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Click here to view LIVE SCORING of the championship / Download FINAL ROUND pairings Burda culminates outstanding year with CGA State Senior Amateur win at Poppy Hills GC By Scott Seward Jeff Burda’s initial season of senior competition was expected to be good. But perhaps no one foresaw the 55-year-old Modesto resident claiming eight titles capped by the CGA State Senior Championship today at Poppy Hills. With an epic, back-nine charge, Burda overcame the five-shot deficit he started the day with to produce a one-stroke win over runner-up and the leader coming into the final round, Jim Knoll.
“I played pretty well all three days but today my putter came around,” the champion said regarding his final-round 65. The Del Rio member turned at two-under, highlighted by a 40-foot bogey save on the 8th after his only bad shot of the round landed out of bounds. Beginning with the 9th hole, then, Burda would birdie six of his last 10 holes, affirming his nickname, “Tiger Burda,” from his fellow senior competitors. Runner-up Knoll posted the score of the championship in the first round, a tournament-record 64. But the Sunnyvale resident was unable to sustain the lead in the final round against the Burda juggernaut. “He’s getting me back for last week,” Knoll said with a laugh in reference to the NCGA Valley Senior Championship. Similar to today’s final round, Knoll came from deep in the pack with a final-round 65 to claim a one-shot win over Burda. The runner-up leaves for the U.S Senior Amateur in Texas later this week. Howie Knodt of Chula Vista grabbed third place, providing a fitting coda to a year that saw him qualify for the U.S. Mid-Amateur and Senior Amateur championships. Burda’s eight titles in 2008 include the NCGA Senior, State Fair, Modesto, Madera, Manteca and Sacramento City championships, Sacramento County and the State Senior. He is the first player since Jim McMurtrey in 1995 to win both the NCGA Senior and State Senior in the same year. Burda’s game held up against regular amateurs, too. He qualified for match play and advanced to the round of 16 in the State Amateur at Lakeside GC in June. With the win, Burda has almost mathematically claimed the NCGA Senior Player of the Year award. “This is a huge win,” the champion said. “This is the biggest championship in the state and to win it is phenomenal.” Northern Californians, perhaps due to a familiarity with host venue Poppy Hills which was playing to 6,479 yards and a par 71 because of renovation work on the 2nd hole, have now claimed four of the last five CGA State Senior titles. Fellow competitor (and hole-in-one maker in the final round – a 4- iron on the 11th hole) Doug Johnson of Fresno perhaps summed up Burda’s day and season best when he commented on the champion’s chip into the 18th green: “Jeffrey, it just doesn’t get any better than that. That is some good (stuff) right there.” For complete, hole-by-hole scores of the final 33 players, click HERE. For a photo gallery of the lead players, click here. Knoll still leads 17th CGA Senior Amateur Championship after two rounds
By Robert D. Thomas PEBBLE BEACH, Sept. 16 — Jim Knoll came back to the field today, which means that the 17th California Golf Association (CGA) Senior Amateur Championship has become a horse race heading into tomorrow’s final round. The 55-year-old Knoll, who lives in Sunnyvale, had torched Poppy Hills Golf Course with a 7-under-par 64 yesterday (the course is playing to a par 71 because of construction) but he came back to earth today with a 4-over-par 75. His 139 total for two rounds gives him a two-shot lead over Herb Jensen of Carmichael, who was one of four players to shoot 70 today. Another two shots back is Howie Knodt of Chula Vista, who also shot 70 today for a 143 total. Reigning NCGA Senior Amateur champion Jeff Burda of Modesto and Douglas Johnson of Fresno are tied for fourth at 144, five shots behind the leader. Burda also shot 70 today. The top of the leaderboard has a distinctly Northern California look as 11 of the top 13 finishers are from the NCGA. A total of 35 golfers shot 150 or better to make the cut for tomorrow’s final round. Tee times begin at 7:20 a.m. Knoll, who just turned aged 55 and is playing in his first senior amateur tournament, began his round on the 10th hole and went double-bogey, bogey on the 12th and 13th holes for a back-nine total of 39. He also had two bogeys on the front nine and made his only birdie on the par-4 eighth hole. Knoll, a member at Rooster Run GC, finally cooled off from his recent play. His last tournament round before this event was last Tuesday’s final round at the NCGA Valley Championship where he turned in a 7-under 65 at Winchester CC to overcome a six-shot deficit and win the event by one stroke over Burda. Jensen, who teed off on No. 1 today, made two bogeys on the front nine but came home with three birdies against one bogey on the back side. Beginning on the back side, Knodt opened with consecutive birdies and finished with a 3-under-par 33 but could not make a birdie on the front side and settled for a 37. Vanier, bidding to become just the second player ever to win more than one CGA Senior Amateur title, is tied for eighth at 147, eight shots behind the leader, after his 72 today. Click here for hole-by-hole scores. North rallies to defeat South in North-South team competition
PEBBLE BEACH, Sept. 16 — With reigning NCGA Senior Amateur champion Jeff Burda and defending CGA Senior Amateur titleholder Gary Vanier leading the way, the North rallied from a two-shot deficit and scored an eight-shot victory in the annual North-South Team Competition held concurrently with the first two rounds of the 17th CGA Senior Amateur Championship at Poppy Hills GC. With the best three of four scores counting each day, the North shot 216 today and finished with a 439 total to regain the Senior Cup. The South slipped to a 226 today and finished at 447. Burda, who was a quarterfinalist at this year’s California Amateur Championship, shot a 1-under-par 70 today, while Vanier came in with a 72. Rob Thompson, the 2004 CGA Senior Amateur champion, filled out the team total with a 74 today. Clark Heath, the reigning SCGA Senior Amateur champion, paced the South team with a 1-over-par 72 today, while Boyd Martin, the 2008 SCGA Senior Match Play champion finished with a 75 today. The North now has a 9-5 margin since the matches were begun...MORE Jim Knoll fires 64 at Poppy Hills to take five-shot lead in CGA Senior Amateur Championship
By Scott Seward PEBBLE BEACH — Jim Knoll is on fire. The 55-year-old Sunnyvale resident, in his first year amateur senior competition, set a tournament record record by carding a seven-under-par 64 in the first round of the 17th CGA Senior Amateur Championship at Poppy Hills Golf Course. Douglas Johnson of Fresno and Larry Grant of Westminster are tied for second after both players posted 2-under 69s (Poppy Hills is playing to a par 71 for the event due to renovation work on the second hole). In the annual North-South Team Competition, held concurrently with the first two rounds of stroke play, the South has a two-shot lead after the first round. With the best three of four scores counting for the team total, the South totaled 221 to the North’s 223. Rich Tolly’s 70 paced the South team, which also included reigning SCGA Senior Amateur champion Clark Heath (75), reigning SCGA Senior Match Play champion Boyd Martin (76) and Warren Caves (79). Modesto’s Jeff Burda and Antioch’s Mark Miller paced the North squad with 74s, following by defending CGA Senior Amateur champion Gary Vanier and 2004 champion Rob Thompson with 75s...MORE Eight former champions headline 17th CGA Senior Amateur Championship September 15-17 at Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach By Katie Denbo Defending champion Gary Vanier, who made history when he became the only player to win both a California Amateur and CGA Senior Amateur championship, as well as seven other past champions will tee it up in the 17th CGA (California Golf Association) Senior Amateur Championship on September 15-17 at Poppy Hills GC in Pebble Beach. Tee times begin at 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 15 and 16 off the first and 10th tees, and the field will be cut to the low 33 and ties after the second round; click HERE for pairings and more information. Spectators are welcome free of charge. The 57-year-old Vanier, of Pleasant Hill, who won the 1982 California Amateur, was the 2006 CGA Senior runner-up to Placentia’s Steve Bogan after falling to Bogan in a playoff. Vanier rallied in the final round of the 2007 event to win by one stroke over Costa Mesa’s Steve Rhorer after eagling Poppy Hills’ par-5 18th hole and closing with a 1-over-par 73 to put him at 5-over-par 221 for the tournament. Rhorer is also in this year's field. If Vanier wins the 2008 title, he’ll be the only player since Fair Oaks’ Jim McMurtrey in 1995 to win two consecutive CGA Senior titles (McMurtrey went on to win a total of three titles)...MORE |
