Bettencourt Wins Again at the NCGA Sacramento Valley Championship.

Sports Editors/Golf Writers

AUBURN, Calif.--(BW SportsWire)--Aug. 28, 2001

Matt Bettencourt of Spring Creek GCC accomplished many things with his victory Tuesday in the NCGA Sacramento Valley Championship at The Ridge GC.

For one, his victory was his second consecutive NCGA title, following his epic NCGA Amateur win a week and a half ago. Secondly, it was his second Sacramento Valley championship in as many tries. He won the 1994 title as an 18-year-old just before turning professional. After regaining his amateur status he started playing in amateur events late last year.

Finally, the win locked up the race for NCGA Player of the Year, an honor Bettencourt had been shooting for since the beginning of this tournament season.

"That was my goal all year long," said the 25-year-old Bettencourt. "To accomplish it makes me feel real proud."

He could also be proud of some steady play that earned him a two-shot Sacramento Valley victory. Following a first-round 67 that tied him for the lead with Brian Jones of El Rancho Chico GC, Bettencourt got off to a so-so start Tuesday, missing a few short birdie putts and shooting even-par on the front nine. That brought a few players into the race, including Bill Hurwitz of Emerald Lakes GC, who birdied the first hole and holed out from the fairway for eagle on the par-5 second. It was the second time in consecutive days that Hurwitz holed an approach for eagle and an amazing fourth time in three years in the event.

But Hurwitz didn't make enough birdies on the back nine to keep up with a surging Bettencourt, Mark Lawless of Aptos Seascape GC and Nick Ushijima of Brookside CC. Jones, playing in the last group with those three, struggled with his putter to fall out of the chase but almost got back into it with birdies on 14, 15 and 16. He would double-bogey 18 to officially bow out.

Lawless jumped into the lead thanks to a birdie on 10, an eagle from two feet on the par-5 11th and a birdie from way off the fairway on 13. Ushijima tied him with birdies on the 10th, 12th and 13th. But Bettencourt made a big 10-foot birdie on the par-3 14th to tie Lawless and take a one-shot lead on Ushijima.

From that point Bettencourt played conservatively and let the others make mistakes. "I figured if I just tried to make pars and just hit the fairways and greens, I could let them try to catch me," Bettencourt said.

That's precisely how it happened, as Bettencourt got up and down for par on the par-5 15th, while Lawless three-putted for bogey to give Bettencourt a lead he would never relinquish. All three players made pars on the 16 and 17, sending them to the home hole with Bettencourt up one on Ushijima and Lawless.

But Ushijima, like Jones before him, pulled his tee shot into the water running down the left side of the fairway and made double. Bettencourt followed by blasting another long drive into the right rough, just short of the cart path, while Lawless hit his down the middle. Lawless hit safely onto the right side of the green, 25 feet away while Bettencourt dropped his about the same distance below the hole. But Lawless would three-putt for bogey (essentially needing the birdie to tie), while Bettencourt lagged to a foot and tapped in for the title.

"On this golf course, it's a lot of luck," Bettencourt said. "Everybody hits the ball good out here and you have to get the fortunate bounces. I was fortunate to get the bounces.

"This is about as good as it can get for me right now," said Bettencourt, who followed his NCGA Amateur win by just missing the cut for match play in a playoff at last week's U.S. Amateur, a tournament where he said he hit "just two bad shots" over the two days. "It's a lot of momentum and it's overwhelming. It's a great feeling."

The fiery 23-year-old Lawless was satisfied with his first effort in the tournament.

"I was happy with the way I played," said Lawless, who competes for Stanislaus State. "I had heard it was a good tournament with a lot of good players, so I'm happy with what I shot."

Meanwhile, Bettencourt said there is a noticeable difference between him now and the 18-year-old who won this title seven years ago.

"I'm a much better ball-striker now and my temper is a lot better," Bettencourt said. "I'm a lot more mature."

    Following are complete final results:

    Matthew Bettencourt, Spring Creek               67-68 -- 135
    Marc Lawless, Aptos Seascape                    70-67 -- 137
    Nick Ushijima, Brookside                        70-68 -- 138
    Brian Jones, El Rancho Chico                    67-72 -- 139
    Bill Hurwitz, Emerald Lakes                     70-69 -- 139
    Jason Boyd, Castlewood                          71-69 -- 140
    John Ellis, San Jose                            75-66 -- 141
    Michael Wiechers, Granite Bay                   73-71 -- 144
    Brady Myers, Colusa                             70-76 -- 146
    Scott Hardy, Scratch Players                    72-74 -- 146
    Adam Theodore, Turlock                          75-71 -- 146
    James Hay, Diablo Grande                        73-74 -- 147
    Lou Alvarez, Black Oak                          74-73 -- 147
    Dan Bieber, Las Positas                         75-72 -- 147
    Jim Wilson, Butte Creek                         75-72 -- 147
    Jay Westerlund, Discovery Bay                   76-71 -- 147
    Spencer Levin, Valley Hi                        78-69 -- 147
    Bob Niger, Serrano                              76-72 -- 148
    Patrick Marlborough, Soma                       73-76 -- 149
    Tanner Makimoto, North Ridge                    78-71 -- 149
    Eric Restrepo, El Macero                        79-70 -- 149
    John Enright, Olympic Club                      79-70 -- 149
    Ryan McDonald, Sunset Whitney                   71-79 -- 150
    Jeff Burda, Del Rio                             74-76 -- 150
    Tim Tipton, The Caddy Club Of Pebble Beach      74-76 -- 150
    Greg O'Malley, Adobe Creek                      77-73 -- 150
    Brett Borchers, Castlewood                      73-78 -- 151
    James Trumble, Napa Valley                      74-77 -- 151
    Sergio Sanchez, Spring Hills                    70-82 -- 152
    Kevin Fryer, Diablo                             75-77 -- 152
    Doug Louthan, Santa Teresa                      77-75 -- 152
    Rick Doerr, Quail Lodge                         78-74 -- 152
    Doug Sager, San Geronimo                        79-73 -- 152
    Pete Tierney, Granite Bay                       73-80 -- 153
    David Rathjen, The Golf Club.Com                78-75 -- 153
    Bill Villareal, Sunset Whitney                  78-75 -- 153
    Trace Fike, Nevada County                       78-75 -- 153
    Michael Reuther, Auburn Valley                  79-74 -- 153
    Mark Arneson, Tilden Park                       73-81 -- 154
    Brian Ruiz, San Jose Players                    73-81 -- 154
    Chris Kilkenny, Beau Pre                        75-79 -- 154
    Michael O'Neill, LLESA Golf NG                  75-79 -- 154
    Tyler Tharpe, San Joaquin                       76-78 -- 154
    Joseph Cloyes, Concord                          76-78 -- 154
    Gary Brown, Antioch                             80-74 -- 154
    Dan Brown, Gleneagles Intl                      76-79 -- 155
    Kevin Braegger, Scratch Players                 79-76 -- 155
    Mark Minor, Walnut Creek                        83-72 -- 155
    Jud Spencer, Winchester                         74-82 -- 156
    Brian Veerkamp, Cold Springs                    77-79 -- 156
    Thomas Craig, Franklin Canyon                   79-77 -- 156
    Ted Anderson, Paradise Valley                   81-75 -- 156
    Reid Scarff, Butte Creek                        81-75 -- 156
    Mark Abildgaard, Butte Creek                    80-77 -- 157
    Ryan Trumble, Napa Valley                       82-75 -- 157
    Matthew Uno, Yolo Fliers                        83-74 -- 157
    W.M. Moore, Monterey Bay                        80-78 -- 158
    Michael Karlberg, Olympic Club                  79-80 -- 159
    Jan Godoski, Santa Rosa                         81-78 -- 159
    Chris De Martini, Peninsula                     80-80 -- 160
    Nick Manfre, Salinas                            81-79 -- 160
    Steve Argo, De Laveaga                          81-79 -- 160
    Jeff Walker, Moraga                             87-73 -- 160
    Kevin Carmichael, Recce Point                   88-73 -- 161
    Greg Olson, Gold Hills                          76-86 -- 162
    Yoshi Mano, Stevinson Ranch                     82-81 -- 163
    Alan Wong, Sacramento Chinese                   83-81 -- 164
    Mike O'Donnell, Canyon Oaks                     81-84 -- 165
    Charlie Duty, El Macero                         83-82 -- 165
    Ryan Gillette, Woodcreek                        84-82 -- 166
    Neal Pearson, Orinda                            84-82 -- 166
    Brandon Trevethan, Tracy                        85-81 -- 166
    Neil Hamilton, Benicia Golf Association         83-85 -- 168
    David Leuterio, Bartley Cavanaugh               87-81 -- 168
    Azad Sadjadi, Santa Rosa                        85-84 -- 169
    Vincent Ambrosia, Jerseys                       89-80 -- 169
    Gil Wymond, Del Rio                             82-88 -- 170
    Jim Lopes, Kings                                82-89 -- 171
    Andrew Anido, Pruneridge Farms                  88-86 -- 174
    Jay Lee, PGA                                    93-82 -- 175
    William Lang, Almaden                           90-88 -- 178
    Michael Moore, The Caddy Club Of Pebble Beach   78-WD
    Jeff Hoffman, Mather                            80-DQ
    Rob Perry, Twelve Bridges                       82-WD
    Pete Wlodkowski, Sequoyah                       82-WD
    Eddie Pimentel, Emerald Lakes                   82-NC
    Tim Hunter, Sacramento                          87-NC
    Scott Arnold, Monterey Bay                      WD
    Jon Perez, The Reserve at Spanos Park           WD
    Mike Mendez, Laguna Seca                        WD
    Josh Williams, Tri Valley                       WD
    Jason Patterson, PGG Rancho Canada  (M-Z)       WD
    Will Johnson, North Ridge                       WD