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Pairings l Results
Sept. 30, 2025
A pair of Cypress Point Club caddies hoisted some hardware of their own just weeks after the Walker Cup.
Brett Thawley and AJ Fitzgerald carded a final round 8-under 64 that included clutch birdies on the 16th and 17th holes to win the annual NCGA Mid-Amateur Championship on Tuesday on the new 18-hole course at Poppy Ridge.
The duo's two-day total of 19-under par 125, which came at times with winds blowing 25 mph-plus, tied the championship record of total low score in relation to par set by 2020 winners Matt Cohn and Nick Randazzo. Cohn and Randazzo shot 124 playing at Del Monte (par 72) and Poppy Hills (par 71).
"It was just fun playing with a good friend. At the end we knew we had to make a couple of birdies. But it was just fun hanging out," Thawley said.
"We ham and egged it super well," Fitzgerald said. "We play a ton of golf together and know each other's games really well. We don't take it maybe too seriously."
In the first round, Hawley, 32, and Fitzgerald, 25, grabbed a share of the lead with an 11-under 61 that featured a 7-under 29 on the back-nine.
A day later, and with the winds stronger, Thawley and Fitzgerald got going with a stretch of three straight birdies from holes Nos. 9 through 11. Despite tacking on another birdie at No.13, the duo still found themselves trying to hold off the tandems of Rick Reinsberg/Garett Wagner and Neil Summers/Andrew Warren. The birdie on No.17 gave Thawley and Fitzgerald a one-shot lead over the others heading to the par-5 18th. There, the two made par to hold on for the victory.
Reinsberg and Wagner, the 2021-2022 NCGA Player of the Year, carded a final round 65 to finish tied for second at 125 with Summers and Warren. Summer and Warren had the low round of the day, posting a sizzling 61 in the conditions. Reinsberg and Wagner's late charge included three consecutive birdies from holes Nos. 16 through 18.
Along with making 19 total birdies, Thawley and Fitzgerald avoided any big mistakes. The two never carded a bogey over their 36 holes. For Fitzgerald, the win came on his last day as the NCGA's Player of the Year.
"Playing in Monterey we see a lot of wind, so we know to keep it kind of low," Thawley said.
The team of Randazo and Cohn also had a late surge that included two birdies on holes Nos. 17 and 18 that meant a lot. The birdies pushed the tandem to a total score of 129 and solo fourth place. Which meant that Cohn secured 2024-25 Men's Player of the Year honors.
Cohn had entered the event needing to finish at least 5th or higher to hold off Mitchell Hoey for the Player of the Year title.
Jerrod Makimoto had the shot of the event, acing the par-3, 215-yard 3rd hole in the final round using a 5-iron. It was Makimoto's third career ace in the event, where he plays with his brother, Tanner.
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Sept. 29, 2025
The temperature may have cooled off at Poppy Ridge, but the leaderboard at this week's annual Mid-Amateur Four-Ball Championship remained hot and restless.
Following Monday's first round, three teams--Brett Thawley/AJ Fitzgerald, Marc Engellenner/Domingo Jojola and Garett Wagner/Rick Reinsberg--were tied for the lead with matching scores of 11-under par 61. While that's indeed going low, it was still a stroke shy of the all-time tournament (and NCGA Four-Ball) record low score of 12-under 59, shot by 2022 champs Brett Viboch and Bobby Bucey.
On their back-nine, Thawley and Fitzgerald, the 2024 NCGA Player of the Year, did go bananas, carding a 7-under 29 with two pars. Wagner and Reinsberg, meanwhile, tore up the front-nine with a 30 that included a bogey.
Lurking just two shots behind the leaders at 63 is another group of three teams--Scott Beck and Rocklin Shaw, Ryan Sloane and Tony Ralph and Nick Randazzo and Matt Cohn. Randazzo and Cohn won the event in 2020 at Poppy Hills thanks to a final round 61. For Cohn, this year's event also has Player of the Year honor implications. A six-time NCGA champion, Cohn entered this week's event in a tight race with Mitchell Hoey for POY honors.
Recent wet weather had the course playing in cool conditions with at times no wind. Just a week or so ago, temps hit around the 110-degree mark at the Livermore Valley-based layout.
The event is the first NCGA championship to be held at Poppy Ridge since architect Jay Blasi's masterful renovation. The Mid-Am Four-Ball is the perfect event to be the first. The first Mid-Am Four-Ball championship was held at Poppy Ridge in 2004. The event is a two-person, better-ball scratch event for NCGA members 25 years of age and older.
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