Defending champion Josh Anderson of Murrieta advanced to the round of 16 at Lakeside GC today during the 97th California Amateur. Photo by Katie Denbo/SCGA

By Robert D. Thomas
BURBANK, June 18 — Defending champion Josh Anderson of Murrieta and all three players who shared medalist honors led the way as 16 golfers advanced to the second round of match play at the 97th California Amateur Championship today at Lakeside Golf Club.

The second round will be played tomorrow (Thursday). Quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Friday and the 36-hole championship match will be played Saturday. Live scoring is at www.californiaamateur.org.

The 19-year-old Anderson, a redshirt freshman at Pepperdine University, finished with eight consecutive pars to grind out a 3 & 2 win over Bryce Holloway of Bakersfield. Anderson is seeking to become the first person to win back-to-back titles since Dr. Frank “Bud” Taylor in 1954-55.

“I didn’t play particularly well on the front,” said Anderson. “On the back nine, I tried to play more aggressively but ended up making a bunch of pars” (including the last seven holes).

Anderson will meet 18-year-old James Erkenbeck of San Diego in the second round. Erkenbeck, who will attend the University of New Mexico in the fall, made six birdies, including three in a row on the back nine, as he hammered Ramie Sprinkling of Camarillo, 7 & 5.

“I got in a bit of a zone and found my rhythm,” said Erkenbeck later. “I was able to stick a lot of iron shots close so I didn’t have many long birdie putts.”

Former three-time SCGA Amateur champion Scott McGihon of Bermuda Dunes, one of three players who shared medalist honors yesterday, birdied four of his eight back-nine holes to turn back high-school senior Martin Trainer of Palo Alto, 2 & 1.

At age 40, McGihon is the second-oldest player in match play. He will meet 2006 champion Jordan Nasser of Anaheim hills in the second round. Nasser, 24, rallied from 2 down after 11 holes to defeat Jason Higton of Fresno, 1 up, in the only first-round match that went all 18 holes.

Another of the medalists, 18-year-old Matt Hoffenberg of Simi Valley, never trailed in defeating 19-year-old Connor Alan-Lee of Solana Beach, 4 & 3. Hoffenberg made an eagle 3 on the second hole and followed that with three consecutive birdies to grab an early 4-up lead that proved to be insurmountable. Hoffenberg will square off against UC Davis student Matt Marshall, who fired a front-nine 29 today in defeating Carl Smith IV of Laguna Beach, 6 & 5.

The third medalist, 18-year-old Alex Kim of Fullerton, rallied from an early two-hole deficit and came back to defeat Andrew Biggadike of San Mateo, 5 & 4. Kim had three birdies and just one bogey in 14 holes while Biggadike struggled with four bogeys in five of his final front-nine holes to put himself in a hole. Kim will meet defending NCGA Amateur champion Ryan Hallisey of Granite Bay tomorrow.

All three escaped the “medalist jinx,” which has seen just 10 medalists in 96 years go on to win the title. The last was Steve Woods in 1994 and the Cupertino resident, now age 36, played even-par golf for 17 holes to defeat 18-year-old Grant Rappleye of Elk Grove, 2 & 1. Woods will face Northwestern University student Josh Dupont of Poway in the second round.

Jeff Burda of Modesto, who at age 55 is the oldest player to make match play, had little trouble in dispatching Brett Viboch of Chico, 7 & 6, to move on. Burda could become the oldest golfer ever to win the historic championship should be take home the gold medal on Saturday. He will meet 18-year-old Nick Delio of Valencia, who took out Erik Jarvey of Palmdale, 3 & 1, in the first round.

The youngest member of the 32-man match play field, 15-year-old Austin Roberts of Carmichael, knocked out Taylor Travis of Fremont, 3 & 1, and will meet Kevin Fryer of San Ramon in the second round. Fryer defeated Kevin Smith of San Jose, 3 & 2, in a match where Fryer didn’t make a single birdie in the round and the contestants combined for 10 bogeys and two double-bogeys. “It was,” admitted Fryer, “a poorly played match but after I managed to win the eighth hole with a double bogey, I settled down from there.”

In a match of 21-year-olds, Bryan Harris of Newport Beach will meet Tim Cha of Chino Hills tomorrow. Harris upset UCLA student Erik Flores of Grass Valley, 4 & 2, while Cha had little trouble in eliminating Adam Barkow of Albany, 6 & 4.

View complete, hole-by-hole scoring HERE.

View the Round of 32 photo gallery HERE.