Ceres High grad Ryan Thornberry had a successful run at the 102nd Northern California Golf Association Amateur Championship last week. The 21-year-old, who will be a senior at Stanislaus State this fall, finished in the top eight in a field of 115.
"I played pretty well for the most part," Thornberry said. "This year, I lost in the quarterfinals. Two years ago, I lost in the round of 16."
Thornberry advanced past the 36-hole qualifying format and went 2-1 in match play.
On Thursday, he missed a short putt on the 19th hole and lost 1-up to Casey Boyns in the quarterfinals.
"I wish I would have been able to win that match," Thornberry said. "I was 3-up through 12 holes. I made a couple of mistakes and he made some clutch putts at the end."
Boyns squared the match with a par on No. 18. He buried a 15-foot, downhill putt.
"If he wouldn't have made that, it would have been over," Thornberry said. "I would have been playing in the semifinals."
Thornberry defeated Arvo Voip 4 and 3 in the first round and Mike Karlberg 3 and 2 in the second round of match play on Wednesday.
Thornberry finished fourth with a 2-under-par 142 in the qualifying portion of the tournament. He opened with a 2-under 70 on Aug. 15. He had an even-par 72 in the final round on Aug. 16. Approximately 32 players advanced to match play.
Thornberry will participate in the 81st California State Fair Men's Amateur Championship, Sept. 3-5, at Mackenzie Golf Course in Sacramento.
"I feel like my game's coming along pretty nicely," Thornberry said. "I'm starting to hit the ball in the fairway a lot more often. That's key.
"There's still a lot of room for improvement." - By DALE BUTLER / Staff reporter of the
Ceres (Calif.) Courier
"I played pretty well for the most part," Thornberry said. "This year, I lost in the quarterfinals. Two years ago, I lost in the round of 16."
Thornberry advanced past the 36-hole qualifying format and went 2-1 in match play.
On Thursday, he missed a short putt on the 19th hole and lost 1-up to Casey Boyns in the quarterfinals.
"I wish I would have been able to win that match," Thornberry said. "I was 3-up through 12 holes. I made a couple of mistakes and he made some clutch putts at the end."
Boyns squared the match with a par on No. 18. He buried a 15-foot, downhill putt.
"If he wouldn't have made that, it would have been over," Thornberry said. "I would have been playing in the semifinals."
Thornberry defeated Arvo Voip 4 and 3 in the first round and Mike Karlberg 3 and 2 in the second round of match play on Wednesday.
Thornberry finished fourth with a 2-under-par 142 in the qualifying portion of the tournament. He opened with a 2-under 70 on Aug. 15. He had an even-par 72 in the final round on Aug. 16. Approximately 32 players advanced to match play.
Thornberry will participate in the 81st California State Fair Men's Amateur Championship, Sept. 3-5, at Mackenzie Golf Course in Sacramento.
"I feel like my game's coming along pretty nicely," Thornberry said. "I'm starting to hit the ball in the fairway a lot more often. That's key.
"There's still a lot of room for improvement." - By DALE BUTLER / Staff reporter of the
Ceres (Calif.) Courier
