SCGA AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP: BOLLINI PREVAILS IN A PLAYOFF USC GOLFER WINS AMATEUR TITLE ON 20-FOOT PUTT.Byline: Aaron Levine Staff Writer After recording his third double bogey Verb 1. double bogey - to shoot two strokes over par golf, golf game - a game played on a large open course with 9 or 18 holes; the object is use as few strokes as possible in playing all the holes of the day, Nico Bollini of Yorba Linda Yorba Linda (yôr`bə lĭn`də), city (1990 pop. 52,422), Orange co., S Calif., in a region of citrus fruit; inc. 1967. The city has grown tremendously along with the southern California area; its population increased fivefold between stood on the 11th tee with his head hanging low. His two-stroke lead? Gone. His confidence? Waning. The thought of a 6-under-par 65 from the day before? A distant memory. So when Bollini, just two hours later, holed a 20-foot eagle putt on the second playoff hole to capture the 103rd Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, Golf Association Amateur title Sunday at the par-71 El Caballero cab·al·le·ro n. pl. cab·al·le·ros 1. A Spanish gentleman; a cavalier. 2. A man who is skilled in riding and managing horses; a horseman. Country Club in Tarzana, he could only attribute his success to his composure under fire. ``I never lost it emotionally today,'' said Bollini, a sophomore at USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. who outdueled UCLA's John Merrick John Merrick may refer to:
SCGA Software Carrier Group Alarm Amateur history. ``It would have left a really sour taste in my mouth if I hadn't won.'' On a day that featured four different leaders, countless lead changes and an unlikely rally by Lavery, who started the day 10 shots off the lead, Bollini hung tough on the back nine to secure a spot in the playoff. Bollini, who was 6 over on his first 10 holes, birdied the 11th and 16th holes to keep his title hopes alive. Then, after Lavery bogeyed the first playoff hole, it all came down to Merrick and Bollini, close friends who have played many junior tournaments as competitors. A crisp 4-iron from 200 yards away left Bollini 20 feet below the pin on the 510-yard, par-5 first hole, and after Merrick had secured a birdie, Bollini nailed the left-to-right eagle putt to win his first SCGA title. ``I knew John would make birdie and I really wanted to end it right there,'' said Bollini, who won the Argentina Amateur title last year. ``I hit a good putt and it went in.'' With the eagle, Bollini also prevented Merrick from becoming the fifth player to win back-to-back titles and the first player to do it since Craig Steinberg of Van Nuys won the SCGA Amateur in 1992 and 1993. ``I have nothing to be ashamed of. He deserves to win if he's going to make an eagle on this hole,'' said Merrick, who won the Long Beach City Championship last week. ``But I should have worn my UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX shirt today. He was flashing the Trojan colors and everything. We've got a nice little school rivalry going now.'' Lavery recorded nine birdies on his way to matching the tournament-low round of 65. For Lavery, a senior at UC Irvine, it was his lowest score ever in tournament play. ``I didn't think I had much of a chance when I heard that Nico shot a 65 the day before,'' Lavery said. ``But today I kept the momentum going with a few huge putts.'' Merrick trailed Bollini and Irvine's Ron Won by two strokes after the first nine holes but made birdies at 11, 13 and 14. He then made the shot of the day on the par-4 15th hole. After hitting his tee shot way right, Merrick overshot overshot protruding. overshot fetlock see knuckling over. overshot jaw See brachygnathia. Called also parrot mouth. the green on his approach. He then left his chip shot short, and faced a downhill wedge from 15 yards away. Unexpectedly, he holed it for par. ``I couldn't believe it when it went in. I was only trying to salvage bogey Bogey This is the benchmark return to which the performance of a portfolio manager or mutual fund manager is compared. Notes: This benchmark is typically the S&P 500 index. ,'' said Merrick, who had made a bunker shot for birdie on the same hole Saturday. ``I guess that's just a lucky hole. Sometimes you can't explain it.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: USC's Nico Bollini hits out of a bunker on the eighth hole at El Caballero Country Club en route to the SCGA Amateur title. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer |
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