Condie Shoots Stunning 65 to Capture NCGA Master Division Championship.

Sports Editors/Golf Writers

LAKE TAHOE, Calif.--(BW SportsWire)--Sept. 11, 2001

What a way for Dan Condie to win his first NCGA tournament. Condie of Sacramento GC shot a dazzling 6-under-par 65, then added another birdie on the first hole of sudden death, to win the 20th NCGA Master Division Championship on Tuesday at Lake Tahoe GC.

The 43-year-old Condie's 65 put him into a playoff with 51-year-old John Enright of the Olympic Club, as both players finished at 3-under-par 139. Enright had shot a very respectable 69 to get into that position.

But Condie made quick work of the playoff, held on the par-5 first hole. He ripped a drive down the middle of the fairway, then just missed the green short and left with a 4-iron. Meanwhile, Enright put his second shot in the front bunker and blasted to about 10 feet under the hole, while Condie chipped to within six feet. Enright just missed his birdie putt to set the stage for Condie, who poured his six-footer right in the middle of the hole.

"It was such a good feeling to make that putt," said Condie, whose previous best finish was an 11th-place finish two years ago. "I felt confident in the playoff. My good feelings overrode my nerves. When you're playing well, you feel a little anxiety, but it's good anxiety."

It was probably bad anxiety when Condie could only manage a 74 in the first round, taking 35 putts in a continued struggle with the flatstick. But a putting lesson the night before the final round from his friends (and fellow competitors) with whom he was staying for the tournament paid off in a major way.

"My buddies -- Wade Nonnenberg, Bob Fleming and Perry Trisler -- were really helping me last night on my putting," Condie said. "I told them, 'If I could putt, I could come out here and shoot lights out because my game is good and my putting has been really bad.' They helped me shorten my stroke and accelerate through the ball, and I putted awesome today, obviously."

That putting not only led to six birdies but a handful of great saves for par. He made a 20-footer for birdie on the fourth hole and an 8-footer on the seventh. A missed birdie try from four feet on the par-5 ninth was softened by a great downhill seven-footer for par on the par-3 11th. Condie made another birdie, from four feet, on the 12th, which led to what he called his "best shot of the tournament" on 13. After a pulled drive, Condie had to hit a low, 40-yard hook around a tree with a 4-iron and somehow rolled the ball to within 18 feet of the hole. He made the putt for another birdie.

"That was a gift there," he admitted.

He went on to make 4-foot birdies on the 15th and 16th and just missed from eight feet on the 17th that would have given him the outright win. Since he finished way ahead of the last groups, Condie went out on the golf course and watched them come in. He saw Enright just miss a 16-footer for birdie on the last green that would have avoided the playoff.

"John Enright is known as a great champ and a great player," Condie said. "I've got a lot of respect for him. To be able to beat a guy of his caliber in a playoff, I'm proud of that."

More important than the golf tournament, of course, was Tuesday morning's terrorist attack on the United States. Condie, like the rest of the players in the field (some of whom ended up withdrawing from the tournament) watched the accounts of the tragedy just before teeing off.

"Even now it's hard thinking about it. I get a lump in my throat," said an emotional Condie. "It made me realize how insignificant this round truly is, not to diminish the tournament. It kind of made me relax that much more. I was thinking about it the whole way around, what all those people must have been going through, and I'm over a putt worrying? No way. It made my focus totally different. It was hard. I almost lost it a couple times on the golf course. We all did."

Kevin Kobalter of Meadow Club, who shot a final-round 67, and Bob Fleming of Sacramento GC tied for third at 140. James Hay of Diablo Grande GC and James Knoll of Windsor GC, who had both shared the lead going into the final round, each shot 73 to fall into a four-way tie for fifth.

The Master Division Championship is for players ages 40 to 54.

Following are complete final results:

Dan Condie, Sacramento (won playoff)          74-65 -- 139
John Enright, Olympic Club                    70-69 -- 139
Bob Fleming, Sacramento                       69-71 -- 140
Kevin Kobalter, Meadow Club                   73-67 -- 140
James Hay, Diablo Grande                      68-73 -- 141
James Knoll, Windsor                          68-73 -- 141
Jeff Burda, Del Rio                           70-71 -- 141
Brady Myers, Colusa                           74-67 -- 141
Lance Parker, San Luis Obispo                 70-72 -- 142
Michael Wiechers, Granite Bay                 71-71 -- 142
Steve Wilson, Concord                         72-70 -- 142
Bob Niger, Serrano                            73-69 -- 142
Clifford Smith, Mountain Springs              73-69 -- 142
Jim Wilson, Butte Creek                       72-71 -- 143
Paul Jordan, Hunter Ranch                     73-71 -- 144
Michael Maurice, Alameda                      69-76 -- 145
Robert Levin, Wildhawk                        73-72 -- 145
Jim Williams, San Francisco                   72-74 -- 146
Ronald Collet, Belmont                        73-73 -- 146
Tom Lyons, Springtown                         72-75 -- 147
Dennis Cunnings, San Joaquin                  74-73 -- 147
Jon De Chambeau, Spring Creek                 74-73 -- 147
Steve Hoyt, San Francisco                     75-72 -- 147
Mark Miller, Antioch                          76-71 -- 147
Mark House, Corral De Tierra                  76-71 -- 147
John Jaramillo, Bennett Valley                78-69 -- 147
Joseph Zanassi, Antioch                       75-73 -- 148
Clement Richardson, Corral De Tierra          71-78 -- 149
Bob Miroyan, De Laveaga                       74-75 -- 149
Don Collet, Madera                            77-72 -- 149
David Gill, King City                         78-71 -- 149
Lou Alvarez, Black Oak                        72-78 -- 150
Marshall Raymer, Castlewood                   76-74 -- 150
Randy Johnson, De Laveaga                     76-74 -- 150
Ted Anderson, Paradise Valley                 77-73 -- 150
Greg O'Malley, Adobe Creek                    79-71 -- 150
Brad Bulcock, Gleneagles Intl                 75-76 -- 151
Steve  Wolf, Woodbridge GCC                   76-75 -- 151
Jim Cowan, Association Emp                    76-75 -- 151
Dan Bieber, Las Positas                       76-75 -- 151
John Stewart, Burlingame                      75-77 -- 152
Wade Nonnenberg, H P Roseville                75-77 -- 152
Bill Foley, Bridges At Gale Ranch             76-76 -- 152
Perry Trisler, Sacramento                     77-75 -- 152
Tyler Tharpe, San Joaquin                     79-73 -- 152
Steven Wise, Tracy                            74-79 -- 153
Paul Loui, Walnut Creek                       76-77 -- 153
Michael Reuther, Auburn Valley                77-76 -- 153
Rich Guzman, Gleneagles Intl                  78-75 -- 153
Mark Stephens, El Macero                      74-80 -- 154
Ray Kong, Cinnabar Hills                      75-79 -- 154
Allen Herd, Mountain Springs                  76-78 -- 154
Michael Rogers, Harding Park                  77-77 -- 154
Doug Cole, Roddy Ranch                        80-74 -- 154
Michael Peters, Walnut Creek                  75-80 -- 155
Greg Olson, Gold Hills  Club                  79-76 -- 155
Rick Shumate, Blackhawk                       79-76 -- 155
Michael Schaffer, Napa Valley                 79-77 -- 156
Guy Dilling, Sequoyah                         79-77 -- 156
Clayton Davis, Atascadero                     79-77 -- 156
Frank Pieper, Monterey Peninsula              80-76 -- 156
Bob Sinn, Silver Creek Valley                 81-75 -- 156
Scott Arnold, Monterey Bay                    82-74 -- 156
Eric Hauser, Gleneagles Intl                  78-79 -- 157
Charley Yandell, Sharon Heights               78-79 -- 157
Mark Arneson, Tilden Park                     80-77 -- 157
Dan Addiego, So Alameda Realty                81-76 -- 157
Mark Merrigan, Alameda                        81-76 -- 157
David Hemrick, Spring Hills                   82-75 -- 157
Fred Rennaker, Bishop                         77-81 -- 158
Ernesto Moreno, San Jose                      77-82 -- 159
Neil Duffy, Salinas Fairways                  82-77 -- 159
Joel Goldsmith, Gilroy                        83-76 -- 159
Bob Stevens, Stanford University              80-81 -- 161
Craig Cannaday, Rio Vista                     82-79 -- 161
John Armolea, Woodbridge                      87-74 -- 161
Dennis Younglove, El Macero                   79-83 -- 162
Michael Smead, Fast Fair Friendly             79-83 -- 162
Ray Rockwell, Contra Costa                    79-83 -- 162
Maurice Monserez, Olympic Club                84-78 -- 162
William Snell, De Laveaga                     83-80 -- 163
Ted Tsuchiyama, Delta View                    83-80 -- 163
Joe Liechty, Bethel Island                    86-77 -- 163
Wes Morgan, Castlewood                        80-84 -- 164
Bruce Olin, Castle Oaks                       81-84 -- 165
David Vinson, Bennett Valley                  84-81 -- 165
Edward Eyre, Menlo                            86-79 -- 165
Randy Haag, Olympic Club                      73-WD
Lee Markarian, Sunnyside                      77-WD
John Hamm, Los Altos                          81-WD
Roy Jeske, Bartley Cavanaugh                  83-WD
John Gibbs, Ffic Fundster                     84-WD
Keith Postler, Brighton Crest                 85-WD
David Shields, Contra Costa                   90-WD