Tournament Champions
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A full field and sell out of tournament and we were ready for a beautiful day of golf at Tustin Ranch Golf Club for the Orange County Amateur Championships. Forecast was calling for Rain and 59, fortunately the forecast was off a bit as it ended up not raining until 5pm and only our last few groups had to deal with it. Thankfully that should be our last rainy tournament of the season. The course played great and other than a bit of wind it was good. We had players emerge from the pack and came out with wins 2 new winners on the tour. Congrats to all.
Division 1: Division 1 saw our last three tournament winners all in the field and ready for battle. However, it was new comer and new member Jacob Valente (Ventura,CA) who set the pace with a -1 front nine. He had a considerable lead over Elliott Sherrill (Brea, CA) and Spencer Payne (Yucaipa, Ca) going into the back nine. Jacob was in control and until the 18th maintained his comfortable lead only to double bogey 18, but still finish with a a 3 shot victory and his first win on the APT. Elliott Sherrill finished second, and Eloy Rodriguez (Riverside, CA) was third.
Division 2: Division 2 was tightly contested all day and back and forth the lead changed. Jason Tatum (Branson, MO) was in contention for another win in Socal as he won our New year’s Eve Bash back in December. Aaron Alvarado and consistent player in 2023 but his first tournament with us in 2024 was also in contention. It ended up that our last two champions, Angel Sotelo (Downey, CA) and Robert Santoyo (Whittier, CA) finished tied at 78 and once again a playoff was needed to determine a winner. On the first hole of the playoff Robert had a 20 ft birdie putt that just lipped out, but left him a 5 foot comebacker. Angel was in with his par and Robert ended up missing the 5 foot putt giving Angel Back to Back wins on our tour!
Division 3: Glen Ivy Winner Drew Perez (Downey, CA) has been playing some really good golf and again was in contention to win the Orange County Championship shooting plus 4 on the front nine. Twin Oaks Champ Craig Ogden Jr. (Hemet, CA) was also playing well, shooting 3 over on the front nine. Daniel Payne (Yucaipa, CA) was in contention and pushing these past winners shooting 4 over himself. Drew Perez made a great bunker shot on 10 for an Eagle on the par 5 that propelled him to the lead, only to see Craig Ogden Birdie 10, 12, and 15 to stay within striking distance. Eventually Drew Perez stayed solid with pars down the stretch to snag his third win in the last 3 tournaments shooting a great round of 78! He is knocking on the door of Division 2 status if he continues to play this well.
Division 4: Thomas Meagher (Palm Desert, CA) was playing well as one of the first groups out on the day setting the pace in division 4. New Member and first-time out Walker Koch (Los Angeles, CA) was playing well with a 43 on the front nine. Along with Michael Paiva (Newport Beach, CA) second tournament with us and he was playing strong down the stretch. However it was Division 4 Player of the year leader Ryan Maramis (Corona, CA) once again who stayed steady to card an 87 to once again take the win in Division 4.
Division 5: Wow was Division 5 a tight race from beginning to end, literally the last putt! Newcomer Jason Kim (North Hollywood, CA) Ronak Desai (Irvine, CA) and Dennis McZeal (Fontana, CA) were neck and neck all day along with Jacob Maramis, (Corona, CA) the champion from Oak Valley. It was a 3-way tie as they all had finished the 17th hole. Dennis McZeal finished with a double bogey on 18 leaving the door open for Jason or Ronak to capitalize! Jason was able to card a bogey on a slippery putt to finish with a 98. Ronak had a 4 ft downhill putt to tie and send it to a playoff only to just miss giving Jason Kim in his first tournament the victory! Great battle gentlemen.
Senior Net contest: Ryan Encinas (Oceanside, CA) played good enough to shoot a net score of plus 3 75 to win Senior Net, and Thomas Meagher (Palm Desert, CA) finished second with a 76 .
Open Net Contest: Craig Ogden Jr. even though he missed out on winning Division three his net Score of -7 65 helped him take home the Open Net champion trophy and Drew Perez at -5 67 took second, and Andres Viramontes (Murrieta, CA) was able to hang on to third place with a net score of 70.
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.
