Doell Wins by 1 at Stocker Cup
- Canadian National Team Member Shoots Sunday 71, 6-under par 282
-- Haag/Rawson won Team Competition on Saturday

by Sean Martin, for amateurgolf.com

Craig Doell, winner of the 2004 Stocker Cup (Michael Mustacchi Photo)

One of Canada's top amateurs is starting to build a solid resume in the United States, thanks in part to a 72nd-hole birdie that gave him the title at the Stocker Cup on Oct. 17 at The Preserve Golf Club in Carmel, Calif.

Craig Doell, who will represent his country in this year’s World Amateur Team Championship, made an eight-footer on the 18th hole Sunday to finish at six-under-par 282 and win in the event's first year as a true mid-amateur event. Doell won the PNGA Mid-Amateur on Oct. 7 at Bandon Dunes in Bend, Ore. for his first win on American soil.

But for a couple seconds, Doell was not sure if he had made his title-winning putt. He paused momentarily before walking toward the hole to retrieve his ball.

“I was wondering if it was going to turn in because I played it outside the hole,” he said of the left-to-right breaking putt.

The birdie allowed Doell to edge Mark Gardner, who was also coming off a recent victory, by one shot. Gardner, who was paired with Doell in the final group, won the NCGA Master Division Championship on Sept. 21.

“For me to finish second in this field is a very good tournament,” Gardner said. “I’m still disappointed (with the loss), though.”

It’s hard to catch someone when they play as solidly as Doell did. The 32-year-old shot 71 in cold, windy and occasional rainy conditions on Sunday. It was the only under-par round on the final day.

That the soft-spoken Canadian shot the day's best round was no surprise. He said the conditions could be considered typical during the winter at his home golf course, Victoria Golf Club. And Doell played well there before departing for Carmel, shooting a 61.

It may have surprised some that Doell came out the victor, though, in arguably the Stocker Cup’s strongest field. But Doell’s name is an unfamiliar one only because he does not compete regularly in this country.

He has proven himself a worthy competitor in Canada. Thanks to his selection for the World Amateur Team Championship, Doell competed in this year’s Bell Canadian Open. He shot 78-76 to miss the cut in “U.S. Open-like conditions,” he said.

The investment advisor has also finished sixth and third at the last two Pacific Coast Amateurs while representing the British Columbia Golf Association.

Doell’s putt on 18 gave him the victory instead of just another solid finish, but a 10-footer for par on the reachable par-five 17th hole was just as important. Doell's third shot landed on the green, but spun down a hill and into the rough fronting the green. A poor chip looked like it would drop Doell out of the lead because Gardner had only two feet left for birdie.

But when Doell made par, and Gardner wrapped up his two-putt birdie, there was a three-way tie for the lead between Doell, Gardner and Randy Haag, who was a group ahead of the leaders.

Haag bogeyed the 18th, though, and Gardner saved par after missing the final green.

Haag’s bogey came after he missed the final of many short putts on the back nine, including a three-footer for birdie on the 16th hole. Gardner missed a nearly identical putt on that hole, which proved to be Doell's margin of victory.

The win would have been one of the biggest of Gardner’s career, which also includes a victory at the 1998 SCGA Tournament of Club Champions.

Maybe the difference was in his mode of transportation. Gardner flew his private jet to Squaw Creek for his NCGA Master victory, but had to ground it during the Stocker Cup because of routine annual maintenance.

But no one was going to catch Doell on the weekend. Sunday was the second consecutive day he shot the low round of the day. He shot a 67 Saturday, during which he made only three birdie putts He chipped in on the second hole Saturday and sank a 130-yard pitching wedge on the third hole.

Doell's third round was indicative of his play throughout the week. He said solid ball striking, not a hot putter, carried him to victory.

The 67 vaulted Doell, whose 138 total on the weekend was best in the field by six strokes, into the final group Sunday with Gardner and Dave Nelson, a familiar foe. Nelson and Doell faced each other in a sudden-death playoff in that PNGA Mid-Amateur last week, with Doell winning with a par at Pacific Dunes' 18th hole.

Nelson, a Reno resident, held the Stocker Cup’s 54-hole lead at seven-under-par 209, but shot an 81 Sunday. He had had at least a share of the lead since Friday, when he shot a bogey-free, course-record 65.

Nelson and Haag were tied at 138 after 36 holes, one stroke off the lowest two-round total since the event moved to The Preserve. That mark was set in 2003 by defending champion Brandt Snedeker, who has played professionally on the PGA and Nationwide tours this season.

But Doell will most likely be back! to defend his title, as he has only flirted with the idea of playing at the professional level.

“I enjoy playing just to play,” he said.

And to win titles.

Team competition: The 54-hole team portion of the Stocker Cup wrapped up Saturday in exciting fashion. Haag and teammate Dave Rawson shot 27-under-par 189 to edge Gardner and his partner, Jeff Pickard, by one shot. Pickard, from Atherton, Calif., sank a 30-foot putt on the 18th hole for a net birdie to draw his team within one stroke. Moments later, Haag sank a three-foot par putt to secure the title for his team.

- - - -

Final results from the Stocker Cup Invitational, played at the 7067 yard, par-72 Preserve Golf Club:

TEAM COMPETITION - Final Results

NOTE: The team competition ended Saturday at 54 holes, while the 72-hole individual competition continues into Sunday with the top 12 players and ties advancing to Sunday's round.