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‘All in all, a great day’ for Davison

Open field

 

Following up on my recent “Open Field” about Richard Davison, “Golf Notes” columnist for the Sonoma Index-Tribune, who after his collegiate golfing days as an All-American and an NCAA Division II district player of the year at the University of California, Davis, was being inducted into the UC Davis Golf Hall of Fame.

On Monday, Aug. 29, in Davis, the esteemed honor was bestowed on Richard at a banquet and ceremony that followed a fundraising alumni tournament.

To no surprise for anyone who knows and has played golf with Richard – an all-league and All-Empire standout at Sonoma Valley High School before his All-American career at UC Davis – that the “kid” from Northern Ireland who turned his golfing dream into reality after coming to the United States, would win-over the day.

While becoming the 15th Aggie golfer elected to the hall, Richard hauled in all the awards at the ceremony and banquet, including the prestigious Carlson Cup for winning the individual tournament, the Hall of Fame plaque, and the team-bag for capturing the team event.

“The alumni tournament was great and the induction ceremony was excellent, also,” Richard said. “What made it even better was I won the individual tournament, the Carlson Cup, and the team event – all in all, a great day.”

Richard’s “great day” on the links was reminiscent of his honored UC Davis career, where he was the freshman of the year in 1994, the Aggie’s captain and its most valuable player with the team’s lowest stroke average in ’95, ’96 and ’97.

In 1996, Richard – a two-time Southern Intercollegiate champion at Torrey Pines Golf Course – earned his All-American status after leading UC Davis to the first of two straight appearances in the NCAA Division II championships, where in ’97 he was both the Western District 8’s individual champion and player of the year.

Richard – a 1993 SVHS graduate who led the Dragons to a pair of Sonoma County League titles, and was both an SCL individual champion and the Redwood Empire player of the year – also has a UC Davis golf award named after him, the Richard Davison Award, for the player who counts in the most rounds for the team.

After graduating from UC Davis, Richard played on a pro-golfing circuit and was a two-time winner on both the Pepsi Tour and California Tour.

Unfortunately, he fell short of getting through PGA Tour qualifying and Canadian Tour qualifying.

Playing again as an amateur, Richard became the 2010 Santa Rosa city golf champion and keeps his competitive drive in gear as a member of the Sonoma Men’s Golf Association.

Ciao!