Joshua McCarthy of Danville made six birdies on the front nine of the final round to pull away for a six-stroke victory over Leonardo Vieira of San Leandro in the AmateurGolf.com Winter Invitational on the South Course at Corica Park in Alameda.
McCarthy, a fifth-year senior at Pepperdine who tied for fourth in this tournament last year, posted a score of 66-64—130, 12-under-par, while Vieira finished at 69-67—136, followed by Ethan Ashbrook of Santa Maria, who wound up at 67-71—138.
“I really just tried to stay in the present,” said McCarthy, who collected 16 birdies in the two rounds. “I honestly lost track of where I was in relation to par. I kind of looked up and realized where I was at the end.
“My iron game was real solid and I felt like I did a good job of converting those opportunities inside 10-15 feet. So when I hit a good shot, I was able to keep the momentum going by making the putt.”
Kurtis Rodriguez of Red Bluff totaled 72-68—140 to tie for fourth with Nathan Wang of Fremont, who shot 71-69—140, Seau Yu of San Jose, who finished at 69-71—140, and first-round co-leader Brett Thawley of Saratoga, who wound up at 66-74—140.
Beau Forest of Redding carded a score of 70-71—141 to tie for eighth with Conner Motherway of Reno, who also totaled 70-71—141, while Wes Payne of Menlo Park finished at 73-69—142 to tie for 10th with defending champion Darren Pang of San Ramon, who came in at 70-72—142.
Antonia Malate of Seaside, a junior at San Jose State, birdied four of the last six holes to shoot 71-70—141 and win the Women’s Division by three shots over Elizabeth Scholtes of Alameda, a sophomore at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, who finished at 71-73—144, while Abigail Fleiner of Reno, a sophomore at Northern Colorado, was third at 71-74—145.
Dave Bunfill of Plymouth took the Senior Division title by one stroke over four players with a score of 76-72—148.
Randy Haag of Orinda shot 76-73—149 to tie for second with Chris Hyland of San Francisco, who finished at 75-74—149, Jim Williams of Orinda, who totaled at 74-75—149, and Frank Pieper of Carmel, who wound up at 72-77—149.
Pieper, who claimed the Senior Division title in this event two years ago, finished as the low Super Senior.
For complete results, visit https://www.amateurgolf.com/images/uploads/00065380.pdf
