Kevin Marsh and Ben Geyer have successfully navigated La Cumbre Country Club this week to reach Saturday’s 36-hole championship round at the 101st California Amateur Championship.
The pair survived two opponents each on Friday in two rounds of match-play. When all is said and done tomorrow, Marsh and Geyer will have played eight rounds of competitive golf in six days.
Defending champion Bhavik Patel was in the hunt for a repeat title until Friday, when Ronnald Monaco erased a late 3-hole deficit and won the round on the 19th hole.
Monaco, playing without a caddie, then fell to Marsh in the afternoon semifinal round.
Geyer topped Jack Perry in the other semifinal. Perry made a last effort to make tomorrow’s championship a Santa Barbara showdown but fell to Geyer in a playoff.
Perry played for Santa Barbara High and Marsh played for Dos Pueblos, although Marsh is nearly 20 years older.
It’s free for the public to attend. La Cumbre Country Club does require spectators to abide by its dress code of collared shirts and no jeans.