Fresno City Amateur Golf Championship back for 93rd year, and on a hallowed date

The 93rd Fresno City Amateur Golf Championship, knocked off its usual Memorial Day weekend schedule because of coronavirus pandemic restrictions, is on for the Father’s Day weekend normally reserved for the U.S. Open.

The rescheduled City Am keeps an amazing run going. The Bee started the tournament in 1928 and it hasn’t skipped a year. The first 12 City Ams were split between Sunnyside and Fort Washington country clubs before moving to the newly opened Fresno Municipal Golf Course (now Riverside) in 1939, according to central San Joaquin Valley golf historian Bill Finn. He started as tournament chairman in 1972 and now is chairman emeritus.

This year’s championship will be condensed from its usual three-day run at Riverside to Saturday and Sunday, Finn said. There will be split tee times, 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. from both the No. 1 and No. 10 tees.

Danny Paniccia is back to defend his championship won last year with several tournament records. It was his fifth City Am title. The field of 159 scratch golfers from all over the state includes nine past champions representing 16 total titles, Finn said.

Tournament updates are posted at fresnocityamateur.com.

The U.S. Open at Winged Foot in New York will be played Sept. 17-20.