Robert Gautney: A look at the top 5 performances in local golf of 2011
| Tuesday, Dec 13 2011 04:44 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Dec 13 2011 04:46 PM
Contributing golf columnist
And then there were five.
The Top 15 performances in the 2011 Pro Shop Golf "Performance of the Year" award presented by Tee to Green, has been trimmed down to the final five. Now it's up to the good people at Pro Shop Golf to pick their winner for 2011.
It was a very tough decision, but in the end I believe that we have the five best for 2011 remaining. The winner, which will be announced in the final golf column for 2011, will receive a $100 gift certificate from Pro Shop Golf and a commemorative plaque from Tee to Green.
Past winners include Bhavik Patel in 2008 for his record-tying score in winning the Kern County Men's Amateur, Patel again in 2009 for his run to the semi-finals of the U.S. Men's Amateur Championship and John Balfanz last year for his record-tying 4th Kern County Men's Amateur title.
So who will be the 2011 winner? Here are the five finalists that Pro Shop Golf will get to pick from, but before we get the finalists, I would like to thank those of you who responded with your vote(s) and we even had a couple of write-ins this year!
So, here are the finalists, again listed in order in which they chronologically appeared in this column for 2011:
* Meghan Shain's win in the Women's Kern County Amateur Championship. This performance makes the final list because Shain, 16, not only became the third youngest winner ever (Lisa Kiggens (14) and Frances Ratliff-Buchner (15), but she redeemed herself with the win after being disqualified (after winning) the previous year when she posted a wrong score. Additionally, Shain overcame a 5-shot first round deficit after Meggan Bellows shot a record 69 in the first round. Shain's pair of 74s for a 148 total was just one shot off of the 36-hole tournament record of 147.
* Bhavik Patel is back with his victory in the California State Amateur Championship. Patel became the first local player to ever win the title. He qualified as the No.21 seed out of the top 32 players, then polished off five players in match-play to win California's most prestigious title!
* Justin Pitts' remarkable 57 at Foss-Kern River! That's right, Pitts, the former North High and BC star and current professional, has a number of course records, but this one was one for the ages! Pitts strung together 14 birdies and even a lone bogey couldn't prevent him from blasting the previous course record of 60 that he had set last year. According to the Guiness Book of World Records, this round would be one of the lowest rounds ever officially recorded.
* Manav Shah finishes runner-up in the 112th SCGA Amateur Championship at San Gabriel CC. Shah shot and opening 70 and the put together three straight rounds of 67 for a score of 13-under-par! But Shah had the unfortunate luck of losing by a single shot to Patrick Cantlay, the No.1 ranked Amateur in the U.S.
* Scott LaBare's break-out win in the Men's Kern County Amateur. After a number of top five finishes in the both the City and County Amateur's, LaBare finally claimed his first major title when he beat D.J. Fernando on the second hole of a playoff. Both players had shot 136 (just one shot off of the record of 135) and then both players made birdies on the par-5 first hole in the playoff. But on the downhill, 138-yard second hole, Fernando's tee shot went long over the green and he couldn't make par and LaBare two-putted from about 25 feet for the win.
OK, there you have it, the final five. Which performance do you think Pro Shop Golf will chose as the 2011 winner? Read back here in two weeks to find out.
Keesey wins T of C at Classic Club
Vic Keesey of the Oak Tree CC in Tehachapi tied with two other players in winning the 37th SCGA Tournament of Club Champions at the Classic Club in Palm Desert on Monday.
Playing in the Jack Nicklaus Flight, Keesey shot a net 2-under 70 to tie with Josh Merrill of the Shepherd Golf Club and Ben Valenzuela of the West End Men's Club. Chris Cavanaugh from Sundale CC finished 29th.
At Bermuda Dunes GC, Steve Jucks from Oak Tree CC finished equal 14th in the Byron Nelson Flight. There were co-winners at 4-under net 68, John Meeks from the San Diego Educator's Club and John Glass from the Dianetics GC.
Chip Shots
* Next week Tee to Green will look back on some of the top team performances for 2011 and we will have some last minute Christmas gift ideas.
Tee to Green appears weekly at Bakersfield.com/sports. You can reach Gautney at rgautney@bak.rr.com.
