Hogarth Marches to Final

Tim Hogarth of Chatsworth, clearing an old stumbling block, won two matches Friday to reach the 36-hole final of the 88th California State Amateur championship today on the Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Hogarth, tournament medalist in 1997, rolled through the quarterfinals that year but lost his game during the lunch break and fell in the afternoon semifinals.

This time, he defeated Brian Jones of Chico in the morning quarterfinals, 6 and 4, and kept it going with a 5 and 3 victory over Dong Yi of Alameda.

“After that [1997] morning match, I took a couple of hours off waiting for my semifinal and I just completely lost all feel for the game,” Hogarth recalled.

“I never felt what happened in 1997 was an issue this year. In 1997 I could feel myself losing it, even during [the quarterfinals]. But I’m playing much better this year. I feel I’ve improved every day this week.”

Hogarth, 33, will play Gary Vanier, 48, of Pleasant Hill, 1982 state amateur champion, in the final.

Vanier, who lost to Charlie Wi of Westlake Village in the 1990 final, defeated Dan Arroyo of Berkeley, 1 up, in the quarterfinals and beat John Mallinger of Long Beach, 3 and 2, in the semifinals.

Hogarth shot three-under par 33 on the front nine in the afternoon and Yi, 21, could not recover.

The 1996 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion, Hogarth routed Jones, 19, by shooting two-under for 14 holes.

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