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August 14, 2025
Lukas Taggart, a senior at the Colorado School of Mines, struck gold at Spyglass Hill GC in Pebble Beach.
Taggart came back from a five-hole deficit in the morning to catch Jimmy Castles and later defeated Castles on the 39th hole on Thursday to win the 122nd NCGA Amateur Championship.
Along with earning an automatic exemption into the 2026 U.S. Amateur at Merion, Taggart joins the likes of NCGA Hall of Famers Lawson Little Jr., Charles Seaver and John Brodie as champions of the event. The match tied the record for the longest Amateur finals match, the last time occurring in 2007.
Helping to seal the win was an all-time shot from Taggart on the par-5 39th hole (No.1). With Castles stymied under a tree just off the fairway, Taggart unleashed a 3-wood from 260 yards out in the fairway that stopped on the green, just 20 feet from the pin. From there, Taggart two-putted for a birdie. Castles had a 5-footer for birdie to tie, but his putt slipped just past the cup.
"It was a crazy shot," Taggart said. "I smashed it. It was one of the best shots, scenario-wise, that I have ever hit. It was perfect."
The morning round was forgettable for Taggart. Castles, a 29-year-old former standout at Cal Poly-SLO, birdied three of the first 10 holes to build a quick 4-up lead. From holes Nos. 7 through 11, Taggart, who is studying Mechanical Engineering, went 4-over with four bogeys.
A Castles bogey on No.12 that trimmed the deficit to 4-up was Taggart's only help through the first 18.
"It was a grind out there. When I was five holes down through 11, I just told myself to just stick with it," Taggart said.
In the afternoon portion, Taggart got two holes immediately back when Castles opened with back-to-back bogeys on holes Nos. 19 and 20. A Taggart birdie on the 21st hole (No.3) later, and the deficit was manageable again at only 1-up.
From there, the two see-sawed until the 33rd hole, where Castles made birdie to re-take a 2-up lead with only three holes to play. Following a tie on the 34th hole, Taggart responded with a birdie on the par-4 35th to cut the lead to one. On the ensuing 36th hole, Taggart got it back to a tie when Castles made bogey after failing to reach the green in regulation.
"It was a great week, grinding at Spy," Castles said. "I'm grateful to compete. It's a bit raw. I'll come back and compete next year."
Making the victory extra special for Taggart was his gallery, mom Sonia. He also had his dad, Paul, on the bag as caddie.
"It was great having them. My dad was with my cousin at the Leadville 100 in Colorado and drove down after that," Taggart said. "Then he was there to caddie for me. I was glad that he came down."
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August 13, 2025
Lukas Taggart and Jimmy Castles got to know one another last month while playing together at the annual NCGA Stroke Play Championship.
Now, the two will walk Spyglass Hill together, this time competing for the NCGA's biggest amateur prize.
Taggart, a senior at Colorado School of Mines, an NCAA Division II school, and Castles, a 29-year-old former standout at Cal Poly-SLO, will meet in the 36-hole final of the 122nd NCGA Amateur after both advanced through the quarterfinals and semifinals on Wednesday.
The No.19 seeded Taggart moved on with a 2-up win over No. 10 Sebi Aliaga. With the match tied through 16 holes, Taggart came up big in the clutch, winning the 17th with a birdie and the 18th hole with a par.
A native of Washoe Valley, Nevada, Taggart is majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Earlier in the day, he won his quarterfinals match versus Jonathan Chen, 1-up.
Coming into the week, he had never played Spyglass Hill.
"It's an amazing course," Taggart said. "I was telling my dad this morning, I've gotten to play Spyglass five times in the last few days."
Castles, who works in sales for Salesforce, also moved into the finals with a 2-up victory--his coming against No.32 Jack Jarvis. Tied there through 13 holes, Castles got some breathing room with back-to-back birdies on holes Nos. 14 and 15. Jarvis, who was the Cinderella, cut the lead to 1-up with a birdie of his own on 16.
Following a tie on the 17th hole, the match moved to the par-4 18th. Jarvis, a junior at Cal-Poly SLO, hit his first drive out of bounds left. Castles knocked his second shot onto the green. Needing to win the hole, Jarvis hit his third shot but came up short of the green. All hope lost, he'd concede.
"It was a brutal 36-hole day. After about the 28th hole, my legs started getting weak," Castles said. "The match with Jack, it was a good battle against a fellow Mustang."
During his day, Castles also was answering work emails.
"You are out here dueling, and then you also respond to your boss. You have to balance it," Castles said.
Thursday's 36-hole final match will begin at 7 a.m. at Spyglass Hill.
August 12, 2025
The uncertainty and craziness that can be match play was on full display Tuesday at Spyglass Hill as the 122nd NCGA Amateur got into full swing.
Among those who vanished from the 32-man brackets--No.1 seed Logan Kim, No. 2 seed James Gould-Healy and No.3 Joshua Kim.
Left standing to advance to Wednesday's quarterfinals was No.4 Jimmy Castles. Even Castles, a former standout at Cal Poly-SLO, had to sweat things out.
In his morning Round of 32 match, Castles emerged with a tight 3 and 1 win thanks to wins on the 15th and 17th holes. Later in the afternoon, Castles got tested even more, finally defeating No.13 Lequan Wang, 1-up. After taking a 1-up lead when Wang bogeyed the par-4 16th, the two tied 17 and 18.
Castles next will face No.23 Brandon Knight of Pleasanton in Wednesday's quarterfinals. Knight, who plays at Univeristy of Colorado, never went past the 16th hole, winning his first two matches, 3 and 1 and 3 and 2, respectively.
Another quarterfinals match will see No.18 Mason Benbrook taking on No.10 Sebi Aliaga. Benbrook has won at Spyglass Hill before, capturing this year's NCGA Four-Ball Championship with partner Luke Dariotis.
In the Cinderella realm, there too is the quarterfinals match between No.32 Jack Jarvis and No.25 Deitrek Gill. Jarvis, a former star at Salinas High who's now at Cal Poly-SLO, knocked out No.1 Logan Kim with a par on the 18th in the Round of 32 before defeating No.16 Matt Cohn, 5 and 4. Cohn is a six-time NCGA championship winner. Gill had his groove on, winning his two matches, 5 and 3 and 4 and 3.
The final quarterfinals match will see No.19 Lukas Taggart taking on No.11 Jonathan Chen. Taggart, a senior at the Colorado University of Mines, also passed the stress test. After knocking out No.14 Kyreece Romero, 1-up, he eliminated No.3 seed Joshua Kim, 1-up. In his Round of 16 match versus Kim, Taggart trailed by one after the 16th hole. He'd respond with back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18 to advance.
Wednesday's action consists of both the quarterfinals and semifinals.
Thursday, it's the 36-hole final.
August 11, 2025
Get into the Round of 32 for match play and go from there.
That was the goal Tuesday at Spyglass Hill as the second round of stroke play qualifying for this week's 122nd NCGA Amateur Championship got underway.
When things were said and done, both Logan Kim, who plays at UCLA, and James Gould-Healy, a senior at the University of Oregon, shared medalist honors with identical 36-hole scores of 7-under 136. Kim will be the No.1 seed for match play, with Gould-Healy the No.2 seed.
Kim, who recently transferred to UCLA from Stanford, followed up an opening round of 67 at Poppy Hills with a 69 at Spyglass. Following a bogey on the par-3 15th and a double-bogey on the 16th, it looked like Kim was slipping a bit. He'd quickly right the ship, however, with back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th holes to end his round.
The double-bogey on 16 was just a nuisance for Kim compared to this past winter. A resident of Altadena, his family suffered damage to their rental home during the Eaton fire. As part of the chaos, and having evacuated, he later discovered that all of his golf gear had been stolen by looters.
His lone bag, and the one he is using this week, is still a Stanford bag.
Gould-Healy made his push with his second straight 68, which came without a single bogey. While now at Oregon, Gould-Healy has literally been all over the globe. A native of Ireland, he went to high school in Singapore before landing in Ducks Country.
Another Kim, that being Joshua Kim of Danville, placed third at 138 after a day-low 67. He'll be the No.3 seed. The No.4 seed is Jimmy Castles.
With match play, the road only gets more grueling. Tuesday will see both the Round of 32 and Round of 16, with Wednesday's action consisting of both the quarterfinals and semifinals.
Thursday it's the 36-hole final. Six rounds in three days.
The cutline for match play came at 4-over 147.
Kavi Marez had the shot of the day in the second round of stroke play qualifying, acing the par-3 15th at Spyglass Hill. It was his first career ace.
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August 10, 2025
UCLA's Logan Kim is the player to catch after day one of stroke play qualifying at the 122nd NCGA Amateur Championship.
Kim, originally from Altadena, took the lead in stroke play qualifying on Sunday at Poppy Hills with a solid first-round leading 4-under 67 that included an eagle on the par-5 18th.
The second round of stroke play qualifying moves over to Spyglass Hill on Monday.
Also making an early move was University of Oregon senior James Gould-Healy. Gould-Healy, who originally hails from Ireland, shot a 68 while also admiring the scenery.
"It's always nice to play any course in the Pebble Beach forest. Just to be around here, where there is so much history, it's a special thing," said Gould-Healy. "As players, we don't take it for granted."
A pack of seven players are tied at T-3 after matching rounds of 69 including Jimmy Castles, Ben Friedman and six-time NCGA champion Matt Cohn. Cohn got a big boost from a hole-in-one on the par-3 2nd hole (See More Below). Friedman, now at San Jose State, is a former standout on the Junior Tour of Northern California.
Following Monday's second round of qualifying, a cut will be made with the low 32 moving on the match play. From there, players will play two rounds each day--Tuesday is the Round of 32 and Round of 16, Wednesday the quarterfinals and semifinals and Thursday the 36-hole final.
Twelve-time NCGA champion Nick Randazzo had to withdraw after suffering an injury.
Aces High
Jeremy Gearhart, winner of the 2023 NCGA Public Links Championship, had one of the shots of opening day, acing the par-3 17th using a 7-iron.
Also carding an ace was past NCGA champion Matt Cohn, who got a hole-in-one on the 195-yard par-3 2nd hole using a 6-iron.
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