Garrett Boe has a very good record when it comes to playing golf at Silverado Resort and Spa.
In 2017, Boe won boys 14-18 and 16-18 division titles at the Johnny Miller “Champ” Junior Classic. The Johnny Miller “Champ” Foundation is the host of the Junior Golf Association of Northern California event.
On Friday, Boe won the Grapevine Amateur by shooting a spectacular 6-under-par 66 in the final round of the Troon Saguaro Amateur Series event on Silverado’s North Course.
A resident of the Fresno County city of Clovis and a junior on the Cal State Fullerton men’s golf team, Boe had a bogey-free round as he won the three-day, 54-hole event in come-from-behind fashion by overtaking second-round leader Ryan Firpo of Davis.
Players were allowed to lift, clean and place on the par-72 Silverado North Course — home of the PGA Tour’s Fortinet Championship — due to the overnight rains that were followed by rainy and windy conditions in the final round. Only three players broke par on the final day.
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“I just tried to stay dry, keep a good attitude and keep the ball in front of me,” said Boe.
“I like this course. The last time I played here, I won the Johnny Miller tournament. I’ve always liked this golf course a lot. I had a lot of fun.”
Boe, a graduate of Buchanan High School in Clovis, said he was focused on trying to keep his drives in the fairways. He was perfect, hitting all 18 greens in regulation.
“I feel like once you start getting in the trees, and you’re out of position … they tuck the pins really hard,” he said. “It’s hard to get close to them. But if you’re in the fairway, and you have a good angle into the green, you can just hit to the fat part of the green and take a lot of pars. The par-5s are usually pretty scoreable. So you’ve got to stay patient.”
Boe was presented with a trophy, a small wine barrel, after his three-shot victory by Roy Edwards, Chairman of the Troon Saguaro Amateur Series and the head men’s golf coach at the University of Colorado, and Joe Jensen, the Vice Chairman of the Troon Saguaro Amateur Series and the Director of Golf at the University of Wyoming.
Boe completed the Grapevine Amateur, which had a field of 84 players, at 9-under 207.
He had six birdies in the final round. He birdied the par-5 fifth hole, par-4 sixth hole, par-4 eighth hole, par-5 ninth hole, par-4 12th hole and par-5 16th hole.
“I just tried to let my driver do the work, just keep putting the ball in the fairway, and keep hitting the greens,” said Boe, 21. “I hit 18 greens today, so it made it a lot easier for me. A lot of the pin placements were tough, so I tried not to be too aggressive on my putts, just kind of keep it in the fairway, hit the green and let the birdies come. I just happened to hit every green, so it made it a little bit easier.”
He was also pretty darn good with his putter on the greens.
He hit No. 5 green on his second shot, a 3-wood from 250 yards. He two-putted from 20 feet for birdie.
“No. 5 was probably my best drive of the day. The 3-wood I hit into the green was probably my best shot of the day,” said Boe. “I smoked it and it just kept turning, right into the green. That’s a tough hole.”
He birdied No. 6, sinking a putt from eight feet.
He made a 20-foot putt for birdie on No. 8.
He chipped to a foot of the pin on No. 9 and made the birdie putt.
He drained an 18-foot putt for birdie on the 12th hole.
He hit No. 16 green in two with a 3-iron and then two-putted for birdie from 35 feet.
“(Thursday) I didn’t putt as well. I still hit it pretty good. And then today, I putted really well,” said Boe.
“I hit my irons and wedges really well. None of my drives were too far out of position. I was in the rough out there, but I didn’t really have any tough shots in the trees.
“The wedges spun back a lot. You really had to control your spin to get close to a lot of these pins. I feel like I kind of did that well all week. I really hit my wedges well.”
Boe opened the Grapevine Amateur on Wednesday, Dec. 28 with a 3-under 69 and trailed the leader, Ryan Meyer, of Oakdale, by one shot. Boe was among a group of four players who were tied for second place in the first round. He had eight birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey on his card.
Boe shot an even-par 72 in the second round on Thursday, Dec. 29. He was tied with Nikolai Friedman of Mill Valley, one shot behind Firpo going into the last round.
Each round was played on the North Course. The final round had a 9 a.m. shotgun start.
“I knew today that I could go pretty low, because I’ve made a lot of birdies so far. And if I just clean up a couple of the mental mistakes, that I would be able to score well, and that’s what I did today,” said Boe, who is majoring in marketing and advertising.
“I definitely hit it shorter off the tee. But if you just keep it in the fairway, you have a lot of short irons and wedges. Since the pins are tucked, you really have to be in the fairway so you can control your spin into the pins. And that was kind of my goal today: just a lot of drivers, hit as many fairways as possible, and just stay patient.”
The Grapevine Amateur is a world-amateur ranked event. A player must have a handicap index of 3.0 or better to play in the Open Amateur tournament.
According to its website, www.troon.com:
“The Troon Saguaro Amateur Series, founded in 2017, is a circuit of amateur golf tournaments providing high-level amateurs, college players, juniors and Troon-facility club champions a chance to compete throughout the year. All Series events are World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and Scratch Player World Amateur Ranking (SPWAR) ranked events. Each event winner and top point earners will earn exemptions into the season-ending Saguaro Amateur at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes (Maricopa, Arizona).”
The Grapevine Amateur is the 10th tournament in the 2022-23 Troon Saguaro Amateur Series. This marks the fourth year of the Grapevine Amateur at Silverado.
During the fall season for Cal State Fullerton, Boe finished:
* Tied for 28th place at the Oregon State Invitational in Corvallis.
* Tied for 25th place at the Ram Masters Tournament in Fort Collins, Colorado.
* Tied for 61st place at the Nick Watney Invitational in Kingsburg, Calif. (Fresno County).
* Tied for 72nd place at the Visit Stockton Invitational.
“I’ve been struggling with my swing a little bit in the last year,” said Boe, who plays out of Belmont Country Club in Fresno. “This fall, I didn’t play as well as I wanted to. But in the last month and a half or so, my game has really started to come around.
“I knew I was playing well coming into this. So, it means a lot just to reaffirm how I feel about my game. It feels really good.
“I just want to be consistent. I just want to stay in the top-20 each week. That’s my goal. Even when I don’t have my best stuff, to just kind of grind it out and stay around that top-20 number.”
Temperatures were in the high 50s, and cloudy, rainy and windy during the final round. Tournament officials moved water off the 18th green with a squeegee.
The forecast from AccuWeather, Inc., on Friday, Dec. 30, at www.accuweather.com, was for periods of rain, breezy in the afternoon, with winds at 14 mph out of the south-southwest, and wind gusts at 25 mph.
Jensen and Edwards worked very closely during the week with David Walter, the Director of Agronomy at Silverado, and Kyle Harrigan, the golf course superintendent for the North Course, and Silverado’s golf department. The shotgun start for the final round was moved up an hour.
“It’s been great to be able to work with these guys and put a plan together,” said Jensen. “Having such a great agronomy team and staff here, you can wake up each morning and put a plan together.
“We do 11 of these events, and the most important thing for us is to have an event. These kids are into their back nine. They want to finish a tournament.”
Lift, clean and place was in effect for all three rounds.
“Getting your ball in hand, cleaning it off, getting yourself a good lie does help the player,” said Jensen.
“Dealing with rain, your umbrella, dealing with wind, dealing with the process, it does add another element.
“These greens, the kids have said they’re still rolling well. The rules officials are doing a great job.”
Firpo (69-71-70 – 210) took second.
Edan Cui of Atherton (75-70-69 – 214) was third.
Tying for fourth was Brandon Knight of Pleasanton (72-71-72 – 215) and Mason Benbrook of Carmichael (73-70-72 – 215).
Tying for sixth was Nikolai Friedman of Mill Valley (69-72-76 – 217) and Michael Burry of Saratoga (72-70-75 – 217).
Tying for eighth was Riley Bell of Yuba City (69-75-74 – 218) and Brady Siravo of Sacramento (73-71-74 – 218).
Ben Friedman of Mill Valley (71-73-75 – 219) was 10th.
In September, Parker Mapes won the Silverado Amateur, shooting 10-under-par 206. Mapes is from Pleasanton and plays for Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo as a sophomore.
In other recent Troon Saguaro Amateur Series events:
* Max Herendeen of Bellevue, Washington, won the inaugural Coachella Amateur at Terra Lago Golf Course on the North Course at Indio, Calif.
* Connor Williams of Escondido, Calif., won the Agave Amateur at Shadow Hills Golf Club in Indio, Calif.
* Dalton Dean of Lynnwood, Washington, won the Desert Amateur at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona.
* Griffin Rhoads of Huntington Beach, California, won the Gobbler Amateur at Sewailo Golf Club, in Tucson, Arizona.
The Troon Saguaro Amateur Series continues with the Sonoran Amateur, Jan. 1-4, at Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Arizona.