Calif rnia State Amateur
Changing The
Life-
ing good, but also when the engine is leaking oil. “You don’t necessarily need a Lake Merced caddie, but don’t carry your own bag,” he said. “It’s a long week, so it’s nice to have someone to talk to. In 2009, I had three different caddies during the week. All three of them were college friends. Match play is so grueling. It’s nice to have someone there with you along the way.”
Bobby Clampett Medalist-Champion Same Year Jack Neville Most Championships
Jack Neville – 5 J.J. McHugh – 3 11 players have won two titles
Douglas Grant ....... 1918 Paul Hunter ........... 1921 Roger Kelly ............ 1938 Ken Venturi ............ 1956 Bob Eastwood ....... 1966 Mike Brannan ........ 1973
Second Stage at
Web.com Tour Qualifying School. As Gonzalez knows, getting onto
the PGA Tour is a long, hard road. But he also feels he’s getting closer to realizing his dream. All thanks in part to his win at Lake Merced. “I won two times on the eGolf Tour
and twice on the Golden State Tour in 2014,” he said. “It was a very successful year for me. It’s all trending up.” While he won’t be in the fi eld for
this year’s California State Amateur, which tees off June 22-27, Gonzalez knows what it takes to win at Lake Merced. For those looking to notch their own big triumph there, Gonzalez reeled off fi ve keys for winning it all:
1
Play the Par 5s Well In his second round of stroke
play, Gonzalez shot an 8-under 64. His score was fueled by his play on the course’s four par 5s—Nos. 6, 9, 14 and 18. Gonzalez carded three eagles and a birdie on the holes in that one round. “Play those holes aggressively,” he said. “I always tried to get on in two. Those are all holes you can make
56 /
NCGA.ORG / SPRING 2015
Bobby Clampett .... 1980 Duff y Waldorf ........ 1984 Sam Randolph ....... 1985 Casey Boyns ........... 1993 Steve Woods .......... 1994 Geoff Gonzalez ...... 2009
birdie on. When the tournament moved on to match play, I knew I liked my chances on those holes.”
2
Expect the Unexpected From Mother Nature
During the 2009 championship, play- ers saw a year’s worth of weather in San Francisco. One day it was glori- ously sunny. The next it was so foggy players could barely see the greens. The wind picked up at any given moment. “Over the seven, eight days we had all kinds of different weather,” Gonzalez said. “You have to adjust your game accordingly. Make sure you have the appropriate gear. It varies a lot out there. You don’t want to be stuck playing in shorts when the tem- perature suddenly drops. I was always prepared for whatever the conditions would be.”
3
Use a Caddie As Gonzalez notes, you’ll be
out on the course all day, even more so if you reach the last few rounds of match play. That means it’s time to buddy up, not just when it’s go-
4
Brush Up on Your Match Play Gonzalez knows that the format
that everyone is most used to compet- ing in is stroke play. The closer you get to your goal of winning, however, the deeper you get into the inner workings of match play. “You have to embrace the match play format. Before I played in 2009, I played a lot of friendly match play at my country club (Dia- blo CC),” Gonzalez said. “There are a lot of nuances that are different from stroke play, like who’s away and the conceding of holes. When I played against Wilson, we were ‘good-good’ early on with a lot of short putts. But that changed as we went on. You start the week with stroke play and switch to match play. So it’s like two tourna- ments in one. Enjoy the different style of competition. Match play is fun.”
5
Soak It All In Finally, Gonzalez reminds play-
ers that they’re competing in one of the greatest amateur tournaments in the nation, with a chance to join an illustrious list of winners, on one of Northern California’s greatest courses. Feel and appreciate the history and moment. “In 2009, they had the (H. Chandler Egan) Medalist trophy and the (Edward B. Tufts) Champion- ship trophy in the Lake Merced club- house. It’s hard not to notice them,” Gonzalez said. “They’re both just so beautiful and have all the names on them. Every time I saw and looked at those trophies, it was extra motivation. My name is now on both of them.”
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