July 22, 2017
The 51st Pacific Coast Amateur championship came down to the wire, with Doug Ghim of Arlington Heights, Ill. two-putting the final hole to capture one of amateur golf’s most prized trophies..
Ghim, a senior on the University of Texas men’s golf team,shot a final round 2-under 69 at Chambers Bay to come in at 9-under 275, defeating runner-up Cameron Champ of Sacramento by a stroke.
“I gotta say, this field is one of the best of the summer for sure. I don’t remember playing with so many guys ranked in the top 10 in one tournament. There were a lot of really good players in Braden (Thornberry), Will (Zalatoris), Cameron Champ, Scottie (Scheffler) and at the beginning of the week you didn’t know who would win so it was pretty special to get it done.,” Ghim said.
Ghim’s victorious final score line would read 70-67-69-69-275 (-9). He was the only player to shoot under-par in all four rounds, a testament to his ball striking and patience on the U.S. Open layout.
Finishing runner-up on his own was Champ at -8 with rounds of 69-65-73-69 (276). Zalatoris, the defending champion, would finish alone in third at -7 with rounds of 69-70-67-71 (277). Andrej Bevins of Elk Grove posted the round-of-the-day at -5, and would finish in a tie for fourth.
July 20, 2017
Team NCGA came up short, but a Northern California native is leading at this week’s 51st Pacific Coast Amateur at par-71 Chambers Bay.
In the annual Morse Cup team competition, the NCGA—comprised of former Junior Tour Player of the Year Justin Suh, 2016 Player of the Year Shintaro Ban and Cal standout KK Limbhasut–made a run with a second round low score of 134, but was unable to catch the defending champion SCGA squad. The NCGA would finish with a two-day score of 2-under 282, losing to the SCGA by three shots.
The NCGA has won the Morse Cup three times in the last six years, the last title coming in 2015.
In the individual competition, a familiar name is atop the leaderboard. Sacramento’s Cameron Champ took the 36-hole lead at 8-under 134 following a sizzling 65 on Wednesday. Champ, who was in the running at June’s U.S. Open, posted an eagle and six birdies to go against just two bogeys. He leads Australia’s David Micheluzzi and Doug Ghim of Illinois by three.
