Nathan Wang of Fremont sank a 35-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole in the final round and captured the 42nd Northern California Golf Association Stroke Play Championship by one stroke over Garrett Wagner of Brentwood at Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach.
The 17-year-old Wang, a recent graduate of Archbishop Mitty High in San Jose, posted a score of 71-70-71—212, 1-under-par, while Wagner finished second at 71-72-70—213, and Domingo Jojola of San Francisco was third at 75-70-71—216.
“It feels pretty good,” said Wang, who will be a freshman at the University of California in Berkeley this Fall and had his dad, Wilson, on the bag as caddie with his mom, Sherry, also on hand. “The course set-up was insanely hard.
“I’ve been playing well. I came here wanting to keep that mojo. It all comes down to how you handle it shot-by-shot. … It was awesome to have (his parents) here. It’s been a while since I’ve had my dad on the bag as caddie. It was nice to have a father-son duo again.”
Said Wagner: “I knew it was going to play hard. I just came out trying to make pars. He just beat me.”
Mason Benbrook of Carmichael shot 70-76-71—217 to tie for fourth with 2014 champion Bobby Bucey of Concord, who totaled 71-72-74—217, and Casey Lee Brick of San Luis Obispo, who wound up at 73-67-77—217, while Ryan Hartanto of San Diego was seventh at 76-69-73—218.
Michael Burry of Saratoga carded a score of 75-71-73—219 to tie for eighth with defending champion Daniel Connolly of San Francisco, who finished at 72-72-75, while Luke Dugger of Davis was 10th at 69-74-77—220.
Former NCGA Stroke Play champions include Johnny Miller, Ken Venturi, George Archer, John Lotz, Verne Callison, Tal Smith, Eli Bariteau, E. Harvie Ward, Jim Weichers, Jack Bariteau, Casey Boyns, Ernie Pieper Jr., Steve Opperman, Rick Reinsberg, Steve Whitman, Scott Hardy and Robby Solomon.
For complete results, visit https://ncga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/ncga22/event/ncga22264/contest/1/leaderboard.htm
