Bobby Bucey of Concord and Brett Viboch of Moraga claimed medalist honors in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Jupiter Hills Club in Tequesta, Fla.
Bucey (pictured left) and Viboch (right), who captured the 2016 Northern California Four-Ball Championship, posted a score of 66-63—129, 7-under-par, while Illinois State teammates Zach Burry, of Quincy, Ill., and Trent Wallace, of Joliet, Ill., were second at 65-65—130, followed by Garrett Barber of Stuart Barber and Cole Hammer of Houston at 67-64—131.
“Bobby was a stallion today,” said Viboch, who like Bucey played at Chico State. “It was very one-sided out there, as far as getting the ball in the hole. I rode him.”
Bucey, the 2014 NCGA Stroke Play and 2017 NCGA Mid-Amateur champion, collected all five of the team’s birdies on the front nine, including four in a row through No. 9.
He closed out the run with a 30-foot birdie putt.
“Honestly, I wasn’t thinking about where we were score-wise,” Bucey said. “I was just kind of in a zone for those four holes. Saw my target, saw the fairway and just swung it.”
Patrick Christovich of New Orleans and Garrett Rank of Canada totaled 66-66—132 to tie for fourth with Scott Harvey of Greensboro, N.C., and Todd Mitchell of Bloomington, Ill., who finished at 62-70—132, while Zach Atkinson of Colleyville, Texas, and Brad Gibson of Lewisville, Texas, shot 67-66—133 to tie for sixth with Torey Edwards of Long Beach and Brett Parker of Huntington Beach, who wound up at 65-68—133.
Chad Wilfong of Charlotte, N.C., and Davis Womble of Winston-Salem, N.C., carded a score of 69-65—134 to tie for eighth with Don Carpenter and Keith Guest of Athens, Ga., who finished at 70-64—134, Hayes Brown of Charlotte, N.C., and Jack Larkin of Atlanta, who shot 64-70—134, Tyler Carson and Austin Hannah of Jenks, Okla., who wound up at 68-66—134, and Pat Collogan and Craig Poet of Ponca City, Fla., who came in at 67-67—134.
The top 32 teams advanced to the match-play portion of the tournament that will determine the national champions.
For complete results, visit http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/2018/u-s–amateur-four-ball.html#!scoring.
