Thrills galore at junior golf match play in Ripon

Tammy Lim stood in the 18th fairway with an 8-iron in her hands. She and her opponent, Quynn Dong of San Jose, were tied in the girls final of the 38th Junior Golf Association of Northern California Match Play Championship.

In most cases, the first player to put the ball in the hole has the advantage in match play. Lim, a junior at Clovis North High, took that fact to its logical extension – by holing her approach from 122 yards out at Spring Creek Country Club’s par-4 finisher. Her shot nearly disappeared on the fly and spun sideways a few inches before it kissed the flagstick.

And that’s how you win with all the drama attached.

“I thought, ‘Just make it your best shot,’” Lim said. “It worked out great.”

Dong, 14, to her credit, answered with aggression – a second shot which carried only about five feet from the hole location near the rear of the green. Unfortunately for her, she needed to drain her approach just to force sudden death.

Such thrills were the norm this week at the match play, the premier event on the JGANC’s annual calendar. A field of 270 kicked off on Monday with 18 holes of stroke play, which seeded the players into their respective match-play flights.

Bryan Baumgarten, 17, a member of Granite Bay’s Sac-Joaquin Section Masters title team – the Grizzlies placed second at NorCal s and sixth in the state – keynoted the week with an 8-under 64 in qualifying.

By the way, Baumgarten didn’t win the overall boys title. He advanced to the final and went 5-under against Devon Bling of Ridgecrest. Bling answered Baumgarten by going 7-under for a 2 and 1 victory.

Then there was Matt Heitel of Redwood City, who left his 6-iron shot at the par-3 fifth hanging on the lip Monday. When he walked to within about 50 yards of the green, he watched with joy as the ball nestled into the cup for an ace.

Local juniors made their contribution. Oakdale’s Ryan Meyer captured the 12-13 flight by defeating Jack Feliciano on the 19th hole. Meyer dropped the 17th and 18th holes of a back-and-forth match but responded with a clutch two-putt – featuring a 5-footer for par – at the 19th. Feliciano missed his putt for the halve.

“I like match play,” Meyer said. “In stroke play, one bad hole can ruin your round. You can have a bad hole in match play and still be in it.”

Sarah Garcia of Turlock was beaten in the finals of the 15-18 flight 4 and 3 by Sienna Lyford of Roseville. Max Stevens of Modesto, soon to be a fourth grader at Our Lady of Fatima of School, won the 7-9 flight.

This story was originally published June 11, 2015 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Thrills galore at junior golf match play in Ripon."