Barclay Brown (AmateurGolf.com Photo)

This was the first year the Silicon Valley Amateur was played at the Stanford Golf Course, and Brown was able to take advantage to win by three shots.

"The course was awesome," Brown said. "Same as yesterday, I had a couple of great guys that I was playing with, and they played solid rounds and kept me going. I knew I needed to keep playing well to stay in it, and fortunately, was able to hit just enough good shots."

Brown entered the round down by one shot to first-round leader Brandon Knight of Pleasanton, Calif., but after an eagle on the opening hole by Brown and a par from Knight, Brown took over the lead and never relinquished it.

"From there, I was able to just keep it solid and birdie the easy holes and hit a couple more good shots on the par-5's to have eagle putts, which didn't go in but gave me easy birdies and kept it carefree," Brown said. 

Knight, Keshav Mungali of Belmont, Calif., and Ben Friedman of Mill Valley, Calif., finished T2 at 3-under. Kush Arora of Pleasanton, Calif., finished in solo fifth place at 2-under.

Brown played the first round with the Mid-Amateur Champion, Weston Payne. Payne, of Berkeley, Calif., finished at 2-over to win the Mid-Amateur Division by six shots over Adam Petrocelli of Pacific Grove, Calif. 

Payne, a California graduate who was in enemy territory this week at Stanford, has a history of success at the Silicon Valley Amateur. Payne won the 2021 Silicon Valley Amateur by setting the competitive course record at Baylands Golf Links with an opening round of 9-under 63. 

"I played a nice round today," Payne said. "A few mistakes, but overall, pretty solid. I drove the ball nicely. I have always been a solid mid-long iron player, so I hit a couple of good shots on the par-3s and drove it really well."

Payne added, "I had a couple of foul balls, but for the most part, I kept it in front of me." 

Senior Championship Division

Jim Williams sinking the winning putt

Jim Williams of Orinda, Calif., won the Senior Championship Divison by one shot at 5-over after shooting rounds of 72-73.

Brian Smyth of North Tustin, Calif., finished in solo second place at 6-over with rounds of 73-73.

Williams and Smyth went back and forth throughout the entire round and went into No. 9 (the final hole for the group with them starting on the back nine), tied at 6-over. Williams had a 15-foot birdie putt from the fringe to win it, and the ball found the bottom of the cup.  

"I was glad it went in, and I didn't have to hit any more shots," Williams said about the final putt. "I just kind of held it together." 

Williams had to overcome back spasms as well during his round.

"The course was long and tough and was a good test for us," Williams said.

With Williams (a Super Senior) winning the overall Senior Division, Ray Kong of San Diego, Calif., was awarded the Super Senior Division trophy at 10-over while Ashlyn Johnson of San Mateo, Calif., was the low Women's scorer at 17-over.