Robert Gautney: Three locals in SCGA Amateur this weekend
| Tuesday, Jul 06 2010 08:49 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Jul 06 2010 08:49 PM
Bakersfield will be well represented this weekend at the 11th Southern California Golf Association Amateur Championship at the La Cumbre Country Club in Santa Barbara.
John Balfanz, Bryce Holloway and Pete Fernandez Jr, will be participating in the tournament and hope to bring some hardware back home, although Fernandez is now living and going to school in Irvine.
Balfanz, who has had two top-five finishes in past SCGA Amateur Championships, will tee off at 7:40 a.m. Friday on the 10th tee with playing partners Ed Susolik from Newport Beach and Howie Knodt from Chula Vista.
Fernandez will start at 8:33 from the 10th tee and play with Brian Edick of Valencia and Jeff Coburn from Rancho Santa Margarita. Edick won the Arvin City Amateur in 2004.
Holloway's tournament begins on the first tee at 9:18 with Ben Lein from Diamond Bar and Issei Susnaga from Dove Canyon.
The tournament is 72 holes, but Friday's play will consist of 36 holes of medal play with the top 42 and ties advancing into weekend play for the championship.
Past winners of this prestigious event include Tiger Woods, Al Geiberger and Paul Stankowski. You can keep track with live scoring online at SCGA.org.
CITY AMATEUR SIGN-UPS
The 31st Bakersfield City Amateur Championship will be July 24-25 at Sundale Country Club. Entries are being accepted through July 21 at 5 p.m.
Entry is $120 per player and includes two rounds of golf, tee prize, Saturday lunch and awards. As always, the net proceeds from the tournament are donated to the Bakersfield Exchange Club's Child Abuse Prevention Program.
Last year, former Stockdale and BC football quarterback Danny Hoff shot rounds of 70 and 68 to win the tournament by one shot. Hoff, who also played a year of golf at BC after football, just completed his senior year at Cal State Stanislaus and it is not known if he will be back to defend his title.
Hoff beat Fresno State's Michael Gideon, who shot 139 , and Bhavik Patel and Scott Anderson who each shot 140.
The tournament record is 14-under 130 by Dale Keene back in 2002, when he shot incredible rounds of 66 and then a record 64 in the final round to win by a record 10 shots.
Since, Keene's record 64 has been equaled by Brady Baguio in 2006. The opening-round record is 65 by Bud Ardell in 1995 and John Balfanz in 2007.
There have been four 66s - Bernie LeBeau in 1985 and Ron Kilmer in 2007 (both final rounds) while Baguio shot 66 in the opening round in 2007, along with Keene's in 2002.
Surprisingly, there have been only three playoffs - 1997, 2000 and 2007.
The tournament is also the third of the six Michelob Ultra/Sports Authority Player of the Year series events in which the top 10 and ties in Championship Flight play earn points towards the 2010 Player of the Year award.
Currently, after two events, D.J. Fernando leads with 29 points, followed by Mike Yates with 24 and Jason Errecart and Ryan Underhill with 18 each. Ron Kilmer has 17 and 2009 Player of the Year Scott Anderson has 16.
Players that want to participate should contact the Sundale CC pro shop at 831-5224.
KCJGA CELEBRATION THIS SATURDAY
The Kern County Junior Golf Association will have a 30-year celebration Saturday at Coconut Joe's Beach Club. The extravaganza starts at 5 p.m. with a no-host social hour. Dinner will follow at 7 p.m. and feature tri-tip and Hawaiian chicken.
Tickets are $30 and can be purchased by contacting Mike Shain at (661) 477-9910. The event is to help raise funds for the annual scholarship program and to help keep the costs for the summer tournaments down.
There will be raffles, auctions and displays featuring a golf swing simulator and synthetic putting and chipping greens.
The KCJGA association was started by Bob and Marlene Crozier 30 years ago and is an avenue for kids 17 and younger to hone their skills as they gravitate toward and play in high school golf. Every big- time local high school player of the past 30 years has played in tournaments during the summer KCJGA series.
I'm not sure if tickets can be purchased at the door, but Shain will be able to let you know at the number previously provided above.
BURROUGHS TO TRY FOR U.S. SENIOR OPEN
Bakersfield Country Club Director of Golf Bruce Burroughs will play in the U.S. Senior Open Sectional qualifying next Monday at the Victoria CC in Los Angeles.
Burroughs will try to earn one of three spots up for grabs for a spot into the U.S.Senior Open at Sahalle Country Club in Samamish, WA., July 28 through August 1.
A report on how Burroughs fared will be in next week's column.
FOSS-KERN RIVER STATELINE TRIP
The annual Primm Valley golf trip is fast approaching as the Foss-Kern River golf course is now accepting application to stay and play for the September 27-28 event.
Lodging will be at the Primm Valley Resort and Casino and there will be two rounds of golf and tournaments.
Call Jim Foss at 872-5128 or 363-3469 for more information.
CHIP SHOTS
-- The inaugural Alumni Cup will be July 17 at Sundale CC. The Alumni Cup is a competition that will pit players representing their high schools in a 6-player, 5-best medal play format.There are 10 local high school teams currently represented and players that have not been picked by their school's captain to be a part of the team can still compete as an individual. Call Tony Denesha at 487-2595 for information.
-- The inaugural Rotary Club Challenge will be Nov. 8 at Bakersfield Country Club and will feature a scramble tournament and then an awards dinner following where scholarships, special awards and the 2010 Michelob Ultra/Sports Authority Player of the Year will be presented. You can find out more online at RotrayClubChallenge.com.
-- The monthly BV/NK Men's Club event will be July 18 at BV. The tournament will be a 2-man Best-Ball "Beat The Pro" format. Call BV at 398-9720 to register.
Tee to Green appears weekly at Bakersfield.com/sports. You can reach Gautney at rgautney@bak.rr.com.
