June 12, 2022
In 2019, Carmel resident Ian Dahl made history by becoming the first NCGA employee to win an NCGA Championship.
The 33-year-old Cal-Berkeley alum, who works in Marketing for the NCGA, now has two.
Dahl sank a clutch 18-foot birdie putt on the first hole (par-4 1st) of a sudden-death playoff to defeat tough-luck runner-up Matt Hansen on Sunday at par-71 Poppy Hills. Both players had finished tied after regulation at 6-under 136.
"It was a good line. I just didn't know if it would get there," said Dahl of his winning stroke. "It feels really good to get a win."
Dahl, who finished third in the event last year, had been playing well but hadn't won anything since his 2019 breakthrough. A week ago, he played in the spotlight of a U.S. Open qualifier in Oregon. While he failed to advance, he picked up some valuable experience and left feeling confident.
"Up there I played on a new course, in front of a lot of cameras," Dahl said. "It helped get me in a rhythm of playing a tournament course. I think that helped me here."
Having entered the final round tied with Matt Cohn at 4-under, Dahl first made a push by carding four birdies in a row from holes Nos. 7 through No.10 to get to 8-under. All the while, Cohn, a four-time NCGA champ, hung right with him thanks to three birdies of his own through 10. Meanwhile, Matt Hansen, a former standout at UC Davis who played on the Canadian Tour, also entered the fray by going 2-under through the first 10.
On the par-3 11th, things got shaken up when Dahl made a double-bogey after his ball landed in a footprint in the greenside bunker. Hansen and Cohn made pars on the other hand to close the gap.
Unfortunately for Cohn, he'd play his final seven holes at 2-under after posting bogeys on No.15 and No.16 to fall out of contention.
Hansen, meanwhile, caught Dahl with a birdie on the par-4 12th. On the hole, Dahl saved par after his drive ended up in the hazard on the right.
Later, on the par-3 17th, with Dahl and Hansen still tied, Hansen hit into the hazard leading to a bogey. He'd get the stroke back on the 18th, however, when he made birdie and Dahl had to settle for a par.
For Hansen, the scenario was deja vu. Last year, he also bogeyed the 17th and then made birdie on the 18th to get into a playoff. He'd lose in 2021 to Nick Moore on the first playoff hole when Moore drained a birdie putt.
"I need to just blow up the 17th," Hansen joked. "We all played well. It was a lot of back and forth. Ian made a great birdie to win it. A win would've been nice."
For Dahl, meanwhile, it was a great way to cap what had been a long week. "I'll be back here tomorrow, but in the office," he said.