The SCGA Amateur Championship (1960-1979)
The SCGA Amateur Championship is the nation's second-oldest, continuously contested amateur golf championship, having been held every year since 1900. Many of the nation's great amateurs -- from Paul Hunter and George von Elm to Craig Steinberg and Tiger Woods -- have won the championship and an even greater number have failed to capture the prestigious title.
1960: Ben Alyea (285), Fox Hills GC, defeated Ted Richards Jr. (286), Bel Air CC. Alyea won the battle of the UCLA grads at Brentwood CC.
1961: Ted Richards Jr. (285) defeated Gene Andrews (287) at The Los Angeles CC. Andrews was later named to the Walker Cup team.
1962: Larry Bouchey (282), Rio Hondo CC, defeated Richard Glover (285), Gilman Hot Springs CC, at Virginia CC. Bouchey was a former professional baseball player and golfer, whose amateur status was reinstated.
1963: Bruce McCormick, San Gabriel CC, defeated Ted Richards Jr. by one shot at Hillcrest CC. McCormick set a tournament record score with his 72-hole total of 280. It was McCormick's third SCGA Amateur title, a record exceeded only by Paul Hunter (with 5) and Johnny Dawson and Craig Steinberg (4 each). A record field of 580 players began qualifications, and juniors were allowed to play in the championship flight.
1964: Larry Brown (283), San Gabriel CC, defeated John McGlone (285) at San Gabriel CC.
1965: Richard Davies (285), Annandale GC, defeated James Gilbert (288), Singing Hills CC, at Annandale GC. Davies won the British Amateur Championship in 1962 and played on the 1963 U.S. Walker Cup squad, then didn't play in another tournament until this one. Gilbert was the No. 1 golfer on San Diego State team.
1966: John Jacobs defeated Kemp Richardson, on third hole of sudden death at The Victoria Club. Jacobs, another of the fine USC golfers, has become a major player on the Senior PGA Tour.
1967: Greg Pitzer, Riviera CC, (289) defeated Ted Richards, Jr. (294) at Riviera CC. Earlier in the year, the SCGA board of directors decided to limit Southern California Amateur Championship to SCGA members only.
1968: Barry Jaeckel, Riviera CC, (281) defeated Greg Pitzer, Riviera CC, and Kemp Richardson, El Niguel CC, (287) at Lakeside GC. KTTV covered the final day of tournament. Richardson was the Pacific 8 Champion from USC. Bud Bradley withdrew from the tournament after 54 holes while trailing by two strokes to take his wife to the hospital for their baby's birth.
1969: U. T. Thompson III (281), Wilshire CC, defeated Kip Puterbaugh (287), La Jolla CC, at Hacienda GC.
1970: Gary Sanders (283), Los Coyotes CC, defeated Steve Cook (287) Los Alamitos CC, at Oakmont CC.
1971: John Beetham (282), Yorba Linda CC, defeated Alan Tapie (284), Rio Hondo CC, at Virginia CC.
1972: Mark Pfeil (284), Palos Verdes CC, defeated Craig Stadler (286), La Jolla CC, at Hillcrest CC. Pfeil was medalist in the 1972 California Amateur at Pebble Beach, won the 1972 Pacific Coast Amateur at Pauma Valley CC, played on the 1973 U.S. Walker Cup squad and won the 1974 Pacific Coast Amateur.
1973:John Richardson (144), El Niguel CC defeated Ed Korylak (146), Rio Hondo CC, at El Niguel CC. At age 52, Richardson was the oldest person to win the SCGA Amateur Championship. SCGA began regional qualifying and played finals at 36 holes.
1974: Jim Porter (293), Red Hill CC, defeated Ted Richards (293) at Brentwood CC. Porter, now the head golf professional at Red Hill, won on the fourth extra hole of a playoff over 51-year-old Richards.
1975: Lee Davis (282), The Los Angeles CC, defeated Art Butler Jr. (287), Glendora CC, at Wilshire CC. Davis captained the USC golf team in 1966 and finished third in SCGA Amateur Championship in 1974. Butler's father (Dr. Art Butler) was a two-time finalist in state Amateur Championship.
1976: Tony Sills (287), Riviera CC, defeated Joe Simpson (288), Stardust CC, at California CC. The 20-year-old Sills finished third in 1975 and 1973. Simpson is the father of NCAA Champion Scott Simpson, who would later win 1987 U.S. Open.
1977: Doug Clarke (287), La Jolla CC, defeated Brett Mullin, Riverside CC, Curtis Worley, Coronado CC, and Scott Simpson, Stardust CC, (288) at La Jolla CC. The l8-year-old Clarke sank a 15-foot put on the 72nd hole to avoid a four-way extra-hole playoff at his home course. Clarke won the 1976 Trans Mississippi Championship and was runner-up in the 1976 Junior World and USGA Junior Championships. Simpson was a two-time NCAA Champion.
1978: Brian Gaddy (284), Annandale GC, defeated Mark Wiebe (284), Meadow Lake CC, on the second extra hole of a playoff at Bel-Air CC. Gaddy's putting earned him the title as he sank a 12-footer on the 17th and a 10-footer on the 18th to tie, he then holed a 10-foot put on the first sudden-death hole and an 8-footer for the win. Gaddy also had a hole-in-one on the 194-yard 16th hole during the third round.
1979: Jeff Hart, Lomas (288) Santa Fe CC, defeated Brian Gaddy, (291) at Hacienda GC. Gaddy could not recover from a quadruple bogey on the 16th hole of the third round. Ted Richards Jr. finished seventh with 295.
