March 1, 2020
Charles Porter, JTNC’s Emily Hou Win S.F. City Titles
By Pete Wlodkowski, AmateurGolf.com
San Francisco native Charles Porter gave himself an early birthday present while Emily Hou made the most of her championship debut.
The No.6 seeded Porter, who plays at Napa Valley College, took the title after cruising past No.32 Domingo Jojola, 7 and 5, in the 36-hole final. The big difference came on the second 18 when Porter made a change in strategy off the tee—striving for accuracy instead of length.
“I had a game plan (in the afternoon) because Domingo is such a good player that I wanted to hit more fairways,” Porter said. “It worked well.”
The No.12 seeded Hou, a Junior Tour of Northern California member from San Ramon, got the win via a 3 and 2 victory over No.14 Andrea Gomez. Hou would follow in the footsteps of Dougherty High teammate Danielle Suh, who won the title in 2019.
“Danielle was one of the first people to text me after the match,” a smiling Hou said.
In the Senior Championship, defending champion Jim Knoll of Sunnyvale made it two-in-a-row after defeating Larry Salk, 5 and 4. Knoll, a record five-time NCGA Senior Player of the Year, took a 4-up lead into the back-nine and never looked back.
Herb Jensen of Carmichael, the NCGA’s 2015 Super Senior Player of the Year, won the Super-Senior division over David Bosley of Fairfield, 2-and-1, while Soran Lim of Villa Park made her trip to Northern California pay off with a close 1-up win over Kelly Simpson of Dublin for the Senior Women’s crown.