Valencia’s Nick Delio staved off a comeback from Austin Graham of San Clemente to win the 2009 SCGA Match Play Championship Wednesday at Sandpiper Golf Course in Goleta.
Delio was 3-up with four holes to play, but Graham birdied the 15th and 16th holes to climb to 1-down. Despite finding the greenside rough off the tee on the par-3 18th, Delio hit a deft chip that settled about four inches from the cup for a par, while Graham missed a birdie putt that would have extended the match.
An incoming junior at Cal State-Northridge, Delio reached the final by defeating No. 1 seed Tim Hogarth in the semifinals Wednesday morning. The 19-year-old adds to an impressive résumé that includes a title at last year’s California State Amateur and co-medalist honors in the stroke-play portion of this year's State Amateur.
Graham, an incoming junior at UC-Davis, was seeking his third major tournament title of the summer, having previously won the Long Beach City Championship and the SCGA Amateur Championship in July.
Visit the SCGA's website for complete results and a hole-by-hole summary of the final.
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