A familiar face survived five rounds and three days of head-to-head battle in the SCGA Match Play Championship at Bear Creek GC. Adding to his phenomenal summer, Joe Fryer followed up his SCGA Amateur victory last month with a Match Play Championship, outlasting California Amateur medalist Cody Hall.
As the No. 1 seed, Fryer endured his opponent’s best shots, barely scraping out victories over Chad Hambright (1up) and Tyler Moore (19 holes) en route to the championship. Hall, the current SCGA Four-Ball Champion, was behind in every single one of his five matches during the week, only to storm back for victories.
In the finale, Hall jumped out to a rare lead after a birdie on No. 1. Fryer evened the match on No. 4 with a birdie of his own before coasting onto the backside. Meanwhile, Hall bogeyed three straight from No. 6-8, digging himself a 4 down hole at the turn.
Cardiac Cody turned on the jets with birdies on No. 10 and 11 to get himself within striking distance as Fryer sputtered. But Hall’s momentum was quickly stunted with two straight bogeys on No. 12 and 13. With the match dormie on the 16th tee, Fryer stepped up and laced a 7-iron to four feet. After Hall was unable to dunk his chip shot, he conceded the match.
With the win, Fryer becomes the first SCGA player to win both the SCGA Amateur and SCGA Match Play in the same year. Fryer now sits in 2nd place on the SCGA Player of the Year Points List, closing the gap to 70 points behind Corby Segal.