A late eagle propels Luke Dugger to AmateurGolf.com’s Winter Invitational title

A late eagle propels Luke Dugger to AmateurGolf.com’s Winter Invitational title

A bolt of lightning named Luke Dugger flashed through Corica Park’s South Course late Sunday afternoon during the final round of AmateurGolf.com’s Winter Invitational presented by Callaway Golf, singeing everything in its path.

Dugger used an eagle on the par-4 14th hole to ignite a three-hole stretch that saw the Davis, Calif. native go 4-under in a three-hole stretch to claim a one-stroke victory over A.J. Fitzgerald of Salinas, Calif.

Playing a group behind Dugger, Fitzgerald seemingly had things in control after a birdie on the 13th gave him a two-stroke cushion at 6-under par. Then, all he could do was watch what was transpiring in front of him.

Dugger, who plays collegiately at Holy Names University in Oakland, holed out his second shot from 95-yards on the par-4 14th hole for an eagle, followed with a birdie on 15 and added another birdie on the 17th to wrestle the title away from a stunned Fitzgerald.

Both players made bogeys on the closing hole, leaving Dugger with a final round 68 for a 36-hole total of 6-under 138, while Fitzgerald’s even par 72 left him one back at 5-under.

Baron Szeto, a sophomore at Cal Poly SLO who won the 2021 Alameda Commuters championship on the same course, birdied three of his four holes to gain a share of third place with San Francisco native Daniel Connolly at 4-under 140. Connolly, a two-time winner of the NCGA Stroke Play Amateur, closed with a 4-under 68 to win the mid-amateur division by four shots over Marc Engellenner
and Nate Jetter.

The low rounds of the day were turned in by Joshua Kim and Daniel Kim who carded 5-under 67s. Joshua had six birdies and just one bogey while Daniel turned in a clean card with five birdies.

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Kaylyn Noh outdueled Selena Tang, a Yale-bound senior at Mission High School in Fremont, Calif., to win the women’s division.

Noh, a sophomore at Cal, got off to a slow start with bogeys on her first two holes but picked up four birdies in a four-hole stretch to pull even with Tang at 4-under. She took a one-stroke lead with a birdie on the 12th, the par 3 third, which proved to be the margin of victory.

“I had a tough start but I was in the same position yesterday so I knew I could bounce back from it,” said Noh. “Selena put up a good fight right until the end.”

Nog (-6) and Tang (-5) were the only two players in the women’s division to finish in red numbers.

• • • • •

In the senior division, Mike Staskus prevailed in a two-hole playoff over Jeff Weiss after both players finished regulation tied at 2-over 146.

Staskus enjoyed a one-stroke over Weiss heading into the final round and increased his advantage to two after making a pair of birdies to start his inward nine. However, the reigning NCGA Super Senior champion found himself in a playoff after dropping two strokes coming home, including a bogey on the last, to finish with a round of 74.

Both players matched birdies on the first playoff hole before Staskus claimed the title with a par on the second extra hole.

“Jeff played great,” said Staskus. “I had to make a six-footer on the last hole just to get into a playoff after leading for most of the tournament. Kudos to him. He chipped in twice and played really well.”