Californians Marc Engellenner (of Rocklin) and Domingo Jojola (of Burlingame) went wire-to-wire in shooting 20-under-par 196 to win the Trans-Miss Four-Ball Championship on Thursday at the Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Engellenner and Jojola, partnering in a four-ball event for the first time, led the mid-amateur team competition by two strokes after the first round and by four strokes after two rounds. But their advantage evaporated early in the final round when Texans Blake Vinson (of Fort Worth) and David Klaudt (of Dallas) shot a 6-under 30 on the front nine to grab a two-stroke lead.
However, the momentum turned back when Jojola made an 80-foot birdie on No. 10 and Engellenner birdied Nos. 11 and 12. The team also birdied the difficult par-4 14th, the short par-5 15th and the par-4 18th to wrest the lead back from Vinson and Klaudt, winning by two strokes.
“This is the best team golf I’ve played and the biggest accomplishment in my golf career,” Engellenner said.
Engellenner’s profile has started to broaden in the mid-am game. He opened the 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur with a 5-under 65 to share the first-round lead and reached match play, losing to eventual champion Lukas Michel in a tight match that reached the 18th hole. And he won the 100th Sacramento City Golf Championship this summer, finished runner-up in the NorCal Amateur and was fifth in the U.S. Mid-Am Team Championship. He also qualified for the 2020 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship, but the tournament was canceled due to the pandemic.
Jojola finished runner-up in the San Francisco City Championship a year ago and reached the Round of 16 in this year’s California Amateur.
Both players are now exempt into next year’s Trans-Miss Amateur at Denver Country Club.
In the senior division, Texans Mike Lohner (of Southlake) and Don Dean (of Austin) ran away with the title, shooting 23-under 193 to win by nine strokes.
Top: Marc Engellenner (left) and Domingo Jojola
Staff and Wire Reports