Playoff birdie worth the wait

Adam Candee

Friday, July 30, 2004 | 10:56 a.m.

Imagine standing at the first hole for about eight hours waiting to tee off, playing a hole or two and then packing it in for a long drive home.

Four years of golf at the University of Hawaii felt like that to Matt Kodama, who spent his college years in paradise but returned the favor by logging months of travel shuttling between the islands and the mainland for the Warriors. Patience, if not inherent, is learned.

"It's pretty rough because every road trip is (at least) a three-hour time difference," Kodama said.

So when Kodama headed to extra holes in the Nevada State Amateur for the second consecutive year, he didn't mind having to wait a few more minutes to claim a second consecutive championship.

After bogeying the 18th hole to drop into a tie with Chad Fosburg at 5-under, Kodama calmly drilled an 8-foot birdie putt on the first sudden-death playoff hole at Spanish Trail Country Club to win the tournament. After back-to-back rounds of 4-under 68, Kodama ballooned to a 75 in the final round, but came through to win in a playoff for the fourth time in a year.

"I just kind of hung on," Kodama said. "I just hung on enough."

Kodama held off strong charges from all in the final group with him: Fosburg, Kenny Ebalo and Michael Karlburg. Ebalo shot a 1-over 73 and Karlburg fired an even-par 72, placing both a stroke behind the leaders.

Fosburg, a former local prep star who shot 73 on Thursday, just missed a birdie try at No. 18 that would have ended the three-day tournament in regulation. Kodama had sprayed his tee shot right on the hole, forcing him to lay up around the water in front of the green. He then left his approach dangerously short near the lake, only getting into the playoff thanks to an excellent chip to within a couple of feet to salvage the bogey.

"I made it a little interesting," Kodama said with a smile.

That left Kodama and Fosburg to return to the par-4 first hole of the Sunrise Course, where they began their back nine. Both found the well-protected green in two shots, but Fosburg narrowly missed his birdie attempt from about 13 feet to give Kodama his opportunity.

"I thought I hit it hard enough, but apparently, I didn't," Fosburg said of his putt.

Kodama, who grew up in Washington but plays from Nevada after his parents moved here a few years ago, won the 2003 Amateur in a four-way playoff in three holes. He also survived a playoff earlier this year in the BYU Cougar Classic and said he did not feel any nerves going into extra holes.

Kodama and Fosburg will hook up again next week, this time as teammates in Nevada's entry into the Pacific Coast Amateur in Eugene, Ore. Fosburg's second-place showing at the State Amateur continues an excellent run over the past few months, including a win in the City Amateur, and also helped him play his way into the PCA.

"I played good, battled back and I'll take the positive out of it," Fosburg said.

In the net division, Paul Rheinberger shot his third consecutive round of 70 to handily win the tournament by five strokes over Paudie O'Connor and Steven Jeffers.