Randy Haag's Golf Blog

As usual the real winner was Spyglass Hill, but the 2012 champs played great golf and deserve to win today. Plenty of drama did exist before this championship was decided, with Bill Moore holing a 55 yard shot for a Eagle 2 on 17 to pull even with the champions brought some real drama to the 18th hole where again Bill Moore made a fantastic up and in from right of the green, to force over time.

Unfortunately for the Boyns/Moore team a bogey on the 2nd playoff hole ended their bid to be champions after many close calls. Both of these teams had class guys competing for one of the best titles in Northern California. This event of three rounds at Spyglass Hill is tough to beat, Spyglass Hill is in my world best top 5 courses for many reasons!! Okay here they are:
Visually stunning holes 1-5 by the ocean. Shot quality is amazing at this tough shorter course relative to the bomber courses. This is a US Open course that could produce an over par total easily.

My partner Darryl Donovan is playing very solid golf this year, winning a major amateur event in Florida earlier this year. We had our chances, but the putting will always determine your fate, unfortunately today I missed three short putts inside 8 feet that would have made the difference in our 2 shot deficit behind the Champions total. The driver was erratic for me for three days, and the putter didn’t show up when it needed to!!
So I’ll end by posting a link to the final results and the article that further describes the final round of this great NCGA event!
http://www.ncga.org/2012/05/11/46th-annual-ncga-four-ball-championship/

Stay tuned for a course guide of the upcoming US OPEN at the Olympic Club!

On another blustery day at Stevenson Ranch, the outcome was quite nice for Matt Cohn who played a rock solid round of golf to take the title by 5 shots. He whipped me by 8 today, and deserved to win!!

Honestly after a day like today, I not only laugh at the thought of trying to play professionally, I even question my ability to compete in the amateur ranks. I guess that’s perhaps how you should feel after a 2012 worse round of 79. And it was real simple, I hit it bad, chipped it bad, and putted poorly. So I’ll have tonight to be pissed off, and tomorrow to start fixing the problems, as Spyglass awaits me on Fri-Sun with partner Darryl Donovan for the NCGA Two Man Championship.

Stevenson Ranch is a good test of golf with the wind up, shots not squarely hit will go in some really bad places (very high grass) and if your speed is off on the greens, it will punish you there as well. On the Senior side legendary Casey Boyns had the only other round under par with a fine 71 of his own.

The picture below is of all the top finisers (Mid Am, Masters, Senior and Net)

Coming up next- 3 days with Dustin Johnson at the Olympic Club……question is can he out drive me…? My guess is YES and by a LOT!! I’ll have video footage of that experience and fun stories coming up next!! STAY TUNED- AND IF THIS BLOG HAS DIMINISHED IN YOUR MIND, THEN TELL ME…..I”LL BE CRANKING IT UP HERE THROUGH THE US OPEN AND SENIOR OPEN!

For some reason lately every time there is an Amateurgolf.com event at Stevenson Ranch, the weather doesn’t cooperate, today was no different. With winds gusting to over 50MPH this was a very tough day at Stevenson, and the scores show it. With only a handful of player breaking 80 on a day were mishit shots got badly punished.

The good news for me personally is that I had a very solid round, despite a hiccup on my last hole (#17 for a double bogey) but if anyone would have offered me a 72 I would have said say no more, I’ll take it!!

This is a great stretch of golf coming up with Stevenson tomorrow, and Spyglass for three day in the NCGA four ball, followed by the US Open Local Qualifier at the fabulous Mayacama.

Stay tuned for final results from Stevenson Ranch, and check out the results link courtesy of Amateurgolf.com

http://www.amateurgolf.com/

STAY TUNED!!

The grand stands are going in and the rough is getting high and nasty. This US Open will prove to be a true test of patience and taking your medicine while avoiding the double bogeys waiting on just about every hole. Over the next 6 weeks I will be providing course updates, thoughts and comments on how to play each shot on each hole during the open, and finally my personal quest to qualify for this historic event as the oldest amateur in history to play in a US Open.

Step one is the Local qualifier at Mayacama on May 15th where approx 90 players will attempt to grab one of the six spots (I guess). The local is the easier qualifier, the next stop would be Sectionals at Lake Merced where you’ll face PGA tour players, Nationwide players and  other top professionals and amateurs. Typically there are about 78 players for 4 spots at Lake Merced (My stats on that qualifier are not good at 0-12). But on any given day who knows what might happen, and with the open at the OC this year, I will have extra adrenaline pumping. Of course the reality of my chances are 50/50 at Mayacama where I recently won the Scratch Players Mid Am, and at Lake Merced in the sectional 1/25. So the odds are very long, but it’s why I play the game, do something that nobody, including myself ever thought I could do. My best example of this is not only playing in the last two British Senior Opens, but making the cut and taking the silver metal for low amateur. I will be feeding off these positive experiences to give this my final run at a spot in a US Open.

Today I will be taking some video of the Olympic Lake course to show you how it looks now, and how it will change over the next month. This weekend I’ll be covering the California Mid Amateur at Stevenson Ranch!

STAY TUNED

The Coleman at Seminole is one of the finest Mid-Am / Senior Events in the country. There are many reasons why: The course is brutally tough, especially for only 6850 yards long. The guys in the event are all top caliber amateurs in both flights (Mid Am and Senior). The staff, the food, the ambiance of this amazing place is as good as it gets.

Today I hit the ball well and shot a very disappointing 77. The winning score on the Mid Am side was 2 over par (Tim Jackson). On the Senior side Brady Exber a first time player took the title at even par to clip the “WORLD BEATER SENIOR” Chip Lutz in a very close match between them.

What makes this course so tough is even great shots to these firm green can skid off into one over 1oo bunkers on this beautiful course in Juno Beach Florida. Bob Ford heads the professional staff at Seminole and in my book is the top club pro in the country. Not only can he play, but he is about as nice a man as you’ll ever meet. Both Seminole and Oakmont are lucky to have him!!

As I have said before on a previous Coleman post, if you think you are playing good golf, just come to Seminole  when the wind is blowing and you’ll leave thinking perhaps you should stick to your day job!!

Much more up ahead as we head towards the US OPEN where I will be providing on course coverage of how the course should be played, and how the conditions look for the 2012 US OPEN- STAY TUNED

In the picture- On the left you have Mid Am champ Tim Jackson and on the right you have Senior Champ Brady Exber

1 Tim Jackson 70-72-76–218 1 Brady Exber 69-71-76–216
2 Carlton Forrester 74-73-72–219 2 Chip Lutz 69-76-72–217
Patrick Christovich 77-68-74–219 3 Paul Simson 77-74-68–219
4 Scott Harvey 72-72-76–220 4 Alan Fadel 74-72-74–220
5 Scott Rowe 77-72-72–221 5 Tim Miller 73-74-75–222
6 Roger Newsom 73-78-71–222 6 Buddy Marucci 79-69-76–224
Stephen Anderson 73-76-73–222 Doug LaCrosse 73-76-75–224
Jon Veneziano 72-73-77–222 8 Bill Zylstra 75-77-73–225
Gene Elliott 71-74-77–222 Hunter Nelson 74-77-74–225
Trip Kuehne 71-73-78–222 10 Mike Bell 73-83-70–226
11 Gary Nicklaus 72-77-74–223 11 Steve Smyers 80-74-75–229
Kevin Marsh 76-72-75–223 12 Bill Boles 78-76-76–230
Roger Hoit 74-71-78–223 Greg Reynolds 76-78-76–230
Parker Smith 74-69-80–223 14 Rick Woulfe 79-75-77–231
15 Stephen Summers 73-74-77–224 15 Doug Farr 78-81-73–232
16 Skip Berkmeyer 75-73-77–225 David Nelson 76-79-77–232
R.J. Nakashian 72-76-77–225 Bill Argabrite 77-76-79–232
18 Keith Decker 75-78-73–226 18 Patrick Tallent 77-82-74–233
John Engler 74-78-74–226 Chris Lange 80-75-78–233
John McClure 73-76-77–226 Mike Rice 75-76-82–233
Kelly Miller 75-72-79–226 21 George Zahringer 80-79-76–235
22 Robert Gregorski 75-77-75–227 Ron Carter 79-78-78–235
Nick Gilliam 73-78-76–227 Frank Ford, III 80-74-81–235
Randy Haag 75-75-77–227 24 Jack Vardaman 81-78-78–237
Mike McCoy 74-76-77–227 Randy Reifers 81-76-80–237
26 Bryan Norton 75-77-76–228 Robin McCool 74-78-85–237
27 Eoghan O’Connell 84-73-72–229 27 Robert Vallis 81-85-73–239
28 Tim Hume 80-80-70–230 Charles Green III 77-83-79–239
Mark Knecht 75-79-76–230 29 Bill Heldmar 78-87-75–240
Patrick Duffy 77-76-77–230 Jim Graham 81-76-83–240
Wesley Pate 78-74-78–230 31 Steve Earsley 84-80-77–241
Steve Harwell 73-75-82–230 Tony Green 83-79-79–241
33 Michael Barbosa 82-75-74–231 Bill Palmer 80-79-82–241
Robert Gerwin II 76-78-77–231 34 Gordon Brewer 83-77-82–242
Arnold Cutrell 80-73-78–231 Mike Bodney 80-78-84–242
36 Tommy Brennan 79-80-73–232 36 Chris Maletis 87-75-81–243
37 Jonathan Marsico 77-80-76–233 37 Jimmy Dunne 84-82-78–244
38 John Fulkerson 75-84-75–234 Pinky Pelham 87-78-79–244
Doug Albers 77-75-82–234 Tom Case 83-80-81–244
40 Steve White, Jr. 74-84-77–235 A.B. Sisco 84-80-80–244
Byron Schumate 81-74-80–235 41 James Smith 79-88-78–245
Walker Taylor 76-75-84–235 42 Joseph Keller 81-83-84–248
43 Steve Hudson 77-81-78–236 43 Robert Lewis, Jr. 86-84-79–249
Tripp Davis 78-77-81–236 44 Vinny Giles 83-84-83–250
45 Christopher Reeves 79-80-78–237 45 Chris Dalrymple 85-86-85–256
Jerry Chang 79-78-80–237 46 David Brookreson 87-89-82–258
Adrian Reed 76-80-81–237 47 John Pallin 89-83-90–262
48 Pete Williams 75-81-82–238 48 Dick Siderowf 89-96-88–273
49 Kevin Hammer 83-80-76–239
Tim Spitz 78-75-86–239
51 Trent Brown 83-87-74–244
52 Jason Edgeworth 87-83-76–246
53 Justin Schulte 82-82-83–247
54 Grady Brame 82-80-87–249

This is going to be short and sweet, well maybe not so sweet as my golf over the past three days was abysmal at best. I won’t bore you with all the details why, but the picture below is me carrying the scoring board that I felt I deserved carrying after many poor and errant shots. All I can say is regardless of how badly you play, Whisper Rock just plain ROCKS!!! Everything about this place is great from the food, to the staff, practice facilitates and 36 holes of great golf!!

RESULTS FROM WHISPER ROCK:

Congratulations to our 2012 Champions!

MID-AM CHAMPIONS:          JOE BENDETTI & JIM STRICKLAND

SENIOR CHAMPIONS:            JERRY HUDGINS & MIKE RICE           

In the Mid-Am Division, Joe Bendetti (Austin, TX) and Jim Strickland (Scottsdale, AZ) began the final round with a three-shot lead over defending champions, Corey Fisk (Chandler, AZ) and Warren Vickers (Scottsdale, AZ).  They extended their lead to five shots after No. 4 with birdies on Nos. 1, 3, and 4.  But, Fisk and Vickers responded with an eagle on No. 8 and birdies on Nos. 9 and 10 to tie them for the lead at 12-under.  It was a two-horse race.  Bendetti and Strickland answered with birdies of their own on Nos. 11 and 12 and regained a three-shot edge when Fisk and Vickers bogeyed No. 12.  A lead they would never relinquish as they made par on the last six holes to win by two.

In the Senior Division, Jerry Hudgins (Kingwood, TX) and Mike Rice (Houston, TX) started the day with a one-shot lead over Jim Knoll (Sunnyvail, CA) and Dan Luther (Edina, MN).  Both teams birdied No. 3 and then made a series of pars until Knoll and Luther birdied No. 8 to pull even at 8-under.  Both teams birdied No. 11 and tried to pull away from the field but Darryl Donovan (Morgan Hill, CA) and Kevin Kobalter (San Rafael, CA) birdied three in a row to get into the mix at 8-under.  Knoll and Luther grabbed a one-shot advantage on two occasions on the back nine only to be answered and tied by Hudgins and Rice.  Hudgins and Rice pulled ahead for good on No. 16 when Knoll and Luther made bogey.  They added a birdie at the last to win by three.  Matthew Horwitch (Highland Park, IL) and Victor Postillion (Scottsdale, AZ) made four birdies in their last eight holes to finish in a three-way tie for second.

Final results are below.

Congratulations again to our champions and thanks to all of you for participating in our National Invitational!

Best regards,

Trent Rathbun

Games Commissioner

MID-AM DIVISION

FINAL RESULTS

• Round 1 – LOWER Course:    7,272 yards
• Round 2 – UPPER Course:     7,332 yards
• Round 3 – LOWER Course:    7,219 yards

SENIOR DIVISION

FINAL RESULTS

• Round 1 – UPPER Course:     6,952 yards
• Round 2 – LOWER Course:    6,782 yards
• Round 3 – LOWER Course:    6,876 yards