by The Bakersfield Californian , The Bakersfield Californian

The SCGA won the competition 23.5 to 12.5 in the two-day affair that pitted 12 SCGA amateurs against 12 SCPGA professionals in four-ball and foursomes matches.

The SCGA won the four-ball matches on the first day 12.5 to 5.5 to build a sizeable lead and then won the foursomes matches on the final day 11-7 for the final tally.

Some of the SCGA members included 2008 SCGA Champion Kevin Marsh, Tim Mickelson (yep, Phil's brother), multiple SCGA winner John Pate and Robert Funk and David Bartman, who teamed to win the 2006 SCGA 4-Ball Championship and the 2007 SCGA Foursomes title.

The special guests were Mark Johnson for the SCGA and Len Kennett for the SCPGA.

Johnson holds more SCGA titles than any player in the history of the SCGA and was a force on the PGA Senior Tour over the last 5-10 years.

Kennett, a longtime professional, was honored for his years of service and his devotion to junior Golf.

SIX-WORD ESSAY WINNER TO PLAY BETHPAGE BLACK

So, how would you like to play Bethpage Black, the site of the 2009 USGA U.S . Open ? And you would get to play with Michael Jordan and two other yet-to-be-named celebrities.

All you have to do is win the essay contest and it shouldn't take you very long to write it. You see, the USGA/Golf Digest U.S . Open Challenge winner will be chosen from all of the entries in the 6-word essay. Yep, you read that right. A six-word essay on why you should represent the average amateur golfer.

Last year, the winner was 8-handicapper John Atkinson, a cancer survivor, who wrote about what the game has meant to him. He got to play the Torrey Pines Golf Club South Course in a U.S . Open set-up to see if an amateur could break 100.

His playing partners were Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who sported a 2.2 index, entertainer Justin Timberlake who came in with a 6.0 index and NBC Today Show host Matt Lauer, whose index was 6.2.

Romo had the day's best round at 84, while Timberlake shot 98, Lauer 100 and Atkinson 114.

Expect the same at Bethpage Black. I'm guessing that Jordan will shoot in the 80s and if any of the others have more than a single digit index, they definitely won't break the 100 barrier.

It's a great concept, though. To watch ordinary amateur golfers try to manage their way around a U.S . Open Golf course. It only re-affirms just how good those guys we see play on TV really are.

Log onto gdopencontest.com to submit your six-word essay entry, but don't take too long writing it!

CHRISTMAS WISHES

Every year in the last column before Christmas, I list a few Christmas wishes that hopefully the fat man in the red suit will make come to fruition.

This year, there are only a few, but I'd like to see more girls playing Golf, so that the Bakersfield College and CSUB Golf teams can keep going and become competitive year in and year out. It would be nice to see BC be a pipeline to CSUB with local talent.

How about bringing back the San Joaquin Valley Masters at Rio Bravo CC. It's been out of the loop for three years now in the Sports Authority/Michelob Light Player of the Year Series. Along those same lines, it would be nice to see Saint Nick put a tournament for the series at Seven Oaks too.

And finally, how about a complete recovery for Tiger Woods. The PGA Tour just isn't the same no matter what anyone says. Hopefully Woods will be ready for the US Open at Bethpage.

CHIP SHOTS

--Don't forget that the winner of the 2008 Pro Shop Golf "Performance of the Year" will be announced in next week's column, the last for 2008. The winner will receive a $100 gift certificate from Pro Shop Golf and a plaque from Tee to Green.

Tee to Green appears weekly at Bakersfield.com. You can reach Gautney at rgautney@bak.rr.com

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