Before heading to the U.S. Open Amateur Championship, Grand Canyon golfer Matthew Diehl continued his hot summer by leading the Southern California Golf Association Amateur Championship for two rounds and finishing in a tie for ninth place Thursday.
Diehl, who will be returning to GCU for his sophomore season, shot 1 under par over four rounds at Torrey Pines Golf Club in La Jolla, California, this week. His opening round of 6-under 66 was one stroke off the 84-player tournament’s lowest score. Diehl, a native of Redlands, Califronia, led after Monday’s first round and maintained that edge with a 4-under 68 on Tuesday when players moved from Torrey Pines’ South Course to the North Course. The final two rounds closed the event on the South Course.
Nixon Lauritizen, who formed a dynamic Lopes freshman duo with Diehl last season, also made the 126th SCGA Amateur Championship cut. His best round came on Monday when he shot 1 under on his way to a 44th-place finish.
Diehl dropped his score as low as 13 under on Wednesday. His best stretches of golf came Monday, when he birdied four of the first seven holes, and Tuesday, when he played a six-hole stretch at 5 under with the boost of a ninth-hole eagle.
After reaching the U.S. Junior Amateur quarterfinals last year, Diehl will head to the U.S. Open Amateur Championship this summer because he earned a spot at U.S. Amateur Final Qualifying earlier this month in Rancho Santa Fe, California. The 125th U.S. Open Amateur Championship will be played Aug. 11-17 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.
Diehl’s and Lauritzen’s sophomore seasons for GCU will open Sept. 19-20 at the William H. Tucker Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
