The Edward B. Tufts trophy is staying in the family.
Shintaro Ban of San Jose captured the 105th California State Amateur Championship with a 5-and-4 victory over Hidetoshi Yoshihara of Japan at Valencia Country Club.
Ban’s brother, Cal graduate Shotaro Ban, claimed the title last year at Lake Merced Golf Club on the outskirts of San Francisco.
“It’s absolutely a dream come true,” said Ban, who clinched the victory with a three-foot putt on the 14th hole. “To forever have my name under his on that trophy, I can’t believe this really happened.
“I just kept telling myself to stay focused, and to stay aggressive. I came into this event having played two tournaments in the past two weeks, so I just came in thinking, ‘Try and do your best.’
“It’s definitely hard on your endurance, especially out here in this heat, but I can’t believe this is really happening.”
Ban, who will be a junior at UNLV, built a 5-up lead in the morning 18 of the scheduled 36-hole final and after Yoshihara closed the gap to 3-up in the afternoon, the champion finished it off with three birdies in the last four holes.
In the semifinals, Ban defeated Peter Kuest of Fresno, 3 and 2, and UCLA recruit Yoshihara turned back Sebastian Crampton of Pacific Grove, 2 and 1.
Yoshihara, who played at Woodbridge High in Irvine, won the California State High School Championship earlier in the month at Torrey Pines.
