Robert Gautney: Hoff's football-to-golf transition impressive
| Wednesday, Jul 29 2009 09:25 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Jul 29 2009 10:59 PM
Danny Hoff grew up taking hits on the football field as a quarterback for Stockdale High, then Bakersfield College. Three years ago, he switched sports and took up golf as a member of the BC golf team. This past weekend on the Sundale Country Club golf course, the only thing to hit Hoff was the reality that he won the Bakersfield City Amateur Championship.
Hoff told Steven Lynch, who was reporting for The Californian, that moving over to golf from football was the best decision of his life. It netted Hoff a scholarship at Stanislaus State, where he went after two years at BC and now Hoff can add his name to the list of Bakersfield City Amateur champions.
Hoff trailed first-round leader Scott Anderson by two shots after shooting a 4-under 68 on Saturday. In between Hoff and Anderson was Michael Gideon, who fired a 67. But Hoff was the only one to hold onto his game for the entire round on Sunday and carved out a 2-under 70 that included a few clutch par putts coming down the stretch.
Hoff finished at 6-under 138, one better than Gideon, who shot a final-round 72 and 2 better than pre-tournament favorite Bhavik Patel's 140. Patel, along with senior champion Dan Hogan, shot the best final round score with a 5-under 67, but his opening 1-over 73 left him too far behind.
Anderson's final-round 74 left him equal third with Patel, while Josh Barnes and Nick Vallejo were equal fifth at 141. Barnes shot 72-69 and Vallejo shot 68-73. Rounding out the top 10 were Richard Gilkey, sixth at 142, Chris McCracken and Jeff Acebedo, seventh at 143, while Hogan, Eric Steinbeck, Jeff Campbell, Scott LaBare, Dale Keene and Ron Kilmer all tied for 10th at even-par 144.
Despite not winning his second City title (he won in 2003), Anderson picked up 24 points in the 2009 Sports Authority/Michelob Ultra Player of the Year Series and now leads the points race with 46 points. Anderson overtook LaBare, whose three points for equal 10th gives him 26 and he is now 6th.
Hoff's 30 points for winning brings him into a tie with Patel who earned 24 points (they each have 30), while Gideon and Vallejo are next with 27 points.
As mentioned, Hogan won the senior division for players over 50 with his 144 total, while Mike Hassett was low senior net with a 137. In the handicapped flight, Daniel Russell blew away the field with net rounds of 65 and 64 for a 15-under 129 score, seven better than the runner-up Mike Whipple who shot 136, while Frank Rizo was third at 142.
The next event on the Player of the Year schedule will be the Taft City Amateur, Aug. 15-16 at Mifflin-Buena Vista. Players can sign-up by calling the BV pro shop at 398-9720 by August 8. There will be a championship flight and a net flight and entry is $100.
PATEL QUALIFIES FOR U.S. AMATEUR
Bhavik Patel quickly put aside his sorrows from finishing third in the City Amateur this past weekend by shooting rounds of 66 and 68 at Sunnyside GC in Fresno on Monday to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Championship.
Patel tied for medalist honors in the sectional event with former Clovis East and current UNLV player Derrek Ernst as they took two of the three spots up for grabs from field of 58 players.
Patel, who will be a sophomore at Fresno State this fall, and Ernst will now play Aug. 24-30 at Southern Hills GC in Tulsa, OK. The top 64 after 36 holes of stroke play will move into the match-play championship where the 36-hole finals will be televised on Sunday the 30th. Southern Hills hosted the U.S. Open in 2001 and has hosted two PGA Championships.
SHAIN 19TH AT OPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL
Frontier High's Meghan Shain had the third best effort by a U.S. player in the girls 14-15 age division of the Optimist International Junior Championship at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach gardens, Fla., July 26-28.
Shain shot rounds of 77-78-80 for a 235 total to tie for 19th from a field of 47 players from all over the world.
The winner was Panitta Yusabai from Thailand, who shot 68-69-72 for a 7-under total, while the low U.S. player was Hawaii's Margaret Min who shot 230.
SO CAL 5TH IN AMERICA'S CUP
While Bakersfield's Pete Fernandez, Jr. shot uncharacteristic rounds of 76 and 78, the Southern California 5-player team found itself in fifth place after the second of three rounds in the 37th Junior America's Cup at Annandale CC in Pasadena on Wednesday.
The So Cal crew had a plus-20 score for fifth out of 12 teams from Mexico, Canada and other U.S. states.
San Diego leads at plus-5, while British Columbia at plus-7 is second. So Cal could finish third with a strong final round as they trail third place Utah who is plus-16 and Sun Country who is plus-17.
Final results will be in next week's column.
CHIP SHOTS
* Recent BHS graduate Connor Huser will be competing in the boys 16-18 age flight in the Optimist International Junior Championship today through Aug. 2 at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens. Huser's results will be in next week's column.
* Entries for the 73rd Women's Kern County Amateur Championship will begin Aug. 1 with a deadline of Aug. 31. The tournament will be Sept. 9-10 at Haggerty-North Kern and Rio Bravo CC with an awards luncheon following play at Rio Bravo. Entry is $125 and includes fees, carts, range balls, prizes and the awards luncheon. Players must have an established index with a maximum of 36.3. Entry forms can be obtained at all area golf courses and pro shops. For more information, contact Susan Gilbert at 246-6157.
* There is a new Junior Golf League that has started here in Bakersfield. An article on the league is in today's (Thursday) Bakersfield Californian sports section with all the information on how to join. More on the league will follow in next week's column.
Tee to Green appears weekly at Bakersfield.com/sports. You can reach Gautney at: rgautney@bak.rr.com.
