Las Vegas, Nev. (June 29, 2016)–There might not be a more historic state amateur out there than the California State Amateur. The tournament was created in 1912, but never before in the history of the event had two brothers won it and that is what happened when UNLV rising junior Shintaro Ban won it recently, a year after his brother Shotaro. Ban won the final 5&4 over Hidetoshi Yoshihara at Valencia Country Club. –By Brian Hurlburt.
Ban birdied three of the last four holes on Saturday and beat UCLA-bound golfer Hidetoshi Yoshihara 5 & 4 to win the final.
“I came into this event having played two tournaments in the past two weeks, so I just came in thinking ‘try and do your best,’” said Ban via SCGA.org. “It’s definitely hard on your endurance, especially out here in this heat, but I can’t believe this is really happening.”
Ban finished the stroke play portion of the tournament tied for fourth.
“I am very proud of Shintaro for his win today at the California State Amateur,” UNLV men’s golf head coach Dwaine Knight said. “That event features a long history of great champions, including his brother last year.”