Evan Beck of Virginia Beach, Va., captured the George C. Thomas Invitational Mid-Amateur Championship by four strokes over Michael Jensen of San Francisco in a three-hole aggregate playoff after they were tied through 54 holes of regulation play at The Los Angeles Country Club.
Jeff Wilson of Fairfield captured the Senior title by two strokes over Robert Gerwin II of Cincinnati and Mark Sear of Manhattan Beach.
“It’s been a lot of fun to compete and be in contention a fair amount,” said Beck (pictured), who won the Eastern Amateur, Virginia State Open and Virginia Mid-Amateur last year. “I’ve met a lot of great guys and seen a lot of old friends playing in these tournaments, as well, which has been awesome.
“It’s always nice to win, especially at a historic venue like LACC. The course is spectacular and it’s going to be really cool to see it next June as the U.S. Open venue.”
Beck played the first, second and ninth holes in even par during the playoff after posting a score of 70-72-68—210, 3-over-par, with six birdies in the final round, while Jensen, who captured the 2017 Stocker Cup, finished at 68-77-65—210.
Jeronimo Esteve of Wildermere, Fla., the 36-hole leader, missed the playoff by one stroke in solo third at 70-66-75—211, while John Sawin of San Francisco shot 75-69-69—213 to tie for fourth with Ben Hayes of Jacksonville, Fla., who wound up at 70-70-73—213.
Nick Geyer of San Diego totaled 75-69-70—214 to tie for sixth with Joe Neuheisel of Paradise Valley, Ariz., who finished at 72-72-70—214, while Nico Bollini of Costa Mesa shot 70-72-74—216 to tie for eighth with Joseph Deraney of Belden, Miss., who wound up at 71-74-71—216, and Drew Kittleson of Scottsdale, Ariz., who came in at 70-74-72—216.
Wilson, who won both the U.S. Senior Amateur and the Mid-Amateur Championship in 2019 among numerous other titles, carded a winning score of 69-75-70—214 in the Senior Division, while Gerwin finished at 73-69-74—216 to tie for second with Sear, who wound up at 70-73-73—216.
“I really hadn’t been playing very well since my shoulder surgery (in 2020), when they replaced my entire rotator cuff,” said Wilson, who started playing golf again in the middle of last year. “So to win in a pretty strong field makes me feel pretty good.
“This week, I managed myself pretty well, and I putted pretty well. That’s a good recipe here.”
Mike Rowley of San Luis Obispo was fourth at 72-75-70—217, followed by Bryan Norton of Mission Hills, Kan., at 74-75-69—218, Dan Sullivan of Pasadena at 70-76-73—219 and Mike McCoy of Des Moines, Iowa, at 75-72-74—221.
Allan Peake of Macon, Ga., was eighth at 75-76-71—222, followed by John McClure of Austin, Tex., at 75-76-72—223 and Roger Holt of Canada at 74-78-73—225.
For complete results, visit https://www.amateurgolf.com/images/uploads/00072974.pdf
