This past collegiate season, Sebi Aliaga not only helped Claremont Mudd-Scripps win a Division III national championship team crown, but he also won the D-III individual title.
Not much later, he can now celebrate his first NCGA major title.
Aliaga, a sophomore at CMS, made a clutch birdie--sinking a 4-foot putt after nearly reaching the par-5 18th green in two--for a final-round 2-under 69 to win the 46th Amateur Stroke Play Championship by a stroke over Reid Buzby and Zachary Hawkins at Poppy Hills. He'd set up his birdie try after chipping onto the green.
"I was in the fairway and came up a bit short, but I knew I was in a good spot where I'd be chipping from," said Aliaga, who finished the 54-hole event with a total of 4-under 209. "When Zachary missed his eagle putt, I knew what I had to do. I just tried to start my putt on a good line and see what happens."
With second-round leader Calvin Etcheverry slipping to a 73, the door to a win swung wide open for a number of players. Buzby made a charge--carding birdies on holes Nos. 13, 14, 15 and 17--for a 67 that got him to within a shot of the magical 4-under total but settled for a par on 18 after finding the greenside bunker. The long-hitting Hawkins, a teammate of Etcheverry at Stevenson School, reached the 18th in two but missed a lengthy eagle try, leaving him with a 70 and the same 210 total.
Jack Jarvis (67) and Luca Suarez (70) also flirted with the lead before finishing at 211.
Aliaga didn't exactly start out great, either. He'd bogey holes No.2 and No.3 to start his day.
"I don't think I recognized how difficult the final round was going to play coming in to it," Aliaga said. "I got my teeth kicked in early. It was nice to hang in there and still have a chance at the end. It was a lot of fun."
Known as the NCGA's U.S. Open in toughness, only seven players finished the event with total scores under par.
In the first round, however, Poppy Hills was more than welcoming. Two players--Santa native Corey Ghiringhelli and San Jose's Ryan Vaughan--carded an albatross. Ghiringhelli made an opening albatross on the par-5 10th hole, while Vaughan got his on the par-5 18th. For some extra fun, Ghiringhelli also added an eagle on the par-4 13th hole.
