SCGA Tournament History

SCGA Amateur Championship

HISTORICAL NOTES

The SCGA Amateur Championship was contested at match play (with a 36-hole championship match) from its inception in 1900 until 1957, when it shifted to a stroke play event.

MULTIPLE WINNERS

Five-time champion:
Paul Hunter is the only five-time winner in the history of the SCGA Amateur, all the more remarkable considering the spread of years (1908, 1909, 1921, 1924, and 1926).

Four-time Champion:
Legendary amateur golfer Johnny Dawson captured four SCGA Amateur titles (1942, 1945, 1946, and 1952), while Craig Steinberg captured four titles in a 10-year span: 1988, 1991, 1992 and 1997).

Three-time Champions:
Walter Fairbanks captured SCGA Amateur crowns in 1901, 1903 and 1905. George Von Elm won in 1922, 1925 and 1927. Bruce McCormick turned the trick in 1947, 1948 and 1963, and Scott McGihon win in 2000, 2005 and 2006.

Two-time Champions:
Twelve other golfers have won two SCGA Amateur titles, but only Brad Greer (and Steinberg) have done it in the past 30 years. Two-time winners include William Frederickson (1906, 1910), Norman Macbeth (1911, 1913), E.S. Armstrong (1912, 1915), Fay Coleman (1928, 1930), Jack Gaines (1932, 1937), Frank Hixon (1939, 1958), Smiley Quick (1940, 1943), Pat Abbott (1938, 1941), Jim Ferrie (1950, 1951), Ted Richards Jr. (1954, 1961), Alan Geiberger (1956, 1959), and Greer (1984, 1985).

Back-to-Back Winners:
Dawson, McCormick, Ferrie, Greer, McGihon and Steinberg are the only back-to-back winners.

MATCH PLAY

Largest Margins of Victory:

1925: George Von Elm defeated Norman Macbeth, 12 & 10, at The Los Angeles CC. Von Elm also won the California Amateur and U.S. Amateur that year and finished second in the L.A. Open the following January.

1909: Paul Hunter defeated Nat F. Wilshire, 11 & 10, at Annandale GC.

1926: Hunter won a record fifth SCGA Amateur by defeating R.G. Cawsey, 10 & 9; the tournament was held at California CC and Brentwood CC.

1942: John Dawson of Lakeside GC defeated Bruce McCormick of Oakmont CC, 10 & 8, at Los Angeles CC. Dawson and McCormick were two of the greatest players in the history of amateur golf.

STROKE PLAY

Tournament Record:

1994: 270 - Tiger Woods in 1994 at Hacienda GC.

1985: 274 - Brad Greer at Virginia CC

1963: 280 - Bruce McCormick at Bel-Air CC

1995: 280 - Charlie Wi at Santa Ana CC

Of Note: Mark Johnson's 275 as runner-up to Tiger Woods in 1994 and Charlie Wi's third-place score of 278 would have won every tournament except 1985 and 1994).

Most under par:

1985: 10 shots - Brad Greer at Virginia CC (par 71)

1994: 10 shots - Tiger Woods at Hacienda GC (par 70)

Largest margin of victory:

12 shots: Brad Greer's 274 at Virginia CC in 1985 was 12 shots better than Brian Mahon.

6 shots: U.T. Thompson III (281) defeated Kip Puterbaugh (287) at Hacienda GC in 1969.

Playoffs:
1966: John Jacobs defeated Kemp Richardson on the third extra hole at The Victoria Club.
1974: Jim Porter defeated Ted Richards, Jr. on the fourth hole of sudden death at Brentwood CC. Richards, the 1954 and 1961 SCGA Amateur champion, was 51 years of age when he lost to Porter. The four-hole playoff is a record for the SCGA Amateur championship.
1992 : Craig Steinberg won his third SCGA Amateur title by defeating Bob Clark on the first extra hole at Fairbanks Ranch CC. It was the third consecutive year that Clark had been a runner-up, and Steinberg became just the fifth player to capture back-to-back titles.
1996: Kevin Marsh defeated Pat Duncan on the second extra hole at Santa Maria CC.
2002: Nico Bollini defeated defending champion John Merrick and Mike Lavery by eagling the second hole of the first three-way playoff in SCGA Amateur history.

INDIVIDUAL RECORDS

Low Round:
62: Tiger Woods at Hacienda GC, 1994 (8 under par)
63: Jorge Corral at Santa Ana CC, 1995 (8 under par)
64: Duffy Waldorf at Stockdale CC, 1994 (7 under par)

Low Nine:
29 - Duffy Waldorf in 1982 at Stockdale CC. Waldorf made seven birdies and two pars on the back nine and finished with 35-29 - 64. He was runner-up by a shot in the tournament to Mark Blakely.
30 - Tiger Woods in 1994 at Hacienda GC. Woods made par 4 on the first hole and then posted seven consecutive 3s, before making bogey 5 on the ninth hole. He finished 30-32 - 62.

YOUNGEST / OLDEST WINNERS

Youngest:

17 - Paul Hunter was 17 years, 4 months old when he won the 1908 SCGA Amateur, the first of his five championships.

18 - Doug Clarke of La Jolla (2/2/59) won at La Jolla CC in 1977; Tiger Woods (12/30/75) won at Hacienda GC in 1994; Al Geiberger (9/1/37) won the first of his two titles in 1956 at Santa Ana CC.

Oldest:

52 - John Richardson was 52 when he won the SCGA Amateur in 1973. He was also one of just 13 people to win both the SCGA and California Amateur Championship, having won the latter in 1961. In 1987, Richardson - then 66 - won the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship.

WINNERS ON THEIR HOME COURSE

NAME CLUB YEARS

Walter Fairbanks Los Angeles 1901, 03, 05

Sterling Liness Los Angeles 1907

Norman Macbeth Los Angeles 1911

E. S. Armstrong Midwick 1915

R. J. Cash, Jr. Los Angeles 1918

E. H. Seaver Los Angeles 1920

Paul Hunter Annandale 1924

Johnny Dawson Lakeside 1944

Jerry Douglas Victoria 1949

Jim Ferrie Virginia 1951

Larry Brown San Gabriel 1964

Richard Davies Annandale 1965

Greg Pitzer Riviera 1967

John Richardson El Niguel 1973

Doug Clarke La Jolla 1977

SCGA AMATEUR / CALIFORNIA AMATEUR WINNERS

NAME SCGA YEARS CA AM YEARS

(1) Paul Hunter 1908-09, 21, 24, 26 1920-21

(1) George Von Elm 1925, 27 1925

(1) David Martin 1931 1931

(2) Charles Seaver 1934 1933

Jack Gaines 1932, 37 1935

Roger Kelly 1936 1937-38

(1) Johnny Dawson 1942, 44-45, 63 1942

Bruce McCormick 1947-48, 63 1945-46

Bob Gardner 1946 1947, 50

Vern Callison 1957 1959

John Richardson 1973 1961

Todd Demsey 1993 1992

Charlie Wi 1995 1990

Tim Hogarth 2004 1999

(1) Won titles in the same year

(2) Held titles at the same time

(through the 1930s, the SCGA Amateur was played earlier in the year than the California Amateur).

SCGA AMATEUR / PACIFIC COAST AMATEUR WINNERS

NAME SCGA YEARS PACIFIC COAST YEARS

(1) Mark Pfeil 1972 1972, 74

(1) Todd Demsey 1993 1993

(1) Won titles in the same year.

SCGA AMATEUR / U.S. AMATEUR WINNERS

NAME SCGA YEARS U.S. AM YEARS

George Von Elm 1925; 27 1926

(1) Tiger Woods 1994 1994-95-96

(1) Won titles in the same year.

OTHER NOTES OF INTEREST

Two players - George Von Elm in 1925 and Charles Seaver in 1933-34 - held the SCGA Amateur, California Amateur and Northern California GA Amateur titles at the same time (the SCGA Amateur preceded the California Amateur in 1934 to make Seaver's feat possible).

Three SCGA presidents - Everett H. Seaver (1928), Norman Macbeth (1929) and Johnny Dawson (1951) - have also won the SCGA Amateur championship. One father and son combination - Everett Seaver (1920) and Charles Seaver (1934) - have won the SCGA Amateur championship. OF NOTE: Everett is the grandfather and Charles is the father of baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver.

Three other father-son combinations came close:

Mac Hunter, son of 1923 champion Willie Hunter, lost to Bruce McCormick 1 up in 1947.

Kemp Richardson lost a sudden-death playoff in 1966 to John Jacobs, then finished in a tie for second in 1968, five shots behind Barry Jaeckel; Richardson's father, John, won the SCGA Amateur in 1973.

Joe Simpson of Stardust CC finished one shot back of Tony Sills of Riviera in the 1976 SCGA Amateur at California CC. The following year, his son, Scott - the NCAA champion who would later win the 1987 U.S. Open - finished a shot back of Doug Clarke at La Jolla CC.

SCGA AMATEUR /U.S. OPEN WINNERS

NAME SCGA YEARS U.S. OPEN YEARS

Tiger Woods 1994 2000

SCGA AMATEUR / U.S. AMATEUR PUBLIC LINKS WINNERS

NAME SCGA YEARS PUBLINKS YEARS

Pat Abbot 1941 1936

Smiley Quick 1940, 43 1946

Bruce McCormick 1947-48, 63 1937

Ted Richards, Jr. 1954, 61 1953

Tim Hogarth 2004 1996

SCGA AMATEUR / U.S. SENIOR AMATEUR WINNERS

NAME SCGA YEARS SR. AM. YEARS

John Richardson 1973 1987

SCGA AMATEUR / U.S. JUNIOR AMATEUR WINNERS

NAME SCGA YEARS JR. AM. YEARS

Tiger Woods 1994 1991-92-93

SCGA AMATEUR / NCAA DIVISION 1 WINNERS

NAME SCGA YEARS NCAA YEARS

Todd Demsey 1993 1993

Tiger Woods 1994 1996

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