The 30th Long Beach Open featured a pair of steady performances down the stretch, and a pair of charitable checks for the local golf community. Jered Stone (pictured) won the $175,000 four-day tournament at El Dorado Golf Course and Skylinks Golf Course while Long Beach State senior Joe Fryer was the top amateur finisher.
After the final round at El Dorado on Sunday the Long Beach Golf Festival was able to donate $1,500 to Long Beach State women’s golf and $3,000 to the Partners Of Parks. They also inducted Phil Barlow and Patrick Cantlay into the Long Beach Golf Hall Of Fame.
Fryer continued his successful summer by finishing the tournament 13-under par, five strokes ahead of Wilson High alum Tory Edwards. He only had three bogies over the final three rounds.
Fryer won the 119th Southern California Golf Association Amateur Championship earlier this month, and will be a senior at LBSU this year. The season opens Sept. 17 at the Ram Masters Invitational in Colorado. Fryer was named Big West Conference first-team as a junior after winning the Big West Golfer of the Month twice.
A 10-under par day in the second round of the LB Open gave Jered Stone a lead he would not relinquish. The Corral De Tierra, Ca. native started the final round on Sunday at El Dorado Park Golf Course with a pair of bogies, but didn’t make another one down the stretch to win the last of eight Long Beach Golf Festival events this summer.
Stone, 26, played consistently and made par on 26 of the final 36 holes. He also took advantage of the par fives. In the second round at Skylinks Golf Course, Stone’s eagle on the par-5 15th hole was key to him taking the lead. He also had an eagle on the par-5 10th hole at El Dorado in the third round, and birdied the last three par fives of the final round, including on the final hole. Stone finished 23-under par and finished three strokes ahead of Brent Grant, Colin Featherstone and Cristobal Del Solar.
Lakewood’s Brett Lederer was the top local finisher at 15-under par, and Lakewood’s Brian Gonzales finished at even par. Gonzales lost to David Oh in a playoff that finished the 2003 LB Open. The last Long Beach golfer to win the LB Open was Peter Tomasulo in 2005.
Photos By Stephen Dachman
