MATT SMITH CAPTURES 92nd ANNUAL LOS ANGELES CITY MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
The “Aussie” Playing in his 1st LA City Championship shoots 67-66 over the Weekend
to make up 7 Strokes on 36-hole Leader Tim Hogarth
Fresh from yet another victory in the Pasadena City Championship, Southern California’s most accomplished amateur golfer and 6-time LA City Champion Tim Hogarth (Northridge) opened his quest for a 7th title by firing rounds of 67-68 at Rancho Park Golf Course, giving him a 3 stroke lead over Ryan Indovina (Costa Mesa) and Greggory Banks II (Bellflower). At 139 (72-67) 2008 runner up Brian Woolf (Granada Hills) was the only other player in the field to break 140.
The atmosphere at the venerable Westside course, one of only
two municipal golf courses in the Los Angeles area to host a USGA Championship (1949 USGA APL), was much like the atmosphere at a major championship when Tiger Woods has a 3-stroke lead at the 36-hole mark. It was hard to find takers for the rest of the field.
But that all of that changed on Saturday. A number of players went low, in large part due to the presence of moist overcast skies in conjunction with an absence of the winds that usually blow through Rancho’s mature tree lined fairways. Recently crowned Long Beach Senior Champion Bob Valerio (Hawthorne) posted a 65 early, followed a few parings later by Ryan Weltig’s (Castaic) 64. Matt Smith (Sydney, Australia) fired a round of 67 and quickly moved from 7 strokes off the 36-hole pace into contention. When Indovina followed with 68 and Banks a round of 69, it was up to Hogarth to break 70 as well, lest there be a horse race on Sunday. When Hogarth was able to manage no better than an even par round of 71 in the benign conditions, the unexpected Sunday race was on. Hogarth had been tied by Indovina, with Banks one stroke back and Smith three strokes in arrears.
Hogarth was critical of his own 3rd round performance but did comment that the “scores were uncharacteristically low for Rancho Park.”
Conditions dawned marginally tougher for Sunday’s final round. The sun actually made an appearance; the winds kicked up a little bit, and that did seem to affect play on the opening holes. Loyola Marymount’s Greg Moss (Sherman Oaks) and young Alton Anderson Jr. (Thousand Oaks) made early assaults on par, but they started too far back to make a difference in the outcome of the Championship.
Banks stumbled early, getting down in four from just off the second green and while he steadied himself after that, never really got back into contention. Indovina hung in there, but on the 4th hole incurred a very unlucky break when his second shot caught a small piece of a seemingly slender eucalyptus tree never to be seen again. His up and down to save bogey testified to his grit and more importantly, kept him in contention for the remainder of the round.
When Hogarth birdied the 4th, 5th, and 6th holes in succession and then hit it to 6 feet on the 7th hole, it looked like universal order would be restored and the 2009 title would go to the most accomplished golfer in the field.
But while Hogarth’s play flattened after that, the play of Matt Smith did not. The eventual Champion turned in 33 strokes to stay within earshot but then failed to take advantage of a number of makeable birdie putts on the first 6 holes of Rancho’s back 9. He closed with a flourish though, scoring birdies on the final 3 holes, barely missing an eagle effort on the 17th.
That put Smith in the clubhouse at 9 under par – good, but would it be good enough with Hogarth teeing it up on 17 also at 9 under par, and Indovina teeing it up at 7 under par? The answer proved to be yes, but not without some unexpected turns. Hogarth failed to birdie the par-5 17th hole, but not because he hit poor shots. Indeed, his flushed 3-wood approach shot carried over the green, a carry exacerbated by catching a piece of cart path and going just that much farther over the putting surface. His pitch was excellent, leaving him 6 feet for birdie, but he failed to convert the putt.
When Indovina scored birdie on that same 17th hole, the situation was simple. Indovina would need to birdie the very reachable par-5 18th hole to tie the clubhouse leader; Hogarth would need birdie for the win, par to force a playoff – either a head-to-head with Smith or a three-way with Indovina also in the mix.
Hogarth hit his drive into the right rough. Indovina smashed one down the middle. Hogarth tried to cut a fairway metal but pulled it slightly, leaving him next to the closely positioned boundary fence – in bounds but with no play. Indovina put his second shot into the right bunker, short siding himself and leaving a difficult up and down for the requisite birdie. He failed to get up and down. Hogarth took an unplayable lie, meaning that he too would now need to get up and down from that spot in order to get into a playoff with Smith. Hogarth hit an excellent pitch to 6 feet, but alas, missed that effort as well.
Matt Smith, who had not led at any time during the tournament, was suddenly the 92nd Los Angeles City Men’s Golf Champion – not bad for a 22-year old Australian who lives in Lubbock, Texas where he is a student at Texas Tech, who happened to be visiting friends in Carlsbad who convinced him that while he was here, he ought to play in the Los Angeles City Men’s Golf Championship in addition to the region’s many other great golf competitions. “I think I made a good decision coming up here to play,” said Smith, who had never laid eyes on Rancho Park until the week of the Championship.
By the way, he likes the course. He also said he plans to return to defend his title in 2010.
RESULTS
[36-hole Qualifiers – 132-man field cut to 50 + ties]
275 - Matt Smith (Sydney, Australia), 69-73-67-66
276 - Tim Hogarth (Northridge), 67-68-71-70;
Ryan Indovina (Costa Mesa), 70-68-68-70
277 - Ryan Weltig (Castaic), 70-73-64-70
280 - Greggory Banks II (Bellflower), 68-70-69-73
281 - Brian Woolf (Granada Hills), 72-67-71-71
282 - Russell Boring (Granada Hills), 72-72-69-69
284 - Greg Moss (Sherman Oaks), 70-77-70-67;
Alton Anderson Jr. (Thousand Oaks), 77-69-71-67
285 - Eric Frazzetta (Long Beach), 71-71-75-68;
Bob Valerio (Hawthorne), 74-73-65-73;
Eli Cole (Beverly Hills), 73-70-69-73
286 - Mathew Ryan (Saugus), 76-73-68-69;
Kris Butkys (Thousand Oaks), 74-69-69-74
288 - Eddie Cho (Los Angeles), 70-73-71-74;
Dan Sullivan (Pasadena), 70-73-71-74;
Mathew Siporin (Tarzana), 67-75-71-75
289 - Daniel Park (Los Angeles), 74-67-76-72;
Maxwell Cohen (Santa Monica), 77-67-76-72
290 - Brian Sunker (Stevenson Ranch), 73-71-77-69;
Alvin Cheung (La Quinta), 73-68-78-71;
Aaron West (Woodland Hills), 71-75-73-71
291 - Bobby Arranaga (Los Angeles), 76-69-74-72;
Ed Susolik (Newport Beach), 72-76-70-73;
Dennis Martin (Los Angeles), 74-72-71-74;
Robert Berton (Huntington Beach), 69-74-70-78
292 - Scott Rubzin (Rancho Cucamonga), 76-72-74-70;
Julian Ramirez (Brea), 76-71-74-71;
Nick Lerner (Playa Del Rey), 71-73-73-75
293 - Davis Kirkland (Woodland Hills), 70-74-75-74;
Jake Sarnoff (Manhattan Beach), 71-76-71-75
294 - David Gilbreath (Los Angeles), 75-74-75-70;
Ryan Barry (Del Mar), 75-72-74-73;
John Lim (Torrance), 72-71-73-78
295 - Kevin Keller (Baldwin Park), 74-75-71-75
297 - Jordan Fisher (Pasadena), 72-77-75-73
298 - James Lam (Carlsbad), 72-76-76-74;
John Philipson (Beverly Hills), 75-73-76-74;
Raghav Wahi (Carlsbad), 77-71-74-76;
Brent Brockermeyer (Los Angeles), 73-76-74-75;
299 - Brandin Cohen (Manhattan Beach), 74-74-76-75;
Jerry Michals (Carlsbad), 74-75-74-76
301 - Ted Defilippo (Valencia), 72-77-76-76;
Minsuk Kim (Los Angeles), 75-71-77-78
303 - Chris Lipp (West Hollywood), 69-78-75-81
304 - Leif Hansen (Los Angeles), 72-76-74-82
