Player Information/Pairings/Results
March 29, 2023
When partners Mark Morgan and Mike Rowley won the NCGA Senior Four-Ball Championship in 2021, the duo had to make a pressure-packed putt on the 18th hole to win by a stroke.
This time around, despite the wet and windy weather, the two could breathe a bit easier.
Morgan and Rowley shot a final round 3-under 68 Wednesday at Poppy Hills to come in at 14-under 199 for a three-shot win over the runner-up tandem of Steve Schroeder and Mike Staskus. Morgan, the Senior Player of the Year in 2020 and 2021, and Rowley, the CEO of Straight Down Cliothing in San Luis Obispo, have nearly made it three in a row. Last year, they lost in a playoff to Randy Haag and Robert Funk.
"We play a similar game, and we're positive together," said Morgan, a member at Serrano CC. "We keep it fun."
"I'm lucky to have Mark as a partner," Rowley said.
The big difference for the two was a second round 66 that would be split between two days. With rain pouring down, they wrapped up the front-nine of what became a suspended round with an eagle on the par-5 9th. When they returned the morning after, they opened their second nine by going 4-under through their first five holes.
At the same time, Schroeder, the COO of Poppy Holding Inc. and Staskus, a former event champion, went even-par.
"Our putts didn't go in, while they were making all of them," Schroeder said.
Schroeder and Staskus would make a charge with a tourney-low 64 in the final round, but by then it was too late. On their final back-nine, Morgan and Rowley went 2-under to seal the deal.
"After we went 3-under through 4, we just kept our hands on the steering wheel," Rowley said.
Third place went to the tandem of Rich Petit and Todd Palmaer at 205 after a final round 68.
Super Senior Championship
Joey Ferrari and Jim Knoll got the job done in crunch time. Ferrari birdied the par-3 17th and Knoll tacked on a closing birdie on the par-5 18th as the two took the title by two over the runner-up tandem of Frank Pieper and Rich Gleghorn.
Knoll and Ferrari came in at 6-under 207 after rounds of 69-72-66. Gleghorn and Pieper, the defending champs, finished at 209 after a final round 69.
For Ferrari, 67, the win was his second Senior title and fifth career NCGA crown overall. Knoll, the 70-year-old defending Super Senior Player of the Year, now has 11 career NCGA Senior titles, second most all-time behind only good friend Jeff Burda.
"I think our games mesh great," Ferrari said. "He's the putter and I'm the ball-striker."
The two were set to play as a team in last year's Billy Bell Cup, but Knoll came down with COVID. "Joey reached out and said, let's get together at Poppy Hills," Knoll recalled.
Look for the two to pair up again come the next Four-Ball event.
Third place went to the team of brothers Doug and Jim Williams at 213.
Final Round Photo Gallery Here
March 28, 2023
Tuesday's second round at Poppy Hills was suspended due to inclement weather. Play will continue Wednesday.
Super Senior Championship
Rich Gleghorn and partner Frank Pieper are a day away from another NCGA title. Gleghorn and Pieper took the outright lead on Tuesday, posting an even-par 71 for a two-day total of 2-under 140.
The two won the Super Senior title in 2021.
The team of Jim Knoll and Joey Ferrari are in second place at 141 after a second round 72. Knoll is a record five-time NCGA Senior Player of the Year and was the 2022 Super Senior Player of the Year. Ferrari was the NCGA Player of the Year in 1992.
March 27, 2023
One of the last groups out became the hottest group to come in.
The team of Steve Schroeder and Mike Staskus took the early lead at this week's annual NCGA Senior Four-Ball Championship, posting a solid 7-under 64 on a picture-perfect day at Poppy Hills. Playing alongside them, the team of Mike Rowley and Mark Morgan came in at 6-under 65.
Schroeder, the COO of Poppy Holding Inc., has had a hot hand lately. Over the weekend, he finished runner-up to Randy Haag in the Senior portion of the San Francisco City. Staskus, meanwhile, has made noise in the Senior Four-Ball before. In 2014 he and partner Frank Pieper shot an event-record 18-hole score of 10-under 62 at Saddle Creek on the way to winning a title.
On Monday, the two defined the ham-and-egg term. Schroeder, on familiar turf, carded five birdies, while Staskus posted three of his own (the two both birdied the par-5 18th). The only blip on the twos' radar was a matching bogey on the par-4 14th.
"We left some shots out there," Schroeder said afterward.
Morgan and Rowley, who won the event in 2021, posted six birdies with no bogeys.
In third place at 67 is the team of Mark Martin and Dean Park. Five teams are at 68 including the tandem of Todd Barsotti and Jeff Wilson and Terry Foreman and James Hay. Foreman and Hay teamed up to win three straight NCGA Mid-Amateur Four-Ball titles from 2004-06.
Randy Haag, who won the title last year playing with Robert Funk, is T-9 at 69 with partner Scott Anderson. Haag is coming off a win in the Senior Division of the San Francisco City.
Following Tuesday's second round, a cut will be made with the low 30 teams (and ties) advancing to Wednesday's final round.
Super Senior Championship
In the Super Senior division, a trio of teams--Rich Gleghorn/Frank Pieper, Jim Knoll/Joey Ferrari and Vance Verderame/Brad Bulcock--are jammed atop the leaderboard at 2-under 69. Pieper and Gleghorn won the title in 2021.
Knoll won the title in 2018 playing with Kemp Richardson.
First Round Photo Gallery Here