Poppy Hills Golf Course
Player Information/Pairings/Results
September 25, 2020
On the eve of the final round of the NCGA Senior Championship, second-round leader Robert Funk spent some of his time chatting with his wife, who was back home in Canyon Lakes.
The conversation focused on Funk’s lead, but also that the 57-year-old hadn’t tasted victory for over two years.
“I told her I’m coming home a winner, or I’m not coming home,” Funk said.
Funk, a member at SoCal-based Bear Creek Golf Club but also an NCGA member through AmateurGolf.com, will indeed be bringing home a title. This time, his first NCGA title. He’d defeat Jeff Wilson on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff, winning the first hole (par-4 10th) with a par after Wilson was unable to get up-and-down after his approach shot rolled down into the teeing area of the adjacent 11th hole.
“I’m very excited to win,” said Funk, who finished the championship with a three-day total of 1-under 212. “I haven’t had any major wins in the last two years. It’s validation for me.”
A multiple winner of SCGA events, Funk and Wilson, a member at Green Valley CC, had tangled on the course before. Both of the times Funk has won the SCGA Mid-Amateur, he has dueled with Wilson. The two have also seen each other shine in USGA events. In 2017, Funk was the low amateur at the U.S. Senior Open. A year later, Wilson won the U.S. Senior Amateur.
“Every time I see Jeff, I know I have a chance at competing,” said Funk, who is a third cousin of former PGA Tour star Fred Funk.
This time around, it looked like Wilson was going to turn the tables on Funk. With a clutch birdie on the par-3 11th, Wilson tied Funk. Not much later, following a Wilson birdie on the 14th, Funk, who had led each of the first two rounds, suddenly trailed.
“I knew I just had to keep making birdies. Jeff is such a great player,” Funk said.
Funk, a recovering alcoholic who once completely turned his life around, ended up making a move but by making par. Wilson would stumble with two crucial bogeys on both the 15th and 17th holes. On the 18th, the two were tied. Wilson had a chance to win it but he’d narrowly miss.
“I hung in there about as well as I could today,” said Wilson, who had made up a four-stroke deficit to start the day with a 71. “Robert deserved to win. He played better than I did. If I would’ve won today, it would’ve been a robbery.”
For Funk, the win was also a bit of a redemption in another way. In 2018, he’d lose to eventual winner Jim Knoll after Knoll made a birdie on the 18th.
“I was just trying to not blow up. I didn’t make a lot of putts today,” Funk said. ” Compared to the first two rounds, I wasn’t hitting the ball as well nor putting as well.”
Three players–Jeff Britton, John Pate and Mark Morgan—tied for third at 220.
Third Round Photo Gallery
September 24, 2020
Bear Creek Golf Club member Robert Funk is threatening to make this week’s NCGA Senior Championship a runaway.
A day after being just one of two players to break par, Funk (pictured, below) put up a red number again on Thursday, posting a second-round 3-under 68 for a two-day total of 5-under 137. The next closest player to Funk, Jeff Wilson, is at 141 following a second-round 71.
The low amateur at the 2017 U.S. Senior Open, Funk carded five birdies to go against just two bogeys. He’d impressively card a back-nine 33, playing the tough first five-hole stretch at 3-under thanks to birdies on No.10, No.13 and No.14.
Wilson, coming off a win at the recent NCGA Senior Valley Amateur, just never got going. The Green Valley CC member and 2018 U.S. Senior Amateur champion had nine pars on the front-nine, followed by a back-nine 36 with two birdies and two bogeys.
Jeff Britton of Monterey Peninsula CC is alone in third place at 143 after a 69. The second round saw four players break par—Funk, Britton, Scott Anderson Sr. (70) and Mark Morgan (69).
The cut (low 30 and ties) came at 12-over 154.
The event will play a key role in determining the 2020 NCGA Senior Player of the Year. Entering the championship, Mark Morgan was in the lead with 952 points. Casey Boyns, who’s in ninth place on the leaderboard, is in second at 887, just 65 points behind.
Chris Miller and Scott Anderson Sr. were 82 and 113 points behind, respectively. The NCGA Senior is a 500 point event. The season ends the last day of September.
Funk could be setting himself up for a double-double. The California Senior Amateur will tee off Nov. 9-11 at Poppy Hills.
Photo Gallery Second Round
September 23, 2020
Red numbers were hard to come by despite the spectacular weather as this week’s NCGA Senior Championship got underway Wednesday at Poppy Hills Golf Course.
Only two players were able to shoot rounds of under par—Robert Funk and Jeff Wilson. Funk, an SCGA player who’s an NCGA member via AmateurGolf.com, took the first-round lead with a score of 2-under 69 that featured five birdies to go against three bogeys.
Wilson, who’s coming off a victory at the recent NCGA Senior Valley Amateur at Schaffer’s Mill, had a wild day. His 70 included six birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey on the par-3 11th.
John Pate, who won the 2014 California Senior Amateur at Poppy Hills, is alone in third place at 71. John Hoffman (72) and Casey Boyns (73) are in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Defending champion Mike Rowley opened with a 76. Following Thursday’s second round, a cut will be made with the low 30 and ties advancing to Friday’s final round.
The event will play a key role in determining the 2020 NCGA Senior Player of the Year. Entering the championship, Mark Morgan was in the lead with 952 points. Casey Boyns is in second at 887, just 65 points behind.
Chris Miller and Scott Anderson Sr. were 82 and 113 points behind, respectively. The NCGA Senior is a 500 point event. The season ends the last day of September.
Photo Gallery First Round
The first round of this week’s NCGA Senior Championship is underway @poppyhillsgc
Defending champ Mike Rowley on No. 2 pic.twitter.com/ccDtNNJCxa— NCGA (@ncga1901) September 23, 2020
First played in 1962, the NCGA Senior Championship is the association’s premier event for players aged 55 and over. Hundreds of players at multiple sites around the region attempt to qualify for the championship each year. Traditionally, the final field has played 36 holes of stroke play at a different venue each year; however, beginning in 2009 the tournament has been played annually at Spyglass Hill. In 2016 it moved to Poppy Hills.
The tournament record was set in 2008 by Jeff Burda who beat the previous record by five strokes with a 135 at Saddle Creek GC. The low tournament score at Spyglass Hill GC was Michael Brannan’s 142 in 2012, the only under-par 36-hole total since the tournament has been played there on annual basis. Jim McMurtrey has won the championship a record five times (1990, 1992, 1994, 1995 and 2000). Cornelius Bertolone (1963, 1964 and 1966), Jim Knoll (2011, 2014 and 2018) and Kai Thomsen (1988, 1989 and 1991) are tied with second most victories, each winning three times apiece.