Results
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:
| Craig Doell | Victoria Golf Club | 74-70-67-71--282 |
| Mark Gardner | Redlands Country Club | 70-69-71-73--283 |
| Randy Haag | The Olympic Club | 67-71-73-73--284 |
| Mike Goodes | Pennrose Park Country Club | 68-73-70-75--286 |
| Brad Wilder | Triple Crown Country Club | 70-72-72-73--287 |
| Phil Huff IV | The Olympic Club | 69-73-71-75--288 |
| Jeff Wilson | Green Valley Country Club | 72-72-73-72--289 |
| Dave Nelson | Montreux Golf and CC | 73-65-71-81--290 |
| Nick Ushijima | The Olympic Club | 71-74-74-73--292 |
| Dave Rathjen | Moraga Country Club | 73-75-70-75--293 |
| Gary Young | Gleneagles International | 73-71-76-73--293 |
| Kenny Weixel | Columbus Country Club | 73-76-71-76--296 |
| Bowen Osborn | Lost Canyons Golf Club | 71-74-75-76--296 |
| Bill Sharpe | Oak Tree Golf Club | 74-71-75-NC--NC |
| Failed to Qualify for Final Rd | ||
| Casey Boyns | Monterey Bay Golf Club | 74-69-78--221 |
| Steve Nichols | Walnut Hills Country Club | 76-71-75--222 |
| Mike Rowley | San Luis Obispo Country Club | 75-70-78--223 |
| Alex Stamey III | The Olympic Club | 75-76-72--223 |
| John Benson | Totteridge Golf Club | 74-73-76--223 |
| Phil Ebner | Windsong Farm Golf Club | 78-74-72--224 |
| Rob Martin III | Rancho Murieta Country Club | 75-74-75--224 |
| Bill Moore | Monterey Bay Golf Club | 76-71-77--224 |
| Jerry Ledzinski | The Golf Club @ Quail Lodge | 72-75-77--224 |
| Jim Lehman | Windsong Farm Golf Club | 77-75-73--225 |
| Paul Balatti | Mayacama Country Club | 73-78-74--225 |
| Robert Gerwin II | The Camargo Club | 74-75-76--225 |
| Conrad Nilmeier | San Joaquin Country Club | 77-72-76--225 |
| Garrett Larson | UC Golf Club | 71-76-79--226 |
| David Bartman | Brentwood Country Club | 72-73-82--227 |
| Robert Funk | Bear Creek Golf Club | 74-78-76--228 |
| Mike Kelley | New Albany Country Club | 81-72-76--229 |
| George Kelley | Stevinson Ranch Golf Club | 74-78-77--229 |
| Todd Barsotti | San Joaquin Country Club | 76-73-80--229 |
| Tom Studer | Joliet Country Club | 80-72-78--230 |
| John Pate | The Valley Club | 70-83-77--230 |
| Patrick Hanlon | Picacho Hills Country Club | 77-77-76--230 |
| John Bishop | Scioto Country Club | 73-81-77--231 |
| Keith Kinsel | Oakmont Country Club | 78-73-80--231 |
| Paul Houvener | Mill Creek Country Club | 76-78-79--233 |
| Mark Sollenberger | The Preserve Golf Club | 75-78-81--234 |
| Jimmy Bryan | Latrobe Country Club | 79-78-78--235 |
| John Kartheiser | University Club of Kentucky | 87-78-70--235 |
| Mike Butler | The Olympic Club | 82-75-79--236 |
| Dan Donovan | Valley Club of Montecito | 80-78-81--239 |
| John Hamm | Los Altos Golf & Country Club | 85-78-76--239 |
| Robert Burns | Lincoln Park Golf Club | 83-82-80--245 |
| John McDonald | Dove Canyon Golf Club | 83-82-83--248 |
| Atul Anand | Industry Hills Golf Club | 78-85-96--259 |
| Andy Gabelman | Barrington Hills Country Club | 75-79-NC--NC |
| Michael Wharton-Palmer | Texarkana Country Club | 79-NC--NC |
TEAM COMPETITION - Final Results
| Player A | Player B | Rounds | Tot |
| Randy Haag | Dave Rawson | 58-64-67 | 189 |
| Mark Gardner | Jeff Pickard | 63-60-67 | 190 |
| Mike Goodes | Pat Forster | 62-64-65 | 191 |
| Brad Wilder | Jerry Stahl | 65-64-64 | 193 |
| Bowen Osborn | Dan McNamara | 67-65-62 | 194 |
| John Benson | Bob Sciutto | 63-64-67 | 194 |
| Craig Doell | David Reese | 68-66-63 | 197 |
| Kenny Weixel | Erik Stocker | 64-69-64 | 197 |
| Steve Nichols | Tom Callinan | 64-66-68 | 198 |
| Jerry Ledzinski | Mike Roark | 64-68-66 | 198 |
| Dave Nelson | Bob Hawk | 66-63-69 | 198 |
| Casey Boyns | Stuart London | 66-65-68 | 199 |
| John Bishop | Lon Haskew | 62-70-67 | 199 |
| David Bartman | Kelly Erardi | 65-66-69 | 200 |
| Gary Young | Mark Pitchford | 62-67-71 | 200 |
| Conrad Nilmeier | Jay Hendler | 65-66-69 | 200 |
| Garrett Larson | Clark Struve | 65-65-71 | 201 |
| Jeff Wilson | Jack Elliott | 65-68-69 | 202 |
| Jim Lehman | Todd Bakar | 68-67-67 | 202 |
| Paul Balatti | Chuck Weil | 62-70-70 | 202 |
| Keith Kinsel | Roger Huddlestone | 69-62-72 | 203 |
| Phil Ebner | Mike Klassen | 68-67-68 | 203 |
| Bill Moore | Dan Kreer | 70-69-64 | 203 |
| Phil Huff IV | Jim Rheim | 66-72-65 | 203 |
| Mike Kelley | John Bottomley | 68-66-69 | 203 |
| Robert Funk | Doug McKenzie | 66-70-68 | 204 |
| Nick Ushijima | San White | 67-69-68 | 204 |
| George Kelley | Derek Smith | 66-70-68 | 204 |
| Robert Burns | Charles Mazzola | 71-66-67 | 204 |
| Dave Rathjen | Mac Dunwoody | 69-71-65 | 205 |
| Rob Martin III | Sandy Tatum Jr. | 205 | |
| John Pate | Michael Lach | 65-75-66 | 206 |
| Bill Sharpe | Murray Yeomans | 66-68-72 | 206 |
| Tom Studer | Jim Silveira | 70-67-69 | 206 |
| Dan Donovan | Jim Fletcher | 67-70-69 | 206 |
| Robert Gerwin II | Paul Stephens | 68-71-68 | 207 |
| Jimmy Bryan | Mark Flynn | 73-69-65 | 207 |
| Michael Wharton-Palmer | Mike Machette | 207 | |
| Alex Stamey III | Eric Carlson | 70-71-67 | 208 |
| Mike Rowley | Bill Hicks | 70-67-71 | 208 |
| Atul Anand | Matt Tunney | 68-67-75 | 210 |
| John McDonald | Bob Zerbst | 72-70-69 | 211 |
| Mark Sollenberger | Rich Parejo | 72-71-68 | 211 |
| John Kartheiser | Mike Michalski | 74-73-65 | 212 |
| John Hamm | Frank Amato | 213 | |
| Paul Houvener | Jack Myers | 70-71-74 | 215 |
| Todd Barsotti | Mike Townsend | 70-73-74 | 217 |
| Mike Butler | Tom Hornaday | 74-70-73 | 217 |
| Patrick Hanlon | Jim Fitzpatrick | 222 | |
| Andy Gabelman | Dick Doerr |
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.
