Tournament Champions
A full field and sell out of tournament was ready for a beautiful day of golf at Oak Valley Golf Club. Forecast was calling for partly cloudy and 59, unfortunately the forecast was wrong as it ended up being off and on rain and cold! Thankfully that should be our last cold rainy tournament of the season. The course played tough as many tee shots were unfindable due to the long grass in the rough and tight fairways. Greens weren’t holding great and with those 2 conditions along with cold and wet, it was tough golf! However, we had players emerge from the pack and came out with wins. Congrats to all.
Division 1: Division 1 went to a playoff for the second tournament in a row! Spencer Payne (Yucaipa, CA) and Elliott Sherrill (Brea, CA) both shot 76. This was a rematch from our season opener at Sand Canyon in October in which Elliott won. Today went Spencers way as he was able to make par in the playoff and seal the win! The win launched Spencer into 2nd place for the player of the year race behind Elliott. Great playing boys.
Division 2: Division two came down to the last hole on 18 as Juan Sotelo, (Downey, CA) new member and first tournament with us had a 2 shot lead. Paul Luker (Memphis, TN) was waiting in the clubhouse to collect his second-place winnings. To his surprise Juan took a 6 on 18 and our second playoff of the day was now happening! Both men shot 82 and it took 2 playoff holes before Juan was able to secure the win with his first outing!
Division 3: Glen Ivy Winner Drew Perez (Downey, CA) was sitting in the clubhouse with his posted score of 87 and not really thinking much was going to happen as 3 players were ahead of him but still on the course. Craig Ogden (Hemet, CA) had a solid lead with 4 holes to play. However, he could not find his tee shot in the rough on 16 and ended up taking a triple bogey 8. Andrew Kim (Los Angeles, CA) also was in contention only to bogey 18 and lose out to Drew Perez by one shot! Drew was shocked that his 87 won today as it took a 79 for his last win. Division 3 is getting tight in the Player of the year race as only 200 points separates 1st from 5th currently.
Division 4: Kurt Odegard from (Yorba Linda, CA) past winner in D4 had to withdraw as he hurt his hip on the third hole after taking the lead. Ryan Maramis (Corono, CA) was hoping to go back-to-back, only to triple bogey 3 of his last 4 holes. Thomas Meagher (Palm Desert, CA) was playing well and finished strong down the stretch shooting an 88 to win by 1 over Marty Rinehart (Upland, CA)
Division 5: A large field in Division 5 again battled it out. Tyler Ruzi (Fallbrook, CA) dropped down to D5 from D4 and was hoping to capitalize and take a win. Dennis McZeal (Fontana, CA) Player of the year in 2022 was playing well along with Glen Ivey Winner 15-year-old Jacob Maramis (Corona, CA). Dennis was able to shoot a 98 to finish second, but no one was able to come close to Jacob and his 92, giving him his back-to-back wins with the Amateur Players Tour. We did see every player in Division 5 walk away with a skin which was exciting for all of them!
Senior Net contest: Thomas Meagher with his win in Division 4 was able to also secure the win for Senior Net with a net score of 73 and $150.
Open Net Contest: Craig Ogden Jr. even though he missed out on winning Division three his net Score of 76 earned him the win in Open Net with a 76 and $150.
Congratulations to all of our winners!
For a detailed view of the tournament’s leaderboard and comprehensive results, visit the official APT SoCal Tournament Leaderboard.