Demsey Wins S.D. Amateur

When Todd Demsey tapped in a two-foot putt for par on the 18th green at Torrey Pines South to win the 59th San Diego Men’s Amateur Championship golf tournament Sunday, the gallery was small, the air was still and the skies were overcast.

The atmosphere was quite subdued as Demsey of Rancho Santa Fe capped four rounds of professional-quality golf. He shot a final-round 71 on the par-72, 6,706-yard course to finish at five under for the tournament, two shots ahead of Ed Cuff of Rancho Bernardo.

Demsey’s four-round total of 283 was two strokes off the tourney record set by Bryan Gorman in 1986. Demsey entered the final round tied for the lead with Mike Jun of Rancho Penasquitos, who is 19 as is Demsey. But Demsey jumped out to a four-stroke edge after he birdied two and three and Jun double-bogeyed the first hole.

Demsey never trailed in the final round and remained steady, bogeying just two holes, despite the fact that Cuff cut his lead to one twice on the back nine. It was a satisfying weekend for this young champion.

Demsey attends Arizona State on a golf scholarship. His handicap is better than 3.8, but he was redshirted his freshman year by the Sun Devils, the 1990 NCAA champions.

While Demsey came from one shot back to tie Jun with a two-under 70 at Balboa Golf Course Saturday, his teammates finished third in the 1991 NCAAs at Pebble Beach.

Demsey, a former Torrey Pines player who was sixth at the Junior World tournament last year, said he would have preferred the spotlight of the NCAA finals to this victory at home.

And he hinted that Monterey was where he belonged.

“It’s probably a good idea that I was redshirted,” said Demsey, a business major. “It’s going to take me five years to graduate. But my gut was saying I want to be (at Pebble Beach). I tried not to think about it when I was out there.

“I definitely would have been one of their top-five players . . . I’ll probably call my coach (Steve Loy) tonight. But maybe I’ll wait for a few days, until he gets over the NCAAs. He’s probably not very happy.”

Loy will not only learn that the freshman he put on the shelf for 1991 is now San Diego’s top amateur, but he out-performed San Diego’s most celebrated amateur: Phil Mickelson.

Mickelson, the former San Diego Section champ, reigning national amateur titlist and 1991 Tucson Open winner, shot a 289 at Pebble Beach and failed to win a third consecutive NCAA title, which would have tied him with Texas’ Ben Crenshaw.

Mickelson tied for fourth after shooting 74, 70, 70 and 75 Saturday at the par-72, 6,865-yard Poppy Hills course. Back home, Demsey carded rounds of 74, 68, 70 and 71.

“It would have been fun playing against Phil,” Demsey said. ‘(The NCAAs) would be a true test. But it’s nice to be playing here, on the same level as (four-time defending champion) Pat Duncan.

“I’ve beaten Phil. But I can count (the number of times) on one hand. He beats me just about every time.”

Demsey’s amateur title came 13 days after his 19th birthday, but he’s not the youngest player to win this tournament. Jack Renner and Craig Stadler, two successful PGA players, did it at 18.

Second-place finisher Cuff, who won this tournament as a 19-year-old when he entered for the first time 10 years ago, pressured Demsey when he birdied three of the first 10 holes. He trailed by one when he committed his first bogey on the par-three, 209-yard 11th. He went on to bogey twice more on the back nine.

But Cuff, 29, competing in his first four-day event since 1986, seemed to be playing for the pure fun of it. While Demsey used teaching pro Rick Reinmuth (whose brother is Mickelson’s personal mentor) as his caddie, Cuff enlisted his wife, Kathleen.

“I remember when I won at 19, I was excited about golf,” said Cuff, now a factory representative for a chicken wire maker. “It was a good summer.”

Madison High graduate Jun, who plans to redshirt at San Diego State next year, didn’t have much fun Sunday. He wound up third at 289, carding a five-over 77 after his disastrous first hole. Five-time champion Duncan, 35, shot 73 to finish eight strokes back at 291. He tied for fourth with Jim Peters, who shot a 71.

“I don’t know what it was; I couldn’t get anything going today,” said Jun, who had a great tee shot then planted his second shot behind a tree on the opening hole.