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Handicap Index: +3.0
Monday, April 04, 2022
Will there be a host hotel nearby the 111th Cal Am?
Please advise.
112th California Amateur Championship
June 19 - 24, 2023, Lake Merced GC
This is one of the nation’s oldest state amateur golf championships. The championship originated in 1912 and was held at Pebble Beach Golf Links from 1919 until 2006. In 2007 the CGA broadened the scope of this prestigious championship by rotating the weeklong event to selected courses throughout the state, alternating between Northern California and Southern California every other year. Players must have an index of 4.4 or less, qualifying is available statewide for both NCGA and SCGA players, players may only attempt to qualify once. The Championship consists of 156 players who will play 36-holes of individual stroke play to determine the 32 player match play field. The final match is played over 36 holes. During the stroke play portion of the tournament a simultaneous team competition takes place between the NCGA vs. SCGA competing for the Roger Latham Cup.
Championship InfoQualifying InfoExemptions
CHARLIE REITER BUILDS INSURMOUNTABLE LEAD, WINS CAL-AM
156 of the state’s top amateurs showed up at Big Canyon CC in Newport Beach and attempted to outduel each other in hopes of getting their name engraved on the Edward B. Tufts trophy.
The lone survivor of the grueling week and the winner of the 111th California Amateur Championship is Charlie Reiter, of Palm Desert.
Reiter defeated Kevin Huff, of El Dorado Hills, 5 & 4, in a 36-hole final match in which he never trailed.
The front nine of the morning session was a tightly contested seesaw battle that ended with Reiter clinging to a 1UP lead as both players made the turn. From there, the University of San Diego standout dropped a cinder block on the gas pedal and won six holes on the back to take a commanding 6UP lead into the lunchbreak.
Reiter’s late-morning dominance was not a byproduct of poor play from his opponent. Huff was hitting good shots and getting around the course like a finalist who outlasted 154 others. But Reiter was dialed into another level of golf. His drives were blistered north of 320 yards, his irons were tight, and his flatstick had smoke coming off the face. And unless he was going to order a turkey sandwich loaded with tryptophan for lunch—nothing was going to slow him down. And nothing did.
Reiter’s 6UP advantage coming out the break would quickly stretch to seven after Huff laid up on the par-five No. 2 only to dump his approach into the water. Reiter then seized on Huff’s misplay in the bunker on the very next hole and got the match to 8UP. Two holes later and Reiter was a 9UP with 13 to play.
The San Diego Torero and the Fresno State Bulldog would go on to halve the next three holes giving Reiter a chance to close out the match without needing to make the turn in the afternoon session. But an errant tee shot led to a drop and Reiter lost his first hole going all the way back to No. 15, hours earlier. After 27 holes, Reiter still had a stranglehold on the championship, 8UP with nine to play.
But then the tides turned in the most unexpected ways. Reiter, who had seemed bulletproof since the minute he laced-up his FootJoys, suddenly started to crack. And Huff, who seemed on the ropes since before the gallery finished their first cup of coffee, started to punch his way back into the fight.
Up until the 27th hole of the championship final, Huff had only gotten the better of Reiter twice. But then he flipped a switch and took the defibrillator paddles to a match that was on life support by winning four of five holes to cut the deficit nearly in half. Reiter, who was once 9UP with 10 to play, was now 5UP with five to play.
Part of the luxury of building a massive lead is being able to give a lot of it back. And even though Reiter was on the golf course one hour and five holes longer than he wanted to be, he was still in firm command needing only to halve a single hole to permanently stop the bleeding and peel out of Newport Beach with the very same hardware he came so close to winning in 2020.
And that’s exactly what happened when Huff slid a six-foot birdie just by the cup to finally run out of gas once and for all on No. 14, the 32nd hole of the final.
"Finishing second, that wasn't going to happen again," Reiter declared. "We got off to a quick start and I kept it going. It was awesome."
The mountain Reiter had built was so incredibly high that Huff’s amazing late afternoon run didn’t even summit half of it. Reiter also had honors for 24 for the 32 holes played in the final.
"Having honors is very important in match play because you control the tempo. Hitting good drives is tough to follow. But [Kevin Huff] did a good job with it. It was a very good match between both of us."
For Reiter, this was a long time coming and redemption for his runner-up finish at the Cal-Am just two years ago. Now he gets to hold the trophy he nearly won in 2020 and his name will be on there for the rest of time.
Asked how he was going to celebrate, Reiter said with a big smile and a laugh, "I don't know yet. But I'm sure something will go down that I won't remember."
Past Winners
| Year | Winner | Medalist | Team | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 |
Charlie Reiter |
Tony Chen | Southern California | Big Canyon CC |
| 2021 |
Noah Woolsey |
Christian Banke | Northern California | The Preserve |
| 2020 |
Joey Vrzich |
Stephen Hale | Southern California | Torrey Pines GC |
| 2019 |
William Mouw |
Sean Yu | Southern California | Monterey Peninsula CC |
| 2018 |
Bobby Bucey |
Cody Hall |
Northern California | Omni La Costa Resort & Spa |
| 2017 |
PJ Samiere |
Eddy Lai |
Southern California | The Olympic Club |
| 2016 |
Shintaro Ban |
Bryan Baumgarten and Andrew Levitt | Northern California | Valencia CC |
| 2015 |
Shotaro Ban |
Satch Herrmann |
Southern California |
Lake Merced GC |
| 2014 |
Xander Schauffele |
Jason Anthony | Southern California | Omni La Costa Resort & Spa |
| 2013 | Cory McElyea | Corey Pereira and Xander Schauffele | Northern California | Monterey Peninsula GC |
| 2012 | Kevin Marsh | Bhavik Patel | Southern California | La Cumbre CC |
| 2011 | Bhavik Patel | Philip Chian | Northern California | The Olympic Club |
| 2010 |
Scott Travers |
Scott Almquist Kevin Fitzgerald |
Southern California |
Rancho Santa Fe GC and La Jolla GC |
| 2009 |
Geoff Gonzalez |
Geoff Gonzalez | Southern California | Lake Merced GC |
| 2008 |
Nick Delio |
Matt Hoffenbers Alex Kim Scott McGihon |
Northern California | Lakeside GC and Oakmont CC |
| 2007 |
Josh Anderson |
Blake Trimble | Southern California | Monterey Peninsula CC |
| 2006 |
Jordan Nasser |
Steve Woods | Southern California | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
| 2005 |
Don DuBois |
Jordan Cox | Northern California | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
| 2004 |
Spencer Levin |
Mark Sear | Northern California | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
| 2003 |
Patrick Nagle |
Roy Moon | Northern California | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
| 2002 |
Eddie Heinen |
Don DuBois | Southern California | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
| 2001 |
Darryl Donovan |
Jeff Wilson | Northern California | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
| 2000 |
Nick Jones |
James Stewart Todd Miller |
Southern California | Bayonet and Blackhorse GC |
| 1999 |
Tim Hogarth |
Ed Cuff, Jr. Steve Conway |
Southern California | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
| 1998 | Ed Cuff, Jr. | Craig Steinberg | Southern California | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
| 1997 | Jason Gore | Tim Hogarth | Southern California | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
| 1996 | Mark Johnson | Jeff Gilchrist | Northern California | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
| 1995 | Jeff Sanday | Mark Johnson | Southern California | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
| 1994 | Steve Woods | Steve Woods | Southern California | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
| 1993 | Casey Boyns | Gary Vanier | Northern California | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
| 1992 | Todd Demsey | Harry Rudolph, III | Southern California | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
| 1991 | Harry Rudolph III | Sandy Galbraith | Southern California | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
| 1990 | Charlie Wi |
Mark Johnson Paul Stankowski |
Southern California | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
| 1989 | Casey Boyns | Jerry Michaels | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1988 | Don Parsons | Aaron Meeks | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1987 | Mike Springer |
Bob Lasken Tim Loustalot Steve Bogan |
Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1986 | Terrence Miskell | Dana Banke | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1985 | Sam Randolph | Sam Randolph | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1984 | Duffy Waldorf | Duffy Waldorf | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1983 | Kris Moe | Gregg Twiggs | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1982 | Gary Vanier | Corey Pavin | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1981 | Joe Tamburino | Mike Barnblatt | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1980 | Bobby Clampett | Bobby Clampett | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1979 | Mark O’Meara | Lennie Clements | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1978 | Bobby Clampett | Don Levin | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1977 | Lee Mikles | Tom Culligan | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1976 | Mike Brannan | Scott Simpson | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1975 | John Cook |
C. Richardson Curtis Worley |
Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1974 | Curtis Worley | Craig Stadler | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1973 | Mike Brannan | Mike Brannan | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1972 | Mac Hunter | Mark Pfeil | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1971 | Doug Nelson | Sandy Galbraith | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1970 | Bob Risch | Tom Smith | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1969 | Forrest Fezler | Ted Lyford | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1968 | Johnny Miller | Les Peterson | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1967 | Bob E. Smith | Arne Dokka | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1966 | Bob Eastwood |
Bob Eastwood Cesar Sanudo Jack Bariteau |
Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1965 | Vern Callison | Dr. Art Butler | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1964 | Steve Opperman | Ron Cerrudo | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1963 | Dr. Paul Travis | Peter Choate | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1962 | Dick Lotz | John Lotz | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1961 | John Richardson | No qualifying | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1960 | Larry Bouchey | Dr. Art Butler | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1959 | Vern Callison |
Dan Morgan Bob Roos |
Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1958 | Eli Bariteau | Dan Morgan | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1957 | Tal Smith | Dr. William O’Neal | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1956 | Ken Venturi |
Bob Silvestri Ken Venturi |
Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1955 | Dr. Frank Taylor | Tom Draper | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1954 | Dr. Frank Taylor | Dr. William O’Neal | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1953 | Gene Littler | Ken Venturi | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1952 | Bob Silvestri | Gene Littler | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1951 | Ken Venturi | Bud Holscher | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1950 | Bob Gardner | Fred Jordan | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1949 | Mac Hunter |
Gene Littler Tal Smith John Dawson |
Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1948 | Eli Bariteau |
Russell York Bob Silvestri |
Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1947 | Bob Gardner | Morgan Fottrell | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1946 | Bruce McCormick | Eli Bariteau | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1945 | Bruce McCormick | John Dawson | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1944 | Ernie Pieper, Jr. | Bob Rosburg | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1943 | Elmer Cites | Henry Suico | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1942 | John Dawson | Bud Brownell | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1941 | Ernie Pieper, Jr. | Ralph Lomelli | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1940 | Ed Monaghan | Rennie Kelly | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1939 | Jack Gage | Roger Kelly | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1938 | Roger Kelly | Roger Kelly | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1937 | Roger Kelly |
Ernest Combs Frank Hixon |
Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1936 | Mat Palacio, Jr. | Roger Kelly | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1935 | Jack Gaines | Ernie Pieper Jr. | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1934 | Stuart Hawley |
John Robbins Jack Nounman |
Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1933 | Charles Seaver | No qualifying | Pebble Beach Golf Links | |
| 1932 | Neil White | No qualifying | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
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