Samiere’s win brings him back to early S.F. years
PJ Samiere spent most of his youth in Hawaii and soon will begin his senior year at San Diego State, so you’d expect his golf memories to flow with sunshine and shorts.
They do, except for his longago days in San Francisco.
Samiere hoisted a large, storied trophy Saturday at the Olympic Club. He charged back from an early deficit to earn a 1-up victory over Noah Norton of Chico, taking the title in the 106th California Amateur Championship.
The win planted Samiere in good company. Past winners of the state amateur include World Golf Hall of Famers Ken Venturi, Gene Littler, Johnny Miller and Mark O’Meara.
Samiere’s triumph carried a nice, full-circle touch. He was born in Japan (his mom, Tomoko, is Japanese), moved to San Francisco at age 2 (his dad, Paul, was born here) and stayed until he was 6.
Paul Samiere introduced his son to golf during those four years, so PJ’s earliest memories on the course are at Harding Park. This was just before the course’s renovation, which explains why he remembered weed-covered fairways, long rough and slow greens.
He also recalled wearing turtlenecks and beanies amid the coastal chill. Samiere often went home cold and wet, because that’s what kids do when they learn to play golf in San Francisco.
“It was a long time ago, so I don’t remember much other than that,” he said.
Paul Samiere became emotional as he reflected on his son’s early exposure to the game, just across Lake Merced from the Olympic Club. Paul wished he had played golf more often as a kid, so he didn’t want PJ to have similar regrets.
“He grew up on the course,” Paul Samiere said. “We were basically at Harding until dark many nights. He was happy to go out there.”
This state amateur thus offered a splash of nostalgia for PJ Samiere, even if his family moved to Hawaii in 2002. He stayed at his aunt’s house in Daly City all week, and his dad doubled as his caddie on the final two days of play.
Saturday’s 36-hole championship match, on a cool if pleasant day, still didn’t start as Samiere hoped it would. Norton, who recently graduated from Pleasant Valley High in Chico and will play at Georgia Tech in the fall, quickly moved ahead 4-up, in part because Samiere made a string of bogeys.
Norton’s lead reached 5-up through 11 holes, but Samiere reminded himself to stay patient. He won the final two holes of the morning round to trim Norton’s lead to 2-up, then won the first two holes of the afternoon round to pull even.
Samiere and Norton traded the lead the rest of the way, playing some impressive golf. Most notably, Norton hit a crazy-good recovery shot on No. 12, threading his approach between a tiny opening in the trees and onto the green.
The match ultimately stood all-square heading to No. 18. Samiere left his 118-yard approach shot only 7 feet from the hole, Norton missed his birdie putt and Samiere converted his to win.
“He has a steely resolve,” Paul said of his son. “Nothing fazes him.”
Samiere hadn’t played at the Olympic Club until a practice round last weekend. But he felt comfortable with the Lake Course’s notorious sidehill lies, mostly because his college team’s home course is San Diego Country Club.
“There are a lot of sidehill lies there, too, so it’s something everyone on the team is really used to,” Samiere said. “It helps us out a lot when we come to courses like this.”
One side note: San Diego Country Club also was the longtime home course of Hall of Famer Billy Casper. Yep, that’s the same Billy Casper who famously chased down Arnold Palmer to win the 1966 U.S. Open — at the Olympic Club.