Jack Perry and Kevin Marsh are one victory away from making it an all-local final in the third Southern California Golf Association Match Play Championship at Sandpiper Golf Club.
Perry, who led Santa Barbara High to the CIF State championship in June, will play Riverside’s Kevin Fitzgerald at 7:40 Wednesday morning in one semifinal.
Marsh, a two-time SCGA Amateur champion and a former U.S. Mid-Amateur winner, takes on defending champion Nick Delio of Valencia at 7:56 a.m in the other final-four match.
The winners meet for the title at 1 p.m.
Perry, who is headed to Northwestern this fall, pulled out a dramatic quarterfinal win over Pasadena City champion Greg Moss of Sherman Oaks 1-up, with a dramatic 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole. Earlier, in the Round of 16, Perry defeated Tustin’s Doug Fortner 1-up after being down by two at the 11th hole.
In his last SCGA tournament, Perry finished second at the SCGA Amateur at La Cumbre Country Club.
Perry’s semifinal opponent pulled the biggest upset of the tournament. Fitzgerald, a UC Riverside senior, knocked out top-seeded Tim Hogarth of Northridge on the 19th hole in the Round of 16. He then defeated Pete Fernandez Jr., of Irvine 1-up.
Marsh, a graduate of Dos Pueblos, knocked down six birdies in beating Bhavik Patel 5 and 3 before eliminating West Covina’s Mark Miller 2 and 1.
Delio has been dominating on the first two days of the tournament. He has yet to reach the 16th hole during any of his matches. On Tuesday, he disposed of John Adams of San Clemente 5 and 3 before ousting Northridge’s Sam Yi 6 and 4 in the quarterfinals.
In the senior division, SCGA Amateur champion Brad Larsen of Oceanside will play San Pedro’s Greg Hetzer in Wednesday’s final.The senior final match kicks off at 7:30 a.m.
