By MARTY JAMES
Markus Nanpei put an exclamation mark on his final round at the Antioch City Amateur Championship on Sunday, as he drove the green in regulation and made the eagle putt from five feet on the par-4 18thhole, capping a spectacular 6-under-par 66 round as he won the championship flight at Lone Tree Golf Club.
Nanpei, a sophomore at Napa Valley College who plays on the Storm men's golf team, shot a 10-under-par 134 total for the two-day (Aug. 19-20), 36-hole tournament, and won by a two-shot margin over Easton Doyle.
The Antioch City Amateur is an official Northern California Golf Association points event and had three flights: championship, senior (55-and-over), super senior (65-and-over).
The championship flight also included Napa Valley College's Max Taylor, who tied for 11th place.
"It was a great experience. It was a real challenging battle today, between me and Easton. He put up a really good fight," said Nanpei.
Nanpei took a one-shot lead into the final hole of regulation.
"I was one up going into the last hole. Easton was one back from me. He hit this really nice shot, to 30 yards from green. I thought he's going to make birdie. So, if I wanted to win, I thought I just had to take driver and try to make birdie, too," said Nanpei.
Nanpei did even better than that.
He reached the par-4, 330-yard 18thhole in regulation, bombing a driver, to just five feet of the cup.
"I left it right in the heart of the hole. Actually, it was just pretty cool," said Nanpei. "A lot of adrenaline going on.
"I've been practicing a lot, trying to get as many reps as possible, and playing a lot recently."
Nanpei's eagle putt, he said, was slightly uphill and straight away.
He had five birdies, just one bogey and the eagle on his card.
Lone Tree Golf Club is a par-72, 6,300-yard layout in Contra Costa County.
Nanpei hit 12 greens in regulation in the final round.
"I was struggling quite a bit with my driver today. But I was able to capitalize on some of the easier holes out there and my chipping was pretty good. I didn't hit as many greens as I would like today, but my chipping saved me today. So, that's pretty good," he said. "I had to get up and down in order to keep that low score."
Nanpei turned to his short game – short-iron shots and putting – to keep him on the leaderboard and in contention.
"I was really comfortable with my 58-degree (wedge) around the greens," he said. "I've been comfortable with it throughout all my tournaments."
Nanpei was tied for second place after shooting a 4-under-par 68 in the first round. He had five birdies and a bogey.
The first-round leader was Doyle, who opened with a 66.
"Right off the bat, when he came in the first day, I saw Markus on the leaderboard, and I was immediately going well, he has an excellent shot at winning the championship the next day, because a 4-under round to start it off is really nice," said Taylor. "He's sitting in a perfect spot from the beginning to really make something happen."
Taking second place was Doyle, 66-70 – 136.
In third place was Michael Vera, 68-70 – 138.
In fourth place was Brett Viboch, 72-67 – 139.
Tying for fifth place was Logan Green, 72-71 – 143, and Keanu Phillips, 71-72 – 143.
Taylor shot 73-76 – 149, 5-over-par. He had two birdies in the first round and two birdies in the second round.
"The course played really well, with how they set it up," said Taylor.
Nanpei and Taylor will play in the 2023 Concord City Amateur, September 2-3, at Diablo Creek Golf Course.
"Getting in as much tournament play as we can is huge, just to be in the field and competing with other great players in the area. That's what you've just got to get into," said Taylor.
"It's just being consistent. It's not the greatest shooting what I've shot these two days, but it's just nice getting out in the tournament field. In preseason practices before the actual season begins, it's just to get a leg up on everyone else. And it's also really fun to go out and play with your teammate. It's definitely good stuff."
The NVC men's team plays in the spring, with the season starting in January.
Nanpei had an outstanding first season of college golf for NVC.
He was selected to the All-Big 8 Conference team.
He won the individual title at the 2023 California Community College Athletic Association Northern California Regional Championship, shooting 68-74 – 142, in the two-day, 36-hole event at Castle Oaks Golf Club in Ione (Amador County). The Storm placed third in the team scoring.
Nanpei also tied for 11th place individually, helping NVC to a fourth-place finish at the 2023 California Community College Athletic Association State Championships at Dragonfly Golf Club, in Madera. He had rounds of 71 and 72 for a two-day total of 143.
* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.