By Katie Denbo
Southern California Golf Association

Southern California golfers Josh Anderson, Joseph Greiner, Sihwan Kim and John McClure all won their respective matches this morning, knocking out three Northern Californians and a fellow Southlander and now competing against each other in the Semifinals of the California Amateur.

Casey Boyns of Pacific Grove, the oldest player (at age 51) left in the field, fell to the 18-year-old Anderson of Murrieta on the 19th hole, when Anderson, who will be attending Pepperdine in the fall, birdied the par-5 first hole. Boyns was bidding to be only the third golfer (joining Jack Neville and J.J. McHugh) to win three or more California Amateur titles, and would have been the oldest winner in the amateur’s 96-year history.

Stanford University-bound Kim, 18, of Buena Park ousted 19-year-old Aptos resident Eddie Olson, 3 & 1, in an up-and-down match that Kim didn’t gain control of until holes 16 and 17, when he birdied each to win the match. Olson went 1 up after the 13th hole, but bogeyed the next two to slip to Kim.

Continuing from his Round of 16 run which saw him shoot a 28 on the front nine yesterday, Saugus’ Joseph Greiner, 20, defeated 17-year-old Tim Honeycutt of Placerville, 4 & 3. With the match all square after five holes, Greiner quickly gained momentum after birdieing the par-5 sixth hole and the par-4 eighth, winning four of the next 10 holes despite a lone bogey from Honeycutt on the back.

John McClure of Austin, 47, built up an early lead against the struggling 32-year-old Darren Slackman of Indio, recording three birdies and no bogeys in the 14 holes played for a 6 & 4 victory. McClure, the 2005 SCGA Mid-Amateur Champion, is now the oldest player in the field of three other golfers age 20 and below.

Semifinal matches are now underway; click HERE for live, hole-by-hole scoring.

View Semifinal photo gallery HERE.

Pairings:
Siwhan Kim vs. Josh Anderson
John McClure vs. Joseph Greiner