OAKLAND, Calif. (May 23, 2010) -- Last weekend, amateurgolf.com reported on one of the greatest day to day improvements possible for a top-finishing player, when Greg Moss shaved a full 14 strokes off of his first round 76 with a near course record 62 in the second round at Brookside G.C. in Pasadena. He ended up winning the 72 hole event by a single shot.
Today at Oakland's Lake Chabot -- in a tourney that is seeing better times after a brief hiatus several years back -- Taylor Travis went Moss 2 strokes better and went 79-63, moving past 22 players to finish in 2nd.
Travis' turnaround simply meant that 2-under par had been posted in the 36 hole event, but likely did little to effect the final outcome.
Randy Haag of Burlingame, leading Ryan Thomas by 2 strokes heading into the final round after a 4-under 68 on Saturday, went out with guns blazing again on Sunday and easily took control of his pairing, and the tournament.
A 3-under 33 on the front nine extended Haag's lead, but the 2009 NCGA Player-of-the-Year stumbled with a triple bogey on the 14th (a four shot swing to Travis' birdie). Haag righted the ship with a par on No. 15, and a remarkable birdie-birdie-eagle finish. (It was the second straight day that he eagled the unique par 6 18th hole at Lake Chabot.) Despite the triple bogey, Haag shot 67 to finish with 9-under 135 and a 7 stroke victory.
In the Senior Division Mark Miller of Antioch also won big, firing 3-under 141 to cruise to a 12 stroke victory over Peter Moren and Scott Anderson.
NOTES:
* Randy Haag commented on the event:
"This is my first victory in the Oakland City, but I remember shooting 12-under par in the event when it was 72 holes back in the 1980's," said Haag. "I lost to [Bay Area legend, ed] Bob Blomberg - he eagled, to my birdie on the last hole to win by one." Haag also commended the Tournament Committee for sending a letter inviting him back to the event after he played in 2009.
* About that par 6 - It's 673-yards, with a fairway like a ski slope (downhill). But the drive is tight, and big numbers are in play when trying to chase a long drive down the hill to have a chance to hit it in two. There were two double eagle 3's recorded at the 18th:
Saturday: Sean Etow
Sunday: Taylor Hobin
* Full field scores from all divisions are available by clicking on the results link below.
View results for Oakland City
ABOUT THE Oakland City
NCGA points event. 36 hole stroke play over
two
days. Gross flights for men (7.4 max handicap) and
senior
men (9.4 max handicap), and Net flights for higher
handicaps.
Tournament
dates
back to 1923 the year the course opened.
Notable past winners include British Open
Champion and San Leandro native Tony
Lema.
View Complete Tournament Information