2022-23 NCGA Men’s Player of the Year—Bobby Bucey
Concord resident Bobby Bucey always enters the new championships season with one primary goal—be consistent throughout the entire year.
During the 2022-23 season, it was steadiness that took the 34-year-old to new heights.
Thanks to a pair of victories at the Mid-Amateur Four-Ball Championship (with pal Brett Viboch) and the NCGA Amateur, Bucey not only moved into a tie for fourth on the all-time NCGA win list (7). He also earned Men’s Player of the Year honors with 1,526 points. Runner-up Mike Perchak finished with 1,245 points.
Other highlights of Bucey’s season included wins at the Concord City, Sacramento County Four-Ball and Antioch Master-Senior Four-Ball. Overall, he’d place in the Top 3 in 10 of his 14 starts.
“To win Player of the Year over so many guys that I respect, it feels great,” Bucey said. “It’s testament to all of the hard work I put in.”
There was also just plain old persistence. In 2022, Bucey was runner-up at the NCGA Amateur. The tough loss continuously gnawed at him until he got a chance to redeem himself.
“The Amateur was an event that I had always wanted to win the most. There’s just so many great champions of the event,” Bucey said. “And you’re playing at Spyglass Hill. It’s not a course where you can fake it. Winning there was very special for me.”
There too was another reason Bucey played well. He was happy. In the fall of 2022, he moved into a new home with his girlfriend, Katherine.
“I had been consistent as a player for the last few years, but I had never really put it all together. This time I got it done,” Bucey said. “I think a lot of it was just me also being happy. That happiness off the course transferred on to the course.”