outdo himself each
day with his outfits, which included a
combover wig, mullet wig and bright pink shirt,
purple pants combo on Saturday. Kitt's brother
Ronan caddies for Padraig Harrington.
- Ryan Mitchell had the low
round of the tournament, carding a 66 on Day
2 (one stroke off the course record.) "I made
everything looked at today," he said after the
round. "That was the first time I've had no
bogeys and no fives."
- We're not exaggerating the
speed of the greens, which was mentioned by
every golfer we talked to throughout the
week. On Sunday, one golfer faced an 18-
footer that he failed to get over a ridge
bisecting the green, only to see the putt roll
back to him, then past him and 15 feet onto
the fairway. "First time I've putted a ball that
ended up behind me," he remarked.
- There were golfers from 17
states represented in the A-Player field, going
as far west as Pennsylvania (Chip Lutz).
- Mary Craig got a nice ovation
at the tournament dinner for her behind-the-
scenes work bringing the tournament together.
ABOUT THE STOCKER CUP:
The Stocker Cup, played in memory of Peter
Stocker, is held each October at The Preserve
Golf Club in Carmel. The field is comprised of
52 world-class mid-amateur invitees, who meet
stringent eligibility requirements, and pay a
minimal fee for their participation. Offering
both NCGA and national Golfweek and
amateurgolf.com - Bridgestone Player
Rankings points, the Stocker Cup also holds a
one-day qualifying tournament for regional
players who were not among the original
invites. On October 2, eighteen competitors
with a handicap index of 2.4 or lower vied for
the final two A-list spots in the main
tournament. Hank McCusker and Stephen
Molinelli joined the field after carding 68 and
71, respectively, at Harding Park in San
Francisco.
Those final A-list golfers are complimented by
a matching number of qualified B-list
competitors, with invitations extended to
friends, relatives and associates of the late
Peter Stocker, as well as to various sponsors
and other supporters of the event. Every A-
player is teamed with a B-player in a
handicapped best-ball competition held
simultaneously with the individual stroke-
championship.
Final results from the Stocker Cup
Invitational Golf Tournament, held at The
Preserve Golf Club in Carmel, CA (6,974
yards, par 72). The final round (top 20 A
players only) was played on Sunday, October
19th.
Pos. |
Name |
Hometown |
Rd.1 |
Rd.2 |
Rd.3 |
Rd.4 |
Tot. |
1 |
Joe Sanders |
Montreux Country Club |
74 |
70 |
72 |
71 |
287 |
T2 |
Chris Marin |
Del Monte Golf Club |
74 |
70 |
72 |
73 |
289 |
T2 |
Tim Jackson |
Ridgeway Country Club |
71 |
69 |
77 |
72 |
289 |
4 |
Steve White |
Teton Pines Country Club |
73 |
69 |
70 |
79 |
291 |
5 |
Jon Lindstrom |
Legacy Ridge Golf Club |
77 |
72 |
72 |
72 |
292 |
T6 |
Brad Wilder |
Triple Crown Country Club |
73 |
71 |
70 |
80 |
294 |
T6 |
Jon Mathias |
La Cantera Golf Club |
76 |
72 |
70 |
76 |
294 |
T8 |
Brady Exber |
TPC Summerlin |
75 |
72 |
74 |
74 |
295 |
T8 |
Ron Ewing |
Merced Country Club |
74 |
75 |
73 |
73 |
295 |
10 |
John Pate |
The Valley Club |
76 |
72 |
76 |
73 |
297 |
T11 |
Robert Funk |
Canyon Lake Country Club |
78 |
70 |
71 |
78 |
298 |
T11 |
TJ Brudzinski |
Worthington Hills Country Club |
73 |
74 |
77 |
74 |
298 |
T13 |
Chris Carlson |
Highlands Ranch Golf Club |
76 |
72 |
75 |
76 |
299 |
T13 |
Jason Pridmore |
Spanish Hills Country Club |
81 |
72 |
72 |
76 |
299 |
15 |
Billy Mitchell |
River Pines Golf Club |
70 |
74 |
76 |
82 |
302 |
16 |
Ryan Mitchell |
Montreux Golf & Country Club |
79 |
66 |
76 |
82 |
303 |
17 |
Garrett Larson |
UC Golf Club |
77 |
72 |
76 |
80 |
305 |
T18 |
Randy Haag |
Olympic Club |
80 |
72 |
73 |
81 |
306 |
T18 |
Mark Mance |
The Preserve Golf Club |
74 |
75 |
76 |
81 |
306 |
20 |
Billy Williamson |
Coldstream Country Club |
76 |
75 |
73 |
84 |
308 |
|
Missed Cut |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pos |
Name |
Club |
Rd.1 |
Rd.2 |
Rd.3 |
Tot.
|
|
T21 |
Jim Lehman |
Windsong Farm Golf Club |
71 |
77 |
78 |
226 |
|
T21 |
Dan Sullivan |
Brookside Golf Club |
80 |
69 |
77 |
226 |
|
T23 |
Ed Cuff, Jr. |
The Farms Golf Club |
78 |
78 |
71 |
227 |
|
T23 |
Bob Burton |
Estancia Club |
73 |
77 |
77 |
227 |
|
T23 |
Stephen Nichols |
Walnut Hills Country Club |
75 |
82 |
70 |
227 |
|
T26 |
Alex Stamey III |
Everett Golf and Country Club |
77 |
71 |
80 |
228 |
|
T26 |
Tom Brandes |
Rainier Country Club |
79 |
74 |
75 |
228 |
|
T26 |
Mike Kelley |
New Albany Country Club |
73 |
79 |
76 |
228 |
|
29 |
Jerry Ledzinski |
Tehama Golf Club |
79 |
77 |
73 |
229 |
|
T30 |
Chip Lutz |
Ledgerock Golf Club |
78 |
74 |
78 |
230 |
T30 |
Michael Karlberg |
Old Greenwood Golf Club |
76 |
75 |
79 |
230 |
32 |
Kent Wiese |
Brookside Golf Club |
78 |
80 |
73 |
231 |
T33 |
David Nelson |
Montreux Golf and Country Club |
75 |
81 |
76 |
232 |
T33 |
Mike Rowley |
San Luis Obispo Country Club |
75 |
75 |
82 |
232 |
35 |
Keith Kinsel |
Los Angeles Country Club |
78 |
78 |
77 |
233 |
T36 |
Andrew Gabelman |
Barrington Hills Country Club |
82 |
71 |
83 |
236 |
T36 |
Tripp Davis |
Belmar Golf Club |
77 |
79 |
80 |
236 |
T36 |
Brad Penfold |
Valley Hi Country Club |
78 |
80 |
78 |
236 |
T36 |
Stephen Molinelli |
The Olympic Club |
81 |
78 |
77 |
236 |
T40 |
Hank McCusker |
Little River Inn Golf Club |
78 |
78 |
81 |
237 |
T40 |
Brock Palmer |
Trump National Golf Club |
86 |
78 |
73 |
237 |
42 |
Todd Barsotti |
San Joaquin Country Club |
79 |
77 |
83 |
239 |
43 |
Kevin Kobalter |
Meadow Club |
79 |
81 |
80 |
240 |
44 |
Phillip Huff, IV |
The Olympic Club |
78 |
82 |
81 |
241 |
45 |
Joe Hillman |
Wolf Run Golf Club |
73 |
86 |
84 |
243 |
46 |
Garth Watrous |
Seascape Golf Club |
85 |
86 |
77 |
248 |
ABOUT THE
Stocker Cup
The Stocker Cup was founded in 1991 to
honor
the
memory of Peter Stocker. Peter and his
partners Bill
Harlan and John Montgomery founded San
Francisco's
Pacific Union Company, a highly successful
real
estate
development company. The firm initiated the
development of The Santa Lucia Preserve, a
20,000
acre residential and golf community located
above
Carmel. Meandering through the winding road
to
The
Preserve's centerpiece -- the top-100 rated
golf
course -- has been described as "driving
through a California postcard." The Stocker
Cup
was played from 1991 to 1999 at Pebble
Beach
and
its
surrounding golf courses, before moving to
the
Tom
Fazio and Sandy Tatum designed Preserve
G.C.
In
the
words of former USGA President Tatum:
"Peter
Stocker was the quintessential amateur golfer.
He
loved golf with a passion. He would have
loved
this
tournament."
FORMAT:
54-hole individual
competition
with
a
simultaneous best-ball event, similar to the
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Invited Mid-
Amateur
players are either paired with a single digit
amateur
or
can propose their own partner to be
introduced
and
invited by the Committee.
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