The return of the Long Beach Open Golf Tournament after a COVID-induced hiatus after 2019 was a welcomed event for the players, and probably could not have ended in a more exciting way. The final day of the El Dorado Park Golf Course event came down to a sudden-death playoff that was won on the first hole by Compton resident and St. John Bosco alum, Aaron Grimes.
Epson, a Long Beach native, who played at Long Beach Wilson High and Pepperdine University, went into the final day trailing the leaders (including Grimes) by two strokes. But Epson stormed out to take the lead with four birdies on the front nine and four more on the back nine. Epson finished the round with a lead, but a bogey on 17 cracked the door open for Grimes, who birdied 16 and 18 to force the playoff.
Grimes was out after their drives, and Grimes hit a beautiful second shot that stuck the green about 15 feet from the hole. Epson also hit the green, but his ball rolled just off the back of the green, leaving him about a 20-footer or so from the apron. His first putt was just wide and rolled several feet past the hole.
Grimes had a chance to close it out, but his putt also slid just wide and he tapped it in for a birdie. Epson needed to make his next putt to force another playoff, but his attempt skirted just wide of the hole, sending Grimes into a celebration with his supporters.
“I was really happy, I’ve been grinding for a win, my first big win,” Grimes said.
Grimes had a good size crowd of friends and family, as well as some former coaches and teammates from St. John Bosco High. He has played the tournament several times since turning pro and when he came into the final day with a share of the lead, he said his thoughts were focused on playing aggressively.
“I just told myself to take advantage of this moment,” Grimes said.
The return of the event was welcomed by a full field of players, many returners and some making their pro debuts.
Huntington Beach High graduate Brett Bennett was tied with the leaders at 200 heading into the final round. He finished with a 68 and tied for third in the final standings. He was tied with David Longmire of Arcadia, who played collegiately at UC Irvine. They finished regulation two strokes behind Grimes and Epson.
One stroke behind them, was a four-way tie for fifth place. The group included former Long Beach State golfer Joe Fryer and Cal State Fullerton’s Trevor McNary, who was top amateur in the field.
Longmire shot a 65 in the final round, with a bogey on eight as the only blemish on his day. Longmire had played the Long Beach Open twice before, but missed the cut both times. He said once he made the cut this time, he felt a relief of pressure and it helped his play in the final two rounds.
“Once we made it, we’re like, all right, let’s, you know, let’s give it a run, you know stress-free the last two days we’re in the cut, let’s play some golf,” Longmire said.
And he was randomly paired with his brother Daniel, who was four strokes behind the leaders heading into the final round. Daniel struggled in his final round, but gave the spectators a jolt on eight with a hole in one.
For the local pros, most seemed happy to have the LB Open return. Fryer came to Long Beach after high school in Seattle to play for Long Beach State. He played the event a couple of times as an amateur and has now played a few as pro. He played fairly steady, carding six-under 65s on the second and fourth days.
“Nothing amazing, but just okay, good control of the ball, I put in the right spots and then made some putts, really,” Fryer said of his final round.
Buena Park native David Kim, started hot and led the field after the cut to 62 players. Kim shot 64 on both of the first days for a tournament lead of 128 heading into the weekend. Teegan Andrews was the No. 2 amateur finisher, after shooting a 65 on the final day. Andrews just finished his senior season at Cal State Fullerton, where he was the Big West Conference Player of the Year. He was tied for 14th with another Long Beach State amateur, Clay Seeber and two pros, Christian Rajcic and Vijay Srinivasan.
