By Robert D. Thomas
Southern California Golf Association
In a round that was far more eventful than the final score indicates, Brett Kanda of La Crescenta fired an even-par 71 at Victoria Club to win the 108th SCGA Amateur Championship by three shots.
The 20-year-old Kanda, a redshirt sophomore at UNLV, finished at 68-66-70-71 -- 275, 9 under par over the venerable Victoria course (which opened in 1903), three shots ahead of UC Irvine grad Brian Edick, whose 4-under-par 67 today made him the runner-up for the third consecutive year in the nation’s second-oldest, continuously contested amateur golf championship.
Newly crowned California Amateur champion Josh Anderson of Murrieta had a hole-in-one on the 5th hole (hitting 9 iron) en route to a 3-under-par 68 and finished in third place today at 5 under par, a shot in front of UC Irvine student Timothy Cha of Irvine, who also posted 68 today.
Following the tournament, Kanda, Anderson and reigning SCGA Mid-Amateur champion Tim Hogarth of Northridge were named to represent the SCGA in the 41st Pacific Coast Amateur Championship Aug. 7-10 at San Diego CC.
The win was Kanda’s first since he won the 2005 CIF-SCGA Southern California High School Championship at The SCGA Golf Course. Kanda had contended in the SCGA Amateur each of the last two years, finishing 5th in 2005 and T6 last year.
Kanda’s 72-hole total was the third-best total score since tournament shifted to stroke play from match play in 1957. Tiger Woods shot 270 when he won in 1994 at Hacienda GC and Brad Greer shot 274 in 1985 when he won at Virginia CC. Kanda’s 9-under-par total was a shot behind the margins of Greer and Woods (Hacienda played to a par 70).
This year when youth dominated (14 of the top 15 golfers were in their 20s) Kanda seemed firmly in control as he birdied three consecutive early holes and moved to 12 under par through nine holes, building a seven-shot lead.
However, Kanda made double-bogey 6 on the 10th hole when he yanked his drive into thick rough on the left (“The rough is a killer there,” he said later), leaving him with no choice but to punch back into the fairway. Kanda compounded his problems with bogeys on Nos. 11 and 13...MORE
See final round photo gallery HERE.
See final round video from amateurgolf.com HERE.
How to Play Victoria Club:
Tips, tricks and history from SCGA President Ed Holmes
In the early 1920’s, noted golf course architect, Max Behr, turned the Victoria Club golf course into what it is today. He revamped the entire 18 holes originally put together by Walter Fovarque. The course is typical of the time in that there are some quirky characteristics. For example, the course the members play has four 5-pars in the last five holes. Hole #17 will be played as a 4-par for the SCGA Amateur Championship. One of those holes (#15) was recognized by George Thomas, Jr. in his 1927 book, Golf Course Architecture in America, as being of superior design.
The course is 6,517 yards long, but don’t let that deceive you. Getting overly aggressive on this golf course will make players pay dearly. The fairways are Tifway II Bermuda (we don’t overseed) and because Bermuda loves the heat, it will be perfect for the championship. The greens are poa annua, generally small, but can be very fast. How will the course defend itself at 6,517 yards? Players must not hit the ball in the rough, and if they miss a green they will face very difficult chip shots to recover. Here’s how this venerable course should be played...MORE
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