Shotaro Ban Wins The 104th California Amateur Championship
June 20, 2016
Moments after clinching the title, Shotaro Ban saw his mom and the two happily exchanged hugs.
After a long and emotional week, the 21-year-old was finally a champion.
Ban, a senior at Cal, defeated 17-year-old Roseville resident Joshua Sedeno, 5 and 4, on a breezy Saturday at Lake Merced Golf Club to win the 104th California Amateur Championship. With the victory, he’ll join the likes of Johnny Miller, Mark O’Meara and Ken Venturi as players who have their names etched on the prestigious Edward B. Tufts Trophy.
“It’s very special to have my name on that,” said Ban, who lives in San Jose. “There are so many names on that trophy that have gone on to do great things. Hopefully this is a stepping stone for me and I can build off of it and do bigger things in the future.”
Ban’s victory also marked the first for a Bear in the championship. Charlie Wi won the title in 1990, but that was before he transferred to Cal from University Nevada-Reno. Bears who never even reached the final include Max Homa, James Hahn and 2012 U.S. Amateur runner-up Michael Weaver.
“It’s awesome. Hopefully I pave the way for other players in the program,” said Ban, who was the No.25 seed. “I want to try and be a role model for future Bears.”
Having taken a 3-up lead in the morning portion of the 36-hole finale, Ban slipped early in the afternoon round when he missed a 4-foot par putt on the 2nd hole to drop his lead to 2-up.
Through the next five holes, the No.26 seeded Sedeno, who was looking to become one of the event’s youngest winners (Mac Hunter won at age 16 in 1972), had chances to further cut into Ban’s lead but continually was denied. On the 22nd hole (No.4), the Del Oro High senior missed a 4-foot putt for a win, while on No.23 his par putt stopped an inch short of the cup, giving Ban a win.
A hole later on No.24, Sedeno, who’s already committed to Southern Methodist University in 2016, three-putted for a halve. On the 25th, he was stuck with an awful lie in the rough off the left side of the green. Hitting nearly from his knees, his third shot skipped through the green for bogey, giving Ban a 4-up lead.
“I had a huge chance in that stretch to get the match back to all-square, and it went the other way,” said Sedeno, who won this year’s Memorial Championship at Ancil Hoffman GC. “I should’ve stayed calm and kept in my routine.”
From there, Ban kept the 4-up lead until he lost the 28th hole (No.10) after yet again pushing his drive to the right near the fence of the driving range.
Two holes later though, Sedeno was again snakebit after he couldn’t get up-and-down from a bunker to save par. On the 31st hole (No.13), Ban made it up 5-up by sinking a clutch 7-footer for birdie. The two would halve the next hole with birdies.
“I didn’t feel like I had it won until that last putt,” said Ban, whose previous win came at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate in February. “I’ve seen too many crazy things happen. My mentality all day was to take it one hole and one shot at a time.”
In the morning round, Ban took a 3-up lead, even winning a hole without having to step on the green.
On the par-5 18th, Sedeno pushed his approach shot right behind a cluster of bushes. With no shot at the green possible, Sedeno looked to simply get back into play somewhere near the putting surface. His shot ended up in one of the cypress trees that guard the green and never came down. With Ban sitting two just off the front of the green, Sedeno opted to concede the hole, giving Ban a 3-up lead at the break.
“I had a tough lie and I played aggressive and it didn’t work out,” Sedeno said.
Earlier, Ban had jumped out to a quick 1-up lead with a birdie on No.1 and upped his lead to 2-up with a win on the 5th. He’d up his lead to 3-up when he sank a 21-foot putt for birdie on the par-3 12th, but Sedeno temporarily cut the deficit back to 1-up with wins on holes No.14 and No.15. Ban rebuilt his cushion to 3-up with his win on the 18th and a win on the 17th, where Sedeno missed a 4-footer for par.
Despite the loss, Sedeno showed all week that he can compete with the big boys. In earlier rounds, he’d knock out St. Mary’s No.1 Jonathan De Los Reys and UCLA senior Jake Knapp, who was coming off an appearance in last week’s U.S. Open.
“It’s a good experience going forward,” said Sedeno, who also fought off an achy back and neck all week after the car he was riding in was rear-ended on his way to Daly City. “ Not a lot of kids my age get this kind of experience against this quality of players.”
Ban also had to grind. In earlier rounds, he defeated Bears teammates Ben Doyle and Keelan Kilpatrick. In both Friday’s quarterfinals and semifinals, he’d hold on for a pair of 1-up wins.
“The whole week is a grind, and this golf course is phenomenal. Throughout the week we had sun, wind, fog, just about every condition. Add those conditions to the course and it’s even harder,” Ban said. “I just tried to stay within myself.”
For Ban, there won’t be much time to celebrate. Early Sunday morning he heads to Washington to start playing in the Sahalee Amateur Championship. It’ll be his third appearance in that championship in the last three years.
“I’ve got to get my game in tip-top shape,” he said.
- Courtesy NCGA