41st NCGA Amateur Stroke Play Championship | Poppy Hills GC | July 16-18, 2021
2021 champion Daniel Connolly
First played in 1944, the NCGA Stroke Play Championship has a special history, as the tournament has been won by the likes of Ken Venturi and Johnny Miller. But the event was canceled in 1966 when the NCGA decided to add the now-popular Four-Ball Championship.
The original championship was played over 72 holes, while the renewed format which began in 2004, is a 54-hole event staged at Poppy Hills every year. During the Poppy Hills renovation in 2013, the championship was held at Bayonet/Black Horse GC in neighboring Seaside.
Daniel Connolly set the record for 54-hole total score (204) in winning in 2021. Talbert Smith has won the championship more than any other player, four times, in 1946, ’48, ’56 and ’57. Other multiple winners include Ken Venturi (’51 and ’52), Verne Callison (’58 and ’59), Scott Hardy (’04, ’11), Ben Geyer (’12 and ’13) and Robby Salomon (’15 and ’16).
Kevin Lucas and Jonathan De Los Reyes share the record for low round since the tournament was re-established in 2004 with 65’s. De Los Reyes’ 65, shot in 2015, set a course record at the time at Poppy Hills.
The sterling silver perpetual trophy was donated by the San Francisco Examiner in 1944.
ENTRIES CLOSE: May 23, 2021
ENTRY FEE: $155 per player. Exempt players pay an additional $30 per player.
QUALIFYING for the 2021 Amateur Stroke Play Championship takes place June 14-19 at the following courses:
Fountaingrove Club (June 14) | Metropolitan GL (June 15) | Paradise Valley GC (June 16) | Crystal Springs GC (June 17) | Haggin Oaks GC (June 19)
ELIGIBILITY: Players must have a numeric handicap index listed on their club’s master report of 5.4 or less on the date of registration.
FORMAT: 18 holes qualifying. 84 players (including exempts) will advance to the championship. The championship proper is 54 holes stroke play (18 holes per day). After 36 holes the field will be cut to 30 players and ties.
EXEMPTIONS: Each exempt player is required to submit an entry prior to the closing date. 2021 Amateur Stroke Play Exemptions
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Tournament Recaps
Daniel Connolly returned to the last place where he tasted victory and got to experience it all over again. Connolly, a 24-year-old resident of San Francisco, shot a final-round 4-under 67 Sunday at Poppy Hills to come in at 9-under 204 and win the NCGA
Amateur Stroke Play Championship by four shots over runner-up Kevin Huff. Read Full 2020 Recap | View 2020 Photo Gallery
While 2020 has had its challenges, 2019 wasn’t that great of a year for Monterey resident Nick Moore. Among the things the 38-year-old Moore had to come to terms with was the loss of his grandmother. “My grandmother and grandfather are like my parents,” Moore said. “Losing her was a tough blow for me and my grandfather. I was really lost for a period of time when she passed. Golf was on the back-burner.” Read Full 2020 Recap | View 2020 Photo Gallery
As part of his duties as the NCGA’s Marketing, Membership and Communications Coordinator, Ian Dahl has spent much of the 
summer working on updating the Association’s trophy case. He’s now earned the right to have his own name engraved on one of the trophies. Read Full 2019 Recap | View 2019 Photo Gallery
When former CSU Monterey Bay standout Robby Salomon won the NCGA Amateur Stroke Play Championship in 2015, he had good friend Nick Moore on the bag as caddie. This time, the roles were reversed, as Moore knocked off yet another good friend, Matt Cohn, to win his first Amateur Stroke Play crown. Moore, a 36-year-old caddie at Cypress Point Club, bounced back from a lost chance to win outright, making bogey on the first hole (par-4 10th) of a sudden-death playoff to defeat Cohn on a sunny Sunday at par-71 Poppy Hills Golf Course. Read Full 2018 Recap | View 2018 Photo Gallery
Read Full 2017 Recap | View 2017 Photo Gallery
Read Full 2016 Recap | View 2016 Photo Gallery
Read Full 2015 Recap | View 2015 Photo Gallery
Read Full 2014 Recap | View 2014 Photo Gallery
Read Full 2013 Recap | View 2013 Photo Gallery
Past Champions
| 1944 | James Molinari at Sharp Park GC |
| 1945 | Earl Stewart at Harding Park GC |
| 1946 | Talbert Smith at Sharp Park GC |
| 1947 | Dick Bailey at Sonoma GC |
| 1948 | Talbert Smith at Sonoma GC |
| 1949 | Eli Bariteau at Peninsula GCC |
| 1950 | Al Frye at Sacramento GC |
| 1951 | Kenneth Venturi at La Rinconada GCC |
| 1952 | Kenneth Venturi at Presidio GC |
| 1953 | William Colm at Del Rio GCC |
| 1954 | Jack Bariteau at San Jose CC |
| 1955 | E. Harvie Ward at Stanford GC |
| 1956 | Talbert Smith at Castlewood CC |
| 1957 | Talbert Smith at Peninsula GCC |
| 1958 | Verne Callison at Silverado CC |
| 1959 | Verne Callison at Orinda CC and Sequoyah CC |
| 1960 | George Archer at California GC and Presidio GC |
| 1961 | Ernest Pieper, Jr. at San Jose CC and La Rinconada CC |
| 1962 | John Lotz at Lake Merced GC |
| 1963 | Stephen Oppermann at Stanford GC |
| 1964 | Johnny Miller at Meadow Club and Peacock Gap GC |
| 1965 | Steve Whitman at Sierra View GC and Sunset Oaks GC |
| 1966 | Jim Wiechers at Sharon Heights GCC and Mira Vista GCC |
| 2004 | Scott Hardy at Poppy Hills GC (73-70-68—211) |
| 2005 | Bob Niger at Poppy Hills GC (75-68-70—213) |
| 2006 | Erick Justesen at Poppy Hills GC (71-71-73—215) |
| 2007 | Casey Boyns at Poppy Hills GC (69-70-75—214) |
| 2008 | Matthew Hollinsead at Poppy Hills GC (67-77-69—213) |
| 2009 | Rick Reinsberg at Poppy Hills GC (67-72-70—209) |
| 2010 | Kevin Lucas at Poppy Hills GC (68-72-65—205) |
| 2011 | Scott Hardy at Poppy Hills GC (71-67-72—210) |
| 2012 | Ben Geyer at Poppy Hills GC (70-71-71—212) |
| 2013 | Ben Geyer at Bayonet GC (70-67-68—205) |
| 2014 | Bobby Bucey at Poppy Hills GC (71-74-74—219) |
| 2015 | Robby Salomon at Poppy Hills GC (70-71-68—209) |
| 2016 | Robby Salomon at Poppy Hills GC (73-72-68—213) |
| 2017 | Daniel Connolly at Poppy Hills GC (68-69-71—208) |
| 2018 | Nick Moore at Poppy Hills GC (69-71-74—214) |
| 2019 | Ian Dahl at Poppy Hills GC (72-69-69—210) |
| 2020 | Nick Moore at Poppy Hills GC (69-69-67—205) |
| 2021 | Daniel Connolly at Poppy Hills GC (68-69-67—204) |