Colby Thomason wins 89th Fresno City Amateur

On a sunny Memorial Day afternoon at Riverside Golf Course, Colby Thomason felt the heat beating down as he pulled his drive on the 17th hole. It landed in the rough on the right side of the fairway, threatening his one-stroke lead in the 89th Fresno City Amateur Golf Championship.

But the 22-year-old Fresnan kept his cool, recovering soundly with a chip shot that landed about 4 feet from the pin. Thomason sank the birdie putt on the par-4, 383-yard hole and sailed through for a three-shot win with a par at the par-5 18th. He closed with a 1-under-par 71 for a 4-under 212 total.

“It feels great,” Thomason said after exchanging high-fives and hugs with family and friends. “You never know if you’re leading or a couple back. There’s a lot of guys that can make a ton of birdies out here. It felt good to make that birdie on 17 and have an easy 18th with a couple-shot lead.”

Thomason, a 2012 Memorial High School graduate, said the win was for his paternal grandparents, Burnie and Valdene Thomason, who weren’t able to attend the tournament: “They mean a whole lot to me and I want to dedicate this win to those guys.”

Thomason shot a 69 in the second round to enter Monday’s final round at 1-under 141, one stroke behind leader and 2000 champion Jason Higton. The two, along with Bakersfield’s Rich Gilkey, were the last threesome.

But a challenge came from the group in front of them, as Englishman Adam Stone had a booming front nine. Stone, who just finished his sophomore season at Cal State East Bay as the California Collegiate Athletic Association individual champion last month, made six birdies to come within two strokes of the lead before a bogey on the 15th and a double bogey on the 17th.

Higton, who opened the tournament with two 70s, slipped early with bogeys at the fourth and fifth holes that cut his lead to one stroke.

That’s when Thomason jumped in front for good. At the par-5, 546-yard sixth hole, Thomason birdied – his first of four on the day – while Higton parred to swap places on the leaderboard.

Thomason made birdies on the ninth and 12th holes to get to 5 under, two strokes ahead of Stone and three in front of Higton.

But bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes nearly cost Thomason the lead, which shrank to one stroke before he persevered for his first Fresno City Amateur championship in five tries.

“I was putting well,” he said, “and it all came together.”

This story was originally published May 30, 2016 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Colby Thomason wins 89th Fresno City Amateur."