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Jason Bittick, of Ladera Ranch, George Gandranata of
Emeryville and Tim Mickelson of San Diego
have been selected to represent California
in the eighth USGA Men’s State Team Championship, to be held September 23-25 at
The Country Club of St. Albans near St. Louis, Mo.
Bittick, 42, who recently participated in his second
consecutive U.S. Amateur Championship, is the 2008 SCGA Foursomes champion,
2009 SCGA Mid-Amateur Championship runner-up, 2009 California State Amateur
Championship quarterfinalist, and the 2009 Costa Mesa City champion. Bittick advanced to match play at last year’s U.S. Amateur
Championship at Pinehurst Resort. Mickelson, 32, is the head coach of the men's golf team at the University
of San Diego and one of the top
mid-amateurs in the country. Mickelson finished eighth at the 2009 Porter Cup, a
national amateur event, in which he beat or tied six of the 2009 Walker Cup
team members. He was a quarterfinalist at the 2007 U.S. Mid-Amateur
Championship and made it to the Round of 32 of the event in 2008. He also was a
participant in the invitation-only 2009 Northeast Amateur Championship.
Gandranata, 23, is a recent graduate of UC-Berkeley, where
he played on the men’s golf team. His impressive summer included winning the
2009 NCGA Amateur Championship at Spyglass Hill, as well as advancing to the
Round of 32 at the 2009 California State Amateur Championship. Gandranata ended
his UC-Berkeley career with a 73.3 stroke average in 139 rounds of play and
received his second team All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention. The biennial USGA Men’s State Team Championship debuted in
1995 in celebration of the USGA’s centennial. The three-day, 54-hole stroke
play event format takes the best two scores of each state's three players over
the three rounds of play. Texas
is the defending champion.
Each state is invited to send its three best players (but
because of NCAA bylaws, college players are ineligible), based on performance
in respective association, city/county and national amateur events. The
California Golf Association, Northern California Golf Association and Southern
California Golf Association collaborate on selecting the team.
Follow the USGA Men’s State Team Championship online at stateteam.org.
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