Wilkins Fires 68 to Claim RBA
Flight Winners Dominate
Rancho Bernardo, CA--The Golf Channel Amateur Tour and Country Club of Rancho Bernardo hosted the annual Rancho Bernardo Amateur Championship on Presidents Day. The weather was great as were the course conditions with fast, smooth greens. Pace of play was outstanding, with players averaging 4 hour 10 minute rounds. Congratulations to Jonny Lee for winning $220 in the 50/50 Raffle!
Ryan Wilkins of San Diego, the reigning Southern California Player of the Year, dominated on Monday in a good local field with 19 competitors. Wilkins, who has dropped 15 pounds, still hits the long ball and absolutely crushed his drive on #1 and never looked back. Wilkins won his second event of the young season with an outstanding round of 3-under par 68 that could have been even better had it not been for, as Wilkins put it, "a stupid double on #17." The 29-year old, who has professional aspirations, birdied 1, 7, 8, 12, and 16 and made an eagle on the par-five 14th hole. Wilkins has the athletic ability and work ethic to get better which he certainly has. It wasn't too long ago the former baseball player's good round was 74 and now he is the player to beat on Tour. Coming in 2nd place was Kyle Sigmon of Chula Vista. The talented Tour Rookie is still looking for his first win on Tour. SIgmon played consistenly on Monday, making 1 birdie, 2 bogeys, and 15 pars on his way to the 2nd place finish at 1-over par 72. Look for Sigmon's first victory to come soon. Daiki Hirano of Japan competed in his first San Diego Tour event on Monday. Hirano closed with a 1-under par 35 to come back and tie for 3rd place at 73. Also at 73 was Jonathan Minkoff, reigning Los Angeles Player of the Year. Minkoff struggled with his ball-striking, but three consecutive birdies on the back nine (holes 14 - 16) saw him vault up the leaderboard into a tie for 3rd. Finishing alone in 5th was Bryan Davidson of San Diego. Davidson's 2020 campaign includes a lot of firepower, as he made five birdies again on Monday. Once he gets the mistakes out of the way look for him to be really competitive. Davidson finished at 74.
Palmer Flight saw a great round out of the #1 ranked Palmer Player in San Diego, Jeff Barry. The La Jolla resident carded his 3rd win on Tour this season which has qualified him for the 2020 National Championship to be played at Sunriver Resort in Bend, Oregon in September. Barry got off to a cold start, turning in 6-over par 41. And then came the back nine. Barry outplayed the entire field (including a very solid Championship Flight) on the back nine. A clean, bogey-free back nine of 4-under par 32 that included two stretches of consecutive birdies on 13-14 and again at 16-17 saw him win at 2-over par 73. Finishing in 2nd place and playing well in defense of his title a year ago was Todd Hutcheson of Santee. The former Padres trainer, who works with Tour Alum Cory Gladstone on his swing at Carlton Oaks, finished at 77. "Hutch's" round was four strokes better than Barry on the front nine of CCRB. Finishing in 3rd place was David Lee. Lee, of Marina Del Rey, the #2 ranked player on the LA Tour, also struggled on the front nine playing it in 42 strokes. Playing the back nine first, Lee played a solid nine of even par there to finish at 78.
Hogan Flight saw a win from Paul Kirtides of Temecula and the 9th hole proved pivotal in the final results. The 55-year old who is very active with his son's baseball team closed like a champion as it was all determined on the 9th hole. Kirtides was two strokes behind 65-year old Rick Crawford of San Diego entering #9 at Country Club of Rancho Bernardo, their 18th and final hole of the round. Kirtides would birdie the hole while Crawford would make double, and the three shot swing on the final hole saw Kirtides lift the trophy at 9-over par 80 with Crawford in 2nd place at 10-over par 81. Notably, Kirtides opened with a birde on #10 and closed with a birdie on #9 for the player who started on hole #10. Crawford, the #1 ranked Senior Hogan Player in San Diego got to the lead and just couldn't close the door today. Finishing in solo 3rd place was Dwain DeLoach of Valley Center. DeLoach, who just recently received a Journey To Better Performance Promotion to Hogan Flight, got a taste of action in his new flight on Monday and performed admirably. An untimely triple-bogey 7 to close out his round left him in 3rd place at 82 just two strokes back. While that may have left a bad taste for DeLoach hopefully he can see that he has the talent to compete (and win) in Hogan / Senior Hogan Flight. Sid Campa of Murrieta made his first start of the season on Monday and showed little rust, finishing in 4th place at 83.
Sarazen Flight saw a great round from Robbie Aguilar. Aguilar, a military veteran who was on the San Diego Tour for a number of years, has been competing on the Jacksonville, FL Tour as work took him there for the better part of the last five years. The Sarazen Flight field likely wished he still lived in Jacksonville after his outstanding round on Monday. Aguilar won by seven shots on the strength of his 6-over par 77 in a round that could have been better. Aguilar had three sixes on his card and finished with three consecutive bogeys on holes 7 - 9 and still managed his great round, his best round on Tour in at least his last 21 rounds. Congratulations on a great round and welcome home, Robbie. Finishing in 2nd place was Steve Brink of El Cajon. Brink, who suffered a flat tire and barely made his starting time, played well and shot 84. Nilo Mia of San Diego, the #1 ranked Senior Sarazen player, carded a birdie and finished in 3rd place at 85. Rob Salazar of San Diego finished in 4th place at 90. five strokes out of 3rd.
James Marshall of the Jones Flight seemingly always plays well at Country Club of Rancho Bernardo. Marshall arguably had the most dominant day, firing an 83 in the 16 - 19.9 handicap bracket to take home the trophy. Marshall was the only player to break 90 today and accomplished his great round of 83 in spite of three double bogeys and a triple bogey. This is the 3rd win on Tour this season for Marshall, who qualifies for the 2020 National Championship thanks to that feat which will be held at Sunriver Resort just ouside of Bend, OR. Marshall carded two nifty birdies on the day - the par four 6th hole and the par-three 17th hole. The battle for 2nd place ended in a tie, with Ted Collins of Coto de Caza and Ike Ellis of San Diego each carding a 91.
Snead Flight saw a great and dominating performance just like Sarazen and Jones did today. Danny Tang of Yorba Linda, a Tour Rookie competing in his first year on Tour, saw a lot of firsts today for him. Tang had yet to break 90. An 86 today, 15-over par, saw him secure his best round on Tour to date in three attempts. First Tour win, check! Tang won his first event on Tour and did so by limiting his mistakes to four double bogeys on holes 7 - 9 and on 10. Tang made 8 pars on the day and earned a great win. Finishing in 2nd place was Bill Lewicki of Tucson, AZ. Lewicki, who won yesterday at Pelican Hill, finished in 2nd place at 93. Finishing at 94 was Defending Champion Alan Wettig who played well in the defense of his title. Wettig was only a shot back of his winning score in 2019 at Country Club of Ranch Bernardo where he earned the win at 93.
The Tour returns to action this Friday with the La Costa Classic which will host a lot of players outside of San Diego in town for the San Diego Open. Good luck to players this weekend at the San Diego Open at Singing Hills Golf Resort!
