After playing his first 36 holes at the Pacific Coast Amateur over par, Jaden Dumdumaya stormed back on Thursday and Friday to win the penultimate Elite Amateur Golf Series event at Eugene Country Club in Oregon.
“[My dad and I] didn’t have high expectations,” Dumdumaya said. “We played shot by shot not really thinking about score but just enjoying the moment knowing it’s a really tough event to get into. I just wanted to do my best.”
A rising sophomore at USC, Dumdumaya shot 73-71-66-68 (-6) on the par-71 layout and finished one stroke ahead of Dylan Ma. Ranked 1,000th in World Amateur Golf Ranking before the tournament, Dumdumaya bolstered his confidence with the victory.
“It showed me that I could play at the highest level,” he said.
Rising Sacramento State senior Gabriel Smith got off to a hot start, shooting a tournament-low 7-under 64. In his first 10 holes, Smith was 1-over with two birdies and three bogeys. Then, on Nos. 12-17, Smith went birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie to claim a three-stroke lead over the field.
“I had to keep on pushing to make committed shots, giving myself chances and trying to be patient.”
Jaden Dumdumaya
After the first round, Dumdumaya was nine strokes behind the leader at 2-over.
“I had to keep on pushing to make committed shots, giving myself chances and trying to be patient,” he said.
After his great opening round, Smith shot 77 in the second round and was three strokes behind halfway leaders Baron Szeto, Daniel Heo, Cooper Humphreys and Ma. Dumdumaya started the second round with a double bogey but battled back with three birdies on the back nine. With the leaders at 4-under, Dumdumaya was six back.
On Thursday, Dumdumaya caught fire, shooting a 5-under 66 with eight birdies. It was the low round of the day and got him to 3-under for the tournament, two strokes behind leaders Ma and Sam Renner.
On Friday, Renner played his first six holes 6-over and fell out of contention. At the turn, Ma was at 6-under, two strokes clear of Mahanth Chirravuri and Dumdumaya.
But Ma’s bogeys on 11 and 14 coupled with Dumdumaya’s birdies on 13 and 15 resulted in a four-shot swing, giving the Trojan control.
The final event in the Elite Amateur Golf Series, the Western Amateur at Skokie Country Club, tees off Tuesday.
RESULTS
Everett Munez