6th Senior Amateur Match Play Championship Terry Foreman | Poppy Hills and Spyglass Hill | Aug. 13-17
Since 1977, the 12th hole at Spyglass
Hill has been special for Terry Foreman, winner of the 6th Annual NCGA Senior Match Play Championship. More than three decades ago, the 160-
yard par 3 became his mother’s favorite as she made her first visit to Spyglass when Foreman won the NCGA Public Links Championship as a 20-year-old. Last year, when Dena passed away, he spread her ashes on the tee. And now in his first year compet- ing as a senior, the 12th is where he took the lead for good in his championship match with Gary Vanier. After Foreman’s par on No. 12 to go 1 up in the tightly contested final, it was smooth sailing for the Antioch native who made birdies on 14 and 17 to close the final match out 3 and 1.
Terry Foreman
Quick Facts FIELD AND FORMAT: In a change from years past, the 32-player match-play field consisted of the top 16 on the senior points list and 16 qualifiers from an 18-hole stroke play qualifying round; 60 players competed in qualifying.
CHAMPION’S BRACKET RECAP: def. John Enright, 3 and 2; def. Herb Jensen, 1 up; def. Michael Brannan, 19 holes; def. Casey Boyns, 1 up; def. Gary Vanier, 3 and 1.
PREVIOUS CHAMPION: Casey Boyns STAT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Terry Foreman was the No. 11 seed in the bracket, the highest seed to ever win the championship. The previous high was Jeff Burda, the fifth seed in 2009.
WORDS OF A CHAMPION: “Every match I had, on the walk to the 12th tee, I’d get a little emotional and think something good is going to happen on that hole. And it never did. I always hit it on the side of the hill, and I’m going, ‘Mom, what are you doing?’ But I think I figured it out today.”
UNTIL NEXT TIME: Aug. 12-13, at Spanish Bay and Aug. 14-16, at Spyglass Hill
USGA Events Recap—Weaver Runner-Up at U.S. Amateur Last summer, Michael Weaver was upended in the finals of the NCGA Amateur Match Play Championship. This
summer, the Fresno native and Fort Washington GCC member was again stymied in another match play finals, only this time it was on a national stage in heartbreaking fashion. The redshirt junior at Cal fell just short at the 112th U.S. Amateur in Cherry Hills Village,
Colo. Weaver was 2 up with two holes to play but lost the next three consecutive holes to see the title slip from his grasp. When a four-foot par putt to win the championship missed its mark on the final hole of regulation, Weaver was forced into a playoff by champion Steven Fox. Both Fox and Weaver earned their way into the match play portion of the championship after surviving a playoff following 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying. Weaver, who entered the bracket as the 60th seed, defeated five top-50 players in the World
Amateur Golf Rankings en route to the final match. Despite the loss, his second-place finish earned probable invites to the U.S. Open and The Masters in 2013. “You know, that’s golf,” Weaver said to USGA.org. “But just to see it slip through my fingers, it
Michael Weaver
[hurts]. And I know I had a great week and all that. But I’m not really thinking about that now.” Regional golfers have achieved success in the U.S. Amateur in recent years. The last North- ern California native to reach the final match of the U.S. Amateur tournament was Stockton’s
Ricky Barnes, who defeated Hunter Mahan in 2002. In 2009, Byeong-Hun An, who played collegiately at Cal, took the title. Jeff Wilson of Vallejo and Danville’s Gregor Main were the previous two medalists in the event.
In other USGA events, several Northern Californians advanced to the quarterfinals of respective events including Nicolo Galletti of Pleasanton and Maverick McNealy of Portola Valley at the U.S. Junior held at the GC of New England in Stratham, N.H., Casey Cathrea of Livermore at the U.S. Girls’ Junior hosted by Lake Merced GC and Monterey’s Casey Boyns at the U.S. Mid-Amateur at Conway Farms GC in Lake Forest, Ill. Rooster Run’s Jim Knoll made a big run at the U.S. Senior Amateur at Mountain Ridge CC in New Jersey. The NCGA senior player of the year made it to the semifinals before losing to Paul Simpson of Raleigh, N.C.