Lucas Carper of San Jose, a sophomore at UC Davis, captured the 117th Northern California Golf Association Amateur Championship with a 5-and-4 victory over Weston Payne of Menlo Park in the scheduled 36-hole match play final at Spyglass Hill Golf Course in Pebble Beach.
Carper, who was a three-year captain and team most valuable player at Leland High in San Jose while leading the Chargers to at least a share of the Blossom Valley Athletic League championship in all three of his seasons, led virtually all the way against Payne.
“It’s a long, long grind out here,” said Carper, who tied for second recently in the Magnolia Amateur. “It was really rough at times. This is my biggest win ever. It hasn’t sunk in yet. It’s unreal to win and have my mom and dad out there with me. It means so much.
“I just played each hole as if it was the first hole of the day every day. Just being out here, on this great course and in such a great event, what a week. I had a great time.”
Carper won seven of the first 10 holes to build a 6-up lead by winning nine holes and held that margin through the morning 18.
Payne chipped away at the lead by winning four of the first eight holes in the afternoon 18 to cut Carper’s lead the 3-up, but couldn’t maintain the momentum and Carper finished things off at winning the 30th and 32nd holes to finish things off.
“The start and early lead kept me going for the second round,” Carper said. “I had a lot of confidence entering the afternoon round.”
Carper became the second UC Davis player to claim the championship, after Thomas Hutchinson claimed the title in 2018.
In the semifinals, Carper defeated third-seeded Brad Reeves of Woodbridge, 3 and 2, and Payne got past Kevin Huff of El Dorado Hills, 1 up.
Previous winners of the NCGA Amateur include George Von Elm, Lawson Little Jr., Charlie Seaver, Tal Smith, John Brodie, Verne Callison, John Lotz, Ron Cerrudo, Vic Loustalot, Roger Maltbie, Tom Culligan, Kevin Sutherland, Casey Boyns, Randy Haag, Spencer Levin, Maverick McNealy, Shintaro Ban, Isaiah Salinda and Joshua McCarthy.
In the senior bracket, Rich Petit of Menlo Park fell 3-down before rallying to pull even after 17 holes and defeated Tom Ansbro of Morgan Hill on the second playoff hole.
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