38th NCGA Mid-Amateur Championship | Poppy Hills | June 8-9, 2019
2018 champion Matt Cohn
The NCGA Mid-Amateur Championship began in 1982 as the Master Division Championship, a competitive opportunity for players aged 40-54 who were not yet eligible for senior tournaments. In 2016, the event was re-named the Mid-Amateur Championship, opening up to all players aged 25 and over, with no upper age restriction.
The 36-hole stroke play championship was held for 11 consecutive years at Lake Tahoe and Edgewood Tahoe golf from 1990-2000. The championship then rotated through three courses over the next four years, Lake Tahoe (2001), Winchester (2002) and Squaw Creek (2003-04) before being hosted by Spyglass Hill for the following five years (2005-2009). In 2010, Spyglass Hill continued to host one day of the event with other Monterey area courses Poppy Hills (2010-12, 15), Bayonet (2013) and Del Monte (2014). In 2016, Spyglass fell out of rotation and the event was held at Black Horse and Poppy Hills golf courses.
Pat McDonald holds the tournament’s 36-hole scoring record with a seven-under-par 136 in 1994 at Lake Tahoe and Edgewood Tahoe GCs. The single round record of six-under-par 66 set in 1998 by Pat McDonald was tied in 1999 by four-time champion Randy Haag, who posted a 65 at the par-71 Lake Tahoe GC. Haag holds the record for most titles, having won four in a 14-year span 1999, 2002, 2009 and 2013. The only player to win back-to-back titles is Jeff Burda, who claimed the championship three times, in 1996, 1997 and 2005. Jim Knoll became the oldest player to win the championship at 59, in 2012.
The champagne bucket trophy was donated by two-time California State Amateur champion Ernie Pieper.
Qualifying Information
ENTRIES CLOSE: April 14, 2019
Entry Fee: $135 per player. Exempt players pay an additional $30 per player.
Qualifying for the 2019 Mid-Amateur Championship takes place May 2-10 at the following courses:
Paradise Valley May 2 | Coyote Creek May 4 | Corica Park May 8 | Haggin Oaks May 10
Format: 18 holes qualifying. 96 players (including exempts) will advance to the championship.
All players must qualify except the following: All past champions prior to 2004 (beginning in 2004, this is a 10-year exemption) and the top 10 and ties from the preceding year. The following current NCGA champions are exempt if they meet age elegibility requirements: Public Links, Valley Amateur, Amateur Stroke Play, Senior, CGA Senior and Amateur Match Play. Each exempt player is required to submit an entry prior to the closing date. Mid-Amateur Exemptions
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About Poppy Hills
Poppy Hills, which is owned by the NCGA, underwent an extensive renovation beginning in March of 2013 centered around water conservation, primarily by improving irrigation and drainage. Architect Robert Trent Jones II returned with his design firm, this time creating a firm, fast and fun course that unfolds seamlessly through the stunning Del Monte Forest. Jones reinvented the course architecturally, restoring each hole to its natural elevation along the forest floor, softening doglegs and contours, rebuilding all 18 greens with bentgrass, eliminating rough and introducing native waste areas that reduce irrigated turf by nearly 25%.
Course Tour | Get driving directions
Tournament Recaps
After watching good friend Shintaro Ban advance through last week’s U.S. Open Sectional qualifier at Lake Merced Golf Club and the Olympic Club, San Francisco resident Matt Cohn said he felt inspired. This time, it was his turn to come through in the clutch. Cohn fired a day-low final round 4-under 67 and later made par on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff at par-71 Poppy Hills Golf Course to defeat veteran Jeff Wilson and defending champion Bobby Bucey and win the 27th annual NCGA Mid-Amateur Championship. Read Full 2018 Recap | View 2018 Photo Gallery
As he prepared for extra holes, Bobby Bucey’s mom and caddie Karen Bucey gave her son some advice. “I reminded him that 
he’d done this before,” Karen said. Bucey, who hails from Concord, has now done it twice. A member at Oakhurst Country Club, Bucey erased a three-stroke deficit in regulation and went on to defeat Jason Anthony on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to capture the NCGA Mid-Amateur Championship on a sunny Sunday at par-71 Poppy Hills Golf Course. Read Full 2017 Recap | View 2017 Photo Gallery
After tying for fourth at this year’s NCGA Public Links Championship and earning a spot in the recent U.S. Open Sectional at Lake Merced Golf Club and the Olympic Club, Sacramento resident Zachary Solomon had a feeling he was on to something. The 27-year-old Whitney Oaks Golf Club employee was absolutely right. Read Full 2016 Recap | View 2016 Photo Gallery
When Jerry Ledzinski posed for his winning trophy shot, Terry Foreman gently pointed out that the Ernie Pieper Jr. Trophy was facing the wrong way. “Hey, this is the first time I’ve won one of these!” defended Ledzinski. Ledzinski looked the part when it counted, 
playing the back nine at Spyglass Hill in even par to make up a three-stroke deficit and catch Foreman, before winning the first playoff hole with a par to capture the NCGA Master Division (40 and older) Championship on Tuesday afternoon. Read Full 2015 Recap | View 2015 Photo Gallery
Moraga resident Rick Reinsberg made the most out of what is now a rare tournament appearance.The 42-year-old, who plays out of 
Moraga Country Club, sank a six foot birdie putt on the 18th hole at par-72 Del Monte Golf Course Tuesday to shoot 71 and win the annual NCGA Master Division Championship by one over Brookside Men’s Golf Club member Dan Sullivan. For Reinsberg, it’s his first Master Division crown and first NCGA title since the 2009 Stroke Play Amateur Championship. The championship also marked Reinsberg’s final event of the season. Read Full 2014 Recap | View 2014 Photo Gallery
Randy Haag added his name to NCGA history on Tuesday, not that his name can’t be found in it already. The six-time NCGA Player of the Year—a record by itself—became the first player ever to win a fourth NCGA Master Division title by posting a 36-hole score of 144, even-par. With a fourth NCGA Master Division title to his name and his first NCGA major win since the 2011 Master Division Four-Ball title, Haag was happy to get out of his mini-slump. He also wasn’t any less excited winning an event he’s already won three other times (’99, ’02 and ’09)… Read Full 2013 Recap | View 2013 Photo Gallery
Past Champions
| 1982 | Gary Vandeweghe at Spyglass Hill GC | 74-77-151 |
| 1983 | John Brodie at Sharon Heights GCC | 70-74-144 |
| 1984 | Gary Conti at Sharon Heights GCC | 77-72-149 |
| 1985 | Dean Prince at Pasatiempo GC | 73-73-146 |
| 1986 | Marshall Gleason at Green Hills CC | 74-76-150 |
| 1987 | Bill Paulson at Lake Tahoe GC | 70-76-146 |
| 1988 | Bob Foster at The Meadow Club | 75-69-144 |
| 1989 | Cliff Davis at Butte Creek CC | 71-76-147 |
| 1990 | Tom Culligan at Lake Tahoe GC and Edgewood Tahoe | 73-74-147 |
| 1991 | Pat McDonald at Lake Tahoe GC and Edgewood Tahoe | 70-71-141 |
| 1992 | Bob Blomberg at Lake Tahoe GC and Edgewood Tahoe | 75-70-145 |
| 1993 | Lucio Alvarez at Lake Tahoe GC and Edgewood Tahoe | 74-68-142 |
| 1994 | Pat McDonald at Lake Tahoe GC and Edgewood Tahoe | 70-66-136 |
| 1995 | Dennis Younglove at Lake Tahoe GC and Edgewood Tahoe | 73-70-143 |
| 1996 | Jeff Burda at Lake Tahoe GC and Edgewood Tahoe | 69-72-141 |
| 1997 | Jeff Burda at Lake Tahoe GC and Edgewood Tahoe | 71-70-141 |
| 1998 | Gary Vanier at Lake Tahoe GC and Edgewood Tahoe | 69-69-138 |
| 1999 | Randy Haag at Lake Tahoe GC and Edgewood Tahoe | 65-73-138 |
| 2000 | Dan Bieber at Lake Tahoe GC and Edgewood Tahoe | 74-69-143 |
| 2001 | Dan Condie at Lake Tahoe GC | 74-69-143 |
| 2002 | Randy Haag at Winchester CC | 71-70-141 |
| 2003 | James Hay at Resort at Squaw Creek | 73-70-143 |
| 2004 | Mark Gardner at Resort at Squaw Creek | 74-70-144 |
| 2005 | Jeff Burda at Spyglass Hill GC | 68-74-142 |
| 2006 | Bob Niger at Spyglass Hill GC | 72-73-145 |
| 2007 | Casey Boyns at Spyglass Hill GC | 74-72-146 |
| 2008 | Jamie Looper at Spyglass Hill GC | 74-72-146 |
| 2009 | Randy Haag at Spyglass Hill GC | 74-70-144 |
| 2010 | Daniel Sullivan at Spyglass Hill/Poppy Hills | 73-67-140 |
| 2011 | Darin Lake at Poppy Hills/Spyglass Hill | 74-73-147 |
| 2012 | Jim Knoll at Spyglass Hill/Poppy Hills | 70-71-141 |
| 2013 | Randy Haag at Bayonet/Spyglass Hill | 72-72-144 |
| 2014 | Rick Reinsberg at Spyglass Hill/Del Monte | 67-71-138 |
| 2015 | Jerry Ledzinski at Poppy Hills/Spyglass Hill | 72-71-143 |
| 2016 | Zachary Solomon at Black Horse/Poppy Hills | 74-69-143 |
| 2017 | Bobby Bucey at Poppy Hills | 70-73-143 |
| 2018 | Matt Cohn at Poppy Hills | 73-67-140 |