Teenagers Advance, Defending Champ Falls at State Am.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif.--(BW SportsWire)--June 24, 1999--

Three teenagers are in but the defending champ and medalist is out as the 88th CGA (State) Amateur Championship whittled down to its final eight players Thursday at Pebble Beach GL.

Ed Cuff of Temecula, who won the CGA last year and was medalist during the stroke play portion of this year's event, was sent packing by Dan Arroyo of Berkeley, 3 and 1, in the day's first match.

Arroyo made four birdies in the match, including two in a row on the seventh and eighth to erase Cuff's 2-up advantage. His final birdie came at the par-3 17th, a downhill slider that he drained to close the door on the match. Meanwhile, Cuff showed little of the flair that earned him medalist honors over the two days of stroke play, making an uncharacteristic five bogeys on the critical back side.

"I was looking forward to playing him," said Arroyo, who advanced to the semifinals last year. "Neither one of us played very well. It was kind of ugly for a while."

Cuff echoed that sentiment, saying, "Every time he hit it bad, I hit it worse. Every opportunity I had, I didn't take advantage of it. I guess that's why I'm going home. I hate to leave this place."

Arroyo was forced to wait a while to see who his quarterfinal opponent would be, as the match between Gary Vanier of Pleasant Hill and Patrick Duncan of Rancho Santa Fe took 21 holes to decide a winner. Vanier led 3-up at the turn, but Duncan pulled to within one with wins on the ninth, 10th and 11th holes. He drew even with a 20-foot birdie on the 17th.

Both players made pars on the 19th and 20th holes (Pebble Beach's 17th and 18th), Duncan getting up and down from out of nowhere on the latter. They were sent back to the 18th again, where Vanier ended it by holing a breaking eight-footer for birdie. The win assured a matchup of Cal and Stanford alums in the first match of the quarterfinals. Arroyo just graduated from Cal in May. Vanier, 48, was an All-American at Stanford, where he played on the same team as Tom Watson.

"I've never played with (Dan), but he must be a hell of a player," said the reserved Vanier. "It should be interesting."

It will be the only of the four quarterfinal matches not involving a teenager. Long Beach native John Mallinger, 19, made it to the next stage by beating another youngster, 17-year-old Tom Johnson of Fair Oaks. With the match all square through 10 holes, Mallinger pulled away by parring the 11th through 13th holes while Johnson took bogeys. Nonetheless, the reigning NCGA Junior champion was pleased with his first (and certainly not last) experience at the State Am.

"I feel pretty good about it," said Johnson, who last year also won the California Junior and advanced to the round of 32 at both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior. "I didn't bring my 'A' game, but to get this far without it feels pretty good."

Mallinger's quarterfinal opponent will be Jim Wilson of Chico, a 5 and 4 winner over 19-year-old John Ellis of San Jose. Wilson built a 5-up lead at the turn as Ellis made six straight bogeys from the fourth hole through the ninth. But Ellis pulled to within three after wins on the 10th and 11th, leading Wilson to "start to feel a little concerned." It hardly showed as the 38-year-old former pro went 1-under over the next three holes to close it out.

"To me, this is my tournament for the year," Wilson said. "I kind of make it my little major."

Wilson is one of two Chico natives in the quarters, the other being 19-year-old Brian Jones, who edged Greg Padilla of Del Mar 2 up in the day's final match. Neither player was up more than a hole until the par-5 18th, where Jones knocked his third shot stiff after Padilla went for the green in two and yanked it into the Pacific.

"That was fun and aggravating at the same time," Jones said. "It was great. I would have been happy whether I won or lost."

He will have his hands full with his next opponent, Tim Hogarth of Chatsworth, the 1996 U.S. Public Links champion who has rolled through the first two rounds. Hogarth had a relatively easy time with Chris Aliaga of Foster City, winning 5 and 4.

The combined age of the competitors in Friday's third match is the same or less than that of two players in the quarterfinals. Dong Yi, 21 and a former teammate of Arroyo's at Cal, will battle Steve Conway of Dove Canyon, who just turned 17 last month.

Conway continued to roll after sharing medalist honors with Cuff (though he lost in a playoff) and winning his first-ever competitive match on Wednesday. He clinched a 3 and 2 decision over Scott McGihon with a birdie on 16, his fifth of the day.

"My original goal was just to make the top 32," Conway said, referring to the number of players who advanced to match play. "Now I'm just trying to keep it alive, take one hole at a time and stay focused."

Yi survived a close struggle with veteran Jeff Burda of Modesto that was all square from the 12th hole until Yi made a clutch 15-foot birdie on the 17th. Burda, needing a win on the closing hole, hit the tree guarding the green with his third shot, while Yi knocked it to within 20 feet. Yi, needing only a two-putt for the match, almost holed his birdie effort. "I'd rather not have it be that close, but right now it feels really good," Yi said. Told he would face Conway next, he joked, "He'd better have respect. I'm older."

Friday's quarterfinals will be the first of two sets of matches, with the two semifinals teeing off at noon and 12:07. The 36-hole finale is Saturday. Following are complete second-round results and pairings for Friday.

Upper Bracket

Dan Arroyo, Berkeley, def. Ed Cuff, Temecula, 3 & 1; Gary Vanier, Pleasant Hill, def. Patrick Duncan, Rancho Santa Fe, 21st hole; Jim Wilson, Chico, def. John Ellis, San Jose, 5 & 4; John Mallinger, Long Beach, def. Tom Johnson, Fair Oaks, 3 & 2.

Lower Bracket

Steve Conway, Dove Canyon, def. Scott McGihon, Bermuda Dunes, 3 & 2; Dong Yi, Alameda, def. Jeff Burda, Modesto, 1 up; Tim Hogarth, Chatsworth, def. Chris Aliaga, Foster City, 5 & 4; Brian Jones, Chico, def. Greg Padilla, Del Mar, 2 up.

Friday Pairings

6:10 - Arroyo vs. Vanier; 6:17 - Wilson vs. Mallinger; 6:24 - Conway vs. Yi; 6:31 - Hogarth vs. Jones.

12:00 - Arroyo-Vanier winner vs. Wilson-Mallinger winner; 12:07 - Conway-Yi winner vs. Hogarth-Jones winner.