Waldorf Falls to Fifth Place in Golf Finale

For the first two rounds of the Pacific Coast Amateur Golf Championship, it was all Cuff and Duff.

That was before Friday when Duffy Waldorf of Tarzana was bluffed on the back nine, Ed Cuff Jr. of La Mesa was handcuffed with five bogeys, and the duo’s dominance was altogether snuffed.

Cuff and Waldorf faded to fourth and fifth place, respectively, in the 72-hole tournament at the Los Angeles Country Club Friday as Greg Bruckner, 25, of Manhattan Beach won in a playoff from Timothy Robinson of Palo Alto.

Cuff, Waldorf, Bruckner and Robinson had entered Friday in a four-way tie for first.

Bruckner and Robinson each shot a 72 on the final round to finish with four-day totals of 286. Bruckner captured the tournament on the first extra hole, chipping in with a four.

“After the second day when I was four strokes out, I didn’t feel real good,” said Bruckner, who has also won the Southern California Public Links and West Coast Amateur tournaments.

“But on the third day,” he said, “I had a good score (69), had moved into a four-way tie for first and I knew I had a chance.”

Brad Greer of Huntington Beach was third with Cuff at 287. Waldorf was fifth at 289.

Waldorf, 22, took the lead in Tuesday’s first round with a 3-under 68, two strokes ahead of Cuff. In the second round, Waldorf faltered with a triple-bogey 7 on the fifth hole but came back with a 34 on the back nine, including eight pars and a final-hole birdie.

Waldorf and Cuff emerged from the second round tied for first.

In Friday’s round, Waldorf did well on the front side, shooting a 1-over 37. But he had trouble on the back nine, bogeying the ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th holes. Waldorf went into those holes shooting par and emerged four strokes over par.

“I wasn’t quite as sharp the last two days as I was the first two,” Waldorf said. “There’s more pressure and my game just wasn’t as good.

“I was chipping and putting better in the first two rounds. Last few days, I’ve been forcing my shots, trying to hit the ball closer since my putting wasn’t good and the greens were rough.”

Waldorf’s performances on the first two days, however, did get him more than fifth place. Along with Southern California Public Links teammates Bruckner and Oliver Rheinfurth, of North Hollywood, Waldorf won the Morse Cup Team Matches.