October 4, 2022
Coming into this year's NCGA Mid-Amateur Four-Ball Championship, defending champions and friends Brett Viboch and Bobby Bucey opted to skip getting in a practice round.
The two recently had spent quite a bit of time moving Bucey into his new home. As a result, they also took most of September off.
So much for practice.
Viboch, 38, and Bucey, 33, looked better than ever, carding an NCGA four-ball record 12-under 59 Tuesday at Poppy Hills to become the first repeat Mid-Amateur Four-Ball champs since Randy Haag and Darryl Donovan in 2010-11.
"It's just chemistry," Viboch said. "Winning these doesn't get old. You cherish them more with each win. They're so hard to get."
On the front-nine, the two posted a bogey-free 31 with five birdies. After the turn, they'd card five more birdies and close out the day with an eagle courtesy of a 40-foot hole-out greenside bunker shot from Bucey. The two finished at 17-under 125, one stroke shy of the tourney record low of 124, set by 2020 winners Nick Moore and Matt Cohn (the 2020 championship was held at Poppy Hills and par-72 Del Monte Golf Course).
"After I made birdie on 17, I looked at Bobby and said, 'An eagle on 18 will get us a 59,'" Bucey said.
The 59 is the all-time low for any NCGA scratch Four-Ball event.
The previous 18-hole record for the Mid-Am Four-Ball was 11-under, shot by Danny Paniccia and Mike Stieler at the 2019 championship at Poppy Hills (60) and the teams of Moore and Cohn and Steven Christophel and Brian Jones, who posted a 61 at par-72 Del Monte during the 2020 championship. The low at the NCGA Four-Ball championship is an 11-under 61 posted by 2021 champs Ethan Farnam and Ethan Ashbrook.
For Bucey, it marks his sixth career NCGA title. For Viboch, the 2021 Player of the Year, it's his third.
"It's great. It's more fun to go out and win with Brett," Bucey said.
Second place went to the team of Kevin Price and Troy Armstrong at 129 after a 62. Patrick Jorgensen and Marc Engellenner were third at 131.
October 3, 2022
Marc Engellenner and Patrick Jorgensen got off to a great start at this week's NCGA Mid-Amateur Four-Ball Championship, but there's still one more round to go.
Engellenner, the runner-up in this year's NCGA Player of the Year standings, and Jorgensen, who lives in nearby Marina, posted a first round 8-under 63 Monday at Poppy Hills. The two were flawless, posting six birdies and an eagle on the par-5 4th.
Engellenner caught fire on the front-nine, posting a 32 on his own ball (including the eagle). The two combined for a 31 on the back.
Seven teams are tied for second at 66, including each of the last three champions---defending champs Bobby Bucey and Brett Viboch (2021), Nick Moore and Matt Cohn (2020) and Danny Paniccia and Mike Stieler (2019). Paniccia and Stieler also won the event in 2017.
The team of Dom DeBellis and Andy Nevin are also part of the logjam at 66, thanks in part to a DeBellis hole-in-one on the par-3 17th.
First played in 2004 at Poppy Ridge, the NCGA Mid-Amateur Four-Ball Championship is a two-person, better-ball scratch event for NCGA members 25 years of age and older (from 2004-2015 it was called the NCGA Master Division Four-Ball Championship for players 40 and older). The duo of Terry Foreman and James Hay won the first three championships, and in 2008 Hay won a fourth championship with partner Mark Hill. In 2014 the event returned to Poppy Ridge. The tourney record for low 36-hole score is 124, set by 2020 winners Nick Moore and Matt Cohn. The 18-hole record is 11-under, shot by Danny Paniccia and Mike Stieler at the 2019 championship at Poppy Hills (60) and the teams Nick Moore and Matt Cohn and Steven Christophel and Brian Jones (61 at par-72 Del Monte during the 2020 championship). Hay and Haag share the record with four career victories.