Kiwi Josh Geary

First team collegiate

All American, Jason Hartwick finished T8

in ’02 SPC

              Aussies

          Luke Hickmott,

     Nick Flanagan,

Ben Bunny &

Paul Spargo along with Richard Moir in another foursome, got a special treat playing Cypress Point in perfect conditions just before the ’03 SPC.  All 8 SPC contestants broke par at Cypress that day.  None of the 5 Aussies, all among top 10 in that country, finished above 16th at SPC.  Flanagan went on to win ’03 Pac NW Am & the US Am that summer. Hickmott was 3rd in the Northeast

Nick Watney of Fresno State was a 3-time collegiate All American who finished T8 in the ’02 SPC.  Nick went on the win the Nationwide Tour Championship & is heading into his second year on the PGA Tour.

Site of the inaugural SPC at the Ridge in Auburn, California

Tim Tipton of the Monterey area was paired with Brad Oh for the inaugural final round.  Tim got off to a good start with a 69 in the openning round but blew a fuse early in round 2 snapping his putter.  He wedge putted in for an 80 in the middle round.  After tying one on the night before the final, he came out, had a breakfast burrito and washed it down with 2 bloody mary’s as he headed to the first tee. Thereupon, he announced that he was going to post

a course record 65.  Right.  Well he did just that coming out of nowhere to tie for the Championship.  Unfortunately, he trunked his sticks in  dad’s  car  who  had  already  left

when he was called to the 18th hole for a playoff with Josh Levin.  Undeterred, he borrowed Robert Hamilton‘s clubs to give it a go.  After scrambling for a half on 18, he got a look at decent birdie putt on the second playoff hole but missed as Josh drained his birdie for the win.  I’ve seen a lot in golf but that was a story for the ages.  Tim’s course record 65 lowered the mark by 4 shots from the start of the SPC and still stands to this day competitive or otherwise.

Kevin Stadler enjoys a bonding moment

with father Craig.  Kevin played the ’02 SPC after earning All American and Pac 10 Player of the Year honors at his father’s alma mater, USC.  Kevin will be on the Nationwide Tour in ’06 after one year on the PGA Tour.  The SPC Founder, who played for Cal, had the dubious distinction of having played with Craig 4 times in collegiate tourneys and once in match play at the NCGA Am

(where I got buzzed 5&4).  Craig was not exactly "user friendly" in those days but had an unbelievable short game to go with the short fuse.

Chez Reavie of Arizona & ASU finished T6 in ’02 SPC after winning the ’01 US Public Links

The ’05 at the Bayonet was foggier than normal with the first round close to being delayed.

Travis Johnson of SoCal & UCLA finished fifth in his only SPC appearance in ’03 after withdrawing in ’02 with appendicits

Keith Kinsel & Spencer Levin had the

final pairing at the ’04 SPC after Keith picked up the SP Mid-Am title the previous day.  Keith finished T3 and subsequently won the SoCal PubLinks title and has represented SoCal on several teams

JJ Jakovac was the NCAA D2 National Player of the Year and 2-time D2 National

Champion but could never get his "A" game goin’ at three SPC appearances. JJ is now playing pro mini-tours.

Andrew Dresser of Texas took home the top prize in the ’03 SPC with a 72 hole course record 14 under par at Stevinson Ranch and 2 shots clear of the field

Peter Tomasulo of Cal & Long Beach almost got the big amateur win that had eluded him in ’04 SPC but Spencer was just too hot.  Pete was the #1 ranked amateur per Golfweek at the start of the SPC.  He’s on the Nationwide Tour now and has already won at that level.

Dawie Van der walt

of South Africa

Kiwi

Brad Iles

Kiwi

Riki Kauika

The SPC "Hospitality Suite" is always popular with the players.  Below are

the "Southern Hemisphere boys" in

the ’05 SPC:

        Aussies Tom Davis    

            & David Lutterus

Chris Massoletti, Gonzales & Seung Su Han

had the top 3 spots in ’05 and the only

players under par at the Bayonet beast.

Dillon Dougherty has had 2 top 10’s in 3 appearances to date at the SPC prior to his Finalist finish in the ’05 US Amateur that gets him an invitation to the ’06 Masters

This is a nice shot of Robert Hamilton playing with Arnold Palmer in the ’02 Masters after his Finalist finish in the ’01 US Amateur.  Robert played in the inaugural SPC posting a T12 score.

A month & a half after his ’03 SPC debut, Nick Flanagan becomes the first true Aussie to win the US Amateur .

He becomes a national hero

in his home country.

Casey Boyns, with 13 NCGA or State Am titles, finished T3 in ’04 SPC at 48

Jeff Wilson, who finished T4 in ’02 SPC, had an amazing run in USGA events

from ’00 thru ’04

Greg Puga, shown here in route to his ’00 US Mid-Amateur victory, played the SPC in ’02 in ill health but gamely soldered on to make the cut and post a score every round; a testament to perserverance.

Brian Nosler was the #2 ranked amateur per Golfweek coming in to the ’02 SPC after making the Semi’s in the ’01 US Amateur.  He did not fare well at his only SPC appearance but flew in from the Dogwood the day before to make the event.

Philip Rowe, a former GB&I Walker Cupper from England & Stanford, stayed in the States for some events including the ’02 SPC.  The SPC host Head Pro, also from England, caddied for him during the final round.

The ’02 SPC was conducted on the same courses, for the same # of holes and about the same size field with the same 36 hole cut as the ’02 NorCal Open.  The average final score in the ’02 SPC was 6.4 shots lower for the 54 holes of both events (the last year the SPC was less than 72 holes).  The top 3 in the ’02 SPC were John Ellis of San Jose & Oregon, Champion Eddie Heinen of Las Vegas and Runner Up, Brock MacKenzie of Washington who lost in a playoff.  Brock went on to become the only member of either team to win all his matches in the ’03 Walker Cup and is now a pro on the Canadian Tour.  John turned pro and was the leading money winner on the Spanos Tour in ’05 and won the ’05 NorCal Open at Bayonet.  Eddie has also turned pro and won the ’02 California State Am just prior to the SPC victory.

David Oh & John Poucher finished T3 with John Merrick in 2nd for ’03 SPC (2 top 6’s for both Johns)

Joshua Levin (no relation to Spencer) displays the Waterford with his girlfriend for the ’00 SPC victory just prior to graduating from Cal.  Josh is now playing the Hooters Tour.

This photo remains the favorite of the SPC Founder, Fred Solomon since it was tough to get with so many great players for the inaugural event in ’00.  There was a lull between the finish and the playoff that made it possible.  Back row from left: Steve Sheehan of Reno, Ray Otis of San Jose, Kyle Metzler of Rancho Murieta, Spencer Levin of Elk Grove, Matt Bettencourt of Modesto, Mitch Harrison of Acampo, Kevin Kobalter of San Rafael, Ken Helwig of San Jose, Conrad Nilmeier of Fresno,  Josh Levin  of  San  Francisco  &  SPC  Committee  member,  Mike Baty  of  Stockton. Front row from left: Robert Hamilton of Carmichael, Lou Alvarez of Auburn, Alex & Brad Oh of Korea, Tim Snow of Davis, Kevin Braegger of Livermore, Tim Tipton of Pacific Grove & Bob Niger of El Dorado Hills