 Cal Clips
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Former Cal golfer Max Homa has been named the Southern Golf Association's National Amateur of the Month for May. Aside from past U.S. Amateur champions, Homa becomes only the third golfer to become a unanimous selection in the 11-year history of the prestigious award.
Homa had an incredible month in May by becoming the first Cal men's golfer to win NCAA individual medalist honors following a victory at the Pac-12 Championship earlier in the month that made him only the third Golden Bear to win the conference tournament.
Homa finished nine-under par at both events, winning by three strokes at the NCAA's after being tied for 33rd after the first round. Homa shot nine-under par over the final two rounds including a second-round five-under par 65 that tied for Cal's best score ever at the NCAA Championship. In his Pac-12 Championship victory, Homa broke a course record at the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club with a first-round nine-under par 61 and cruised to a five-stroke victory over teammate Michael Weaver.
He got off to a great start in June as well by qualifying for the U.S. Open during sectional qualifying on June 3. He will play in the event with 2012-13 Cal teammates Michael Weaver and Michael Kim.
"Max has been playing great golf of late," Cal head coach Steve Desimone said. "He played great golf to win both the NCAA and Pac-12 titles. It also wasn't just those two events. He also played really well at the Western Intercollegiate and NCAA Pullman Regional, and obviously has kept it going into June by qualifying for the U.S. Open. The SGA is one of the most respected golf organizations in the United States, and this honor is more recognition of just how well Max has been playing."
Homa finished his four-year career at Cal in 2012-13 by earning Division I PING First-Team All-American and All-West Region honors, while also being selected as first-team All-Pac-12. He was the nation's No. 1-ranked player briefly in late September after tying for second in each of Cal's first two events during of the season in the fall of 2012. Homa had six top-five finishes and was in the top 10 on nine occasions, finishing with a 70.56 scoring average while being one of the team's only two players along with Michael Kim to play in all 43 stroke-play rounds. He picked up Pac-12 Player of the Month honors for the second and third times in his career in September of 2012 and April of 2013.
Cal fell to Illinois, 3-2, in the NCAA Championship semifinals last Saturday to end a historic season in which the Bears won 11 of 14 tournaments to set a modern-era NCAA single-season win record previously established by Oklahoma State in 1985-86.
Despite not winning the NCAA title, Cal was still the nation's No. 1 ranked team in the final Golfweek rankings released last Sunday. Cal has been in the spot since shortly after winning its first two tournaments of the campaign.
The semifinal loss did leave the Bears still looking to advance to the NCAA Championship match-play finals for the first time in school history. Cal has a lone NCAA title to its credit in 2004 when the crown was decided with 72 holes of stroke play.
The SGA's Amateur of the Month Award is selected by a national, blue-ribbon panel of golf officials, coaches and journalists. The first two 2013 winners of the March-October award were Stanford's Patrick Rodgers and Chinese teen Masters sensation Guan Tianlang.
