Stanford, California - I am happy to report on the conclusion of the AGA's newest major tournament, the Inaugural Bay-Area Championship (commonly referred to as the IBC, or Inaugural) this week. The second round, held yesterday at the Coyote Creek Golf Course, was a tough day of howling winds and lightning quick greens on a course set up where, according to Chris Archibald, "the average scratch golfer would be lucky to break 100"
Today, the Stanford University golf course was a little nicer to the competition, and proved fair as it evened out the field of participants. Chris got off to a great start, -1 through 8, while Thom Archibald was stifled by having 7 bunker shots on the first 9 holes (of which, only 2 he got up and down). Chris took a commanding 5 shot lead to the back side, after being 2 down on the first tee. Thom played steady, making pars, and Chris made a few errors on a short stretch of holes. It came down to number 16, a par 5 uphill, where Thom's eagle chip rested a foot from the hole, but Chris then proceeded to drop a distant putt on the same hole to keep his two shot lead. Each player short-sided himself on to a difficult pin on the par 3 17th, and Thom got too cute with it, leaving it short, and proceeded to make a double bogey, while Chris played safer and made bogey. A three shot lead accompanied him to the final tee, a downhill par four measuring 457 yards. Chris pull-hooked his drive behind a tree, forcing him to punch out across the fairway due to the gnarly lie. Thom smashed his drive 300 yards down the middle of the fairway with some anger in his swing, assuring that pressure would be applied in this most tense of all situations. As Chris left his approach shot short of the greenside bunker, leaving a difficult up and over the bunker to the elevated green, Thom proceeded to pull his 9 iron approach into the other greenside bunker, leaving his 8th sand shot of the day, which he proceeded to get up and down, but in the process he lost his hope for his first Inaugural victory. Chris' pitch rolled just past the cup and rested 2 feet away, giving him a two shot victory. He was greeted off the 18th green by his wife and son, and soon was able to kiss the trophy of his first AGA victory since the 2005 ILCRICC in Cedar City.
Both competitors expressed gratitude to the tournament sponsor, JKA Consulting, and the tournament organizing committee and officials that worked so hard to pull off this week's events. The nearby US Amateur, held in San Francisco this weekend, will experience dramatic increases in gallery attendance as many of the golf faithful leave the Palo Alto area to see the best of the non AGA amateur golfers in the world. Okay, just in America.
Here are some pictures of the days competition.
Today, the Stanford University golf course was a little nicer to the competition, and proved fair as it evened out the field of participants. Chris got off to a great start, -1 through 8, while Thom Archibald was stifled by having 7 bunker shots on the first 9 holes (of which, only 2 he got up and down). Chris took a commanding 5 shot lead to the back side, after being 2 down on the first tee. Thom played steady, making pars, and Chris made a few errors on a short stretch of holes. It came down to number 16, a par 5 uphill, where Thom's eagle chip rested a foot from the hole, but Chris then proceeded to drop a distant putt on the same hole to keep his two shot lead. Each player short-sided himself on to a difficult pin on the par 3 17th, and Thom got too cute with it, leaving it short, and proceeded to make a double bogey, while Chris played safer and made bogey. A three shot lead accompanied him to the final tee, a downhill par four measuring 457 yards. Chris pull-hooked his drive behind a tree, forcing him to punch out across the fairway due to the gnarly lie. Thom smashed his drive 300 yards down the middle of the fairway with some anger in his swing, assuring that pressure would be applied in this most tense of all situations. As Chris left his approach shot short of the greenside bunker, leaving a difficult up and over the bunker to the elevated green, Thom proceeded to pull his 9 iron approach into the other greenside bunker, leaving his 8th sand shot of the day, which he proceeded to get up and down, but in the process he lost his hope for his first Inaugural victory. Chris' pitch rolled just past the cup and rested 2 feet away, giving him a two shot victory. He was greeted off the 18th green by his wife and son, and soon was able to kiss the trophy of his first AGA victory since the 2005 ILCRICC in Cedar City.
Both competitors expressed gratitude to the tournament sponsor, JKA Consulting, and the tournament organizing committee and officials that worked so hard to pull off this week's events. The nearby US Amateur, held in San Francisco this weekend, will experience dramatic increases in gallery attendance as many of the golf faithful leave the Palo Alto area to see the best of the non AGA amateur golfers in the world. Okay, just in America.
Here are some pictures of the days competition.
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