The Preserve Golf Club readies for Stocker Cup competitors!

Photo credit Joann Dost

After a one-year pandemic hiatus, The Preserve Golf Club is preparing for the 29th annual Stocker Cup, October 21-23.

Two-time Stocker Cup champion, Joseph Deraney, of Belden, Miss., will return to defend his title, as will another two-time winner and 2018 Champion, John Sawin of Pebble Beach. The field also includes 2019 runner-up Tug Maude, who just weeks ago fired 63 in the final round to win the Pennsylvania Mid-Amateur title. Jason Anthony (Fairfield, Calif.) is returning fresh off a run to the semi-finals at the Crump Cup at Pine Valley. Anthony finished T6 in the 2019 Stocker Cup.

Three members of the 2021 field advanced to match play at the U.S. Mid-Amateur in September:  Jeronimo Esteve (Miami, Florida), 2019 4th place finisher Colby Harwell (San Antonio, Texas), and Stephen Hale of Bakersfield. Hale, a former Cal Berkeley standout, also qualified for the U.S. Amateur earlier this year. Harwell advanced all the way to the quarterfinals.

The 54-hole individual competition features a simultaneous best-ball event, similar to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The 48 invited Mid-Amateur players are either paired with a single digit amateur or can propose their own partner to be introduced and invited by the Committee.

“We are thrilled to have the Stocker Cup return,” said head golf professional Riley Ramones, who will be hosting his first Stocker Cup since joining The Preserve’s professional staff April 1st of this year.  “Our course is ready to welcome these fine amateur competitors and with the current firm and fast conditions of our Santa Ana Hybrid Bermudagrass fairways, the players are in for a great challenge.”

The Stocker Cup was founded in 1991 to honor the memory of Peter Stocker, a real estate developer who was one of the partners behind the creation of Santa Lucia Preserve and considered “the quintessential amateur golfer.”

The Preserve Golf Club is a highly regarded Tom Fazio Design, rated by Golf Digest among America’s top 200 golf courses. For the Stocker Cup, the course will be set up to approximately 7100 yards.  This year’s event will feature “at the turn” scoring powered by Golf Genius, AmateurGolf.com, and the NCGA. Those results can be streamed at www.stockercup.com starting Thursday, October 21.

The Preserve Golf Club is located within the Santa Lucia Preserve, a private community of only 297 home sites situated on 20,000 acres – approximately one and a half times the size of Manhattan – and the only community in America with a perpetually endowed, 18,000-acre nature conservancy. In the heart of the Monterey Peninsula, The Santa Lucia Preserve provides its residents and members with a range of recreational opportunities second to none, while offering a unique ethos of community, culture, and conservation.

For additional information on The Preserve Golf Club or Santa Lucia Preserve, access the web site at www.santaluciapreserve.com or call (833) 620-6768.