Tim Hogarth of Northridge earns No. 1 seed in inaugural SCGA Match Play Championship Aug. 12-14 at Sandpiper GC in Santa Barbara
Costa Mesa's Steve Rhoher earns top spot in senior division

Tim Hogarth of Northridge (above) tops the SCGA Points List heading into the inaugural SCGA Match Play Championship at Sandpiper GC. Steve Rhorer of Costa Mesa (below) is second on the senior points list and will be the number one seed in the event.

STUDIO CITY, CA, August 7 — Tim Hogarth of Northridge, 2004 SCGA Amateur champion, will be the No. 1 seed for the inaugural Southern California Golf Association (SCGA) Match Play Championship August 12-14 at Sandpiper Golf Course in Santa Barbara.

The 42-year-old Hogarth — winner of the 2004 SCGA Amateur, 1999 California Amateur and SCGA Mid-Amateur and the 1996 U.S. Amateur Public Links championships, along with many other prestigious titles — will meet 17-year-old Bhavik Patel of Bakersfield, the youngest player in the field and runner-up in the 2005 SCGA Amateur, on Tuesday, one of 16 first-round matches in the single-elimination tournament.

Steve Rhorer of Costa Mesa is the No. 1 seed in the 16-player senior bracket, which runs concurrently; he will meet Steven Hakes of San Diego in a first-round match.

Players in both divisions earned their seeds based on results from combined 2007-2008 “Player of the Year” and “Senior Player of the Year” points lists. Several eligible players elected not to participate because they’re competing in next week’s U.S. Amateur Championship at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.

After Tuesday’s first round, second round matches in the regular (non-senior) tournament will be played Wednesday morning and quarterfinals matches will follow on Wednesday afternoon. Semifinals are scheduled for Thursday morning and the 18-hole final match will be played Thursday afternoon.

The senior tournament has quarterfinal and semifinal matches scheduled for Wednesday and the 18-hole final match slated for Thursday morning.

Complete tournament details brackets, photos and stories are at www.scga.org/08matchplay. Hole-by-hole scoring will be in effect for the first rounds; live scoring will be used for all other rounds.

“We’re excited about starting a new tradition with this tournament,” says Mike Sweeney, SCGA Director of Rules and Competitions. “We’ve had many players lobby hard for this event and we’re delighted that Sandpiper was willing to host our inaugural championship.”

Among the top players in the match play field is Nick Delio of Valencia, the reigning California Amateur champion, who draws Bakersfield’s John Balfanz in a first-round match. In addition to Hogarth, the match play field includes former three-time SCGA Amateur champion Scott McGihon of Bermuda Dunes and 1999 champion John Pate of Santa Barbara; and former California Amateur champions Josh Anderson of Murrieta (2007), Jordan Nasser of Anaheim Hills (2006), and Don DuBois (2005).

The U.S. Amateur Championship, which takes place August 18-24 at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina, had an impact on those who elected to play in the inaugural SCGA event. Three players — Anderson, Jason Bittick of Coto de Caza and Daniel Wax of Pacific Palisades — are playing in both events, but 11 others passed up the SCGA tournament to focus on the U.S. Amateur, including newly crowned SCGA Amateur champion Kevin Marsh of Henderson, NV.

The senior field includes the last two SCGA Senior Amateur champions — Clark Heath of Coto de Caza (2008) and Rich Tolly of Laguna Niguel (2007) — along with former two-time USGA Senior Amateur champion Kemp Richardson of Laguna Niguel. The only notable senior not playing is 2004 and 2006 SCGA Senior Amateur champion Steve Bogan of Placentia, who would have been the number-one seed but is concentrating on the upcoming USGA Senior Amateur Championship.

About match play
Unlike most professional events, which are conducted using a stroke-play format, match play is head-to-head competition between two players and scoring is by holes won, not by total score. Results are shown as 1 or 2 up (meaning that the player was one hole or two holes ahead at the conclusion of the 18th hole), or 2 & 1, 3 & 2, etc., which means the player had won more holes than there are holes left to play (e.g., a player who was two holes ahead at the conclusion of the 17th hole would win 2 & 1).

About Sandpiper Golf Club
Sandpiper is that course that everyone has a story about, a favorite hole at, a favorite sunrise or sunset. Local developer Ken Hunter built the William F. Bell-designed layout in 1972 along a half-mile stretch of Goleta coastline, becoming what is still considered a signature in the Santa Barbara golf course collection. Today, the course is owned by Ty Warner, the Beanie Baby mogul, bought the course in 2003 and has invested millions of dollars to upgrade the facility.

Its coastal location is reason enough for golfers to visit the 7,068-yard layout: 14 of Sandpiper’s holes have ocean views and the ones that don’t offer evidence that the water is near thanks to the pack of barking sea lions below the cliffs. Five fairways are so close to the water that an errant shot will end up in the Pacific and an overshot ball on the 224-yard par-3 11th hole will have players standing on the beach, near a green level with, and only steps from, the sand.

The course has hosted the PGA Tour Tournament Players Series, the LPGA Tour’s Santa Barbara Women’s Open, and the final stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School.

“We are really looking forward to hosting an SCGA championship like the match play event,” says Director of Golf Greg Villenueve. “And being that it’s the tournament’s first year, with some of the best players in the state, is something that we are extremely proud to be a part of."