NCGA Vol 22

Matt Bettencourt's Triumphant Return to Amateur Golf Culminates With Player of the Year Honors

BY ADAM BRADY

It was a year ago last fall that Matt Bettencourt first put the plan in motion, when he decided to be NCGA Player of the Year. For Bettencourt, being recognized as the best player in Northern California wasn't so much a goal - it was more like an expectation.

"I've always felt like I have the confidence to be the best player in Northern California," Bettencourt says. "I feel every time I step up to the first tee, I'm the best player and I can win. I don't play for second place. I think it's very important to have confidence like that."

Words like those may border on arrogance if it weren't for the fact that in 2001, Bettencourt proved that he indeed can win every time. But that wasn't necessarily true during a mostly mediocre, two-year stint as a professional, a life path he took as a youth rather than playing collegiate golf. Bettencourt could have had his pick of several top programs following a successful high school and junior golf career, in which his wins included the 1991 NCGA junior Championship, the 1993 NCGA/CIF High School Championship and the 1994 NCGA Sacramento Valley Championship.

Instead the Modesto native jumped straight to the pros, commencing a long struggle on the Nike (now Buy.com) Tour and the Golden State Tour. But his once remarkable game never quite came together on the play-for-pay circuit and he soon found himself yearning for the comfort of the amateur side.

"I was too young and thought I was good enough," Bettencourt recalls. I honestly wasn't ready, physically and mentally. I wasn't playing well and really started to miss amateur golf."

After waiting the mandatory time period to regain his amateur status, Bettencourt started playing points tournaments around Northern California in the fall of 2000. After playing well enough to win three events (including two with constant four ball partner and fellow Modesto native Jon DeChambeau) he knew he was back where he belonged. Soon, he was setting goals for himself that would undeniably affirm his comeback, and that included the coveted NCGA Player of the Year honor.

He was well on his way early in 2001, winning a number of points events both on his own and with DeChambeau. But the climax came in August at the NCGA Amateur Championship at Spyglass Hill, where Bettencourt rolled through an impressive list of opponents, then dismantled Scott Hardy, 6 and 5, in the 36‑hole final match.

Bettencourt, who had last played in the Amateur as an 18 year old in 1993, called it "the biggest win I've ever had without a doubt. To win our golf association's championship is absolutely unbelievable."

Two weeks later, he would pick up another big win, in the NCGA Sacramento Valley Championship at The Ridge GC. It was his first time playing tournament since he won it in 1994 as a 21 year old.

Bettencourt's blend of a disturbingly long driver game with precise chipping and putting produced a staggering resume for 2001 that included 10 wins and seven runner‑up finishes, many of which came with partner DeChambeau. At the Oct. I close of the 2001 points season.

Bettencourt had racked up an astonishing 2,028 points, shattering the record of 1,865 set by Terrence Miskell in 1986. How's this for domination? Bettencourt's margin of victory over runner-up James Hay of Diablo Grande was 820 points, more than the total points scored by all but five players.

"To set that record by a couple hundred points, it really kind of blew me away," Bettencourt says. "That was just really special. We have the strongest golf association in the world and anyone will tell you that. To go out and be Player of the Year and set the points record is very special."

He'd like nothing more than to do it again in 2002, and he already got off to good start following the official start of the new points season. He took the Livermore City for the second straight year, won the Sacramento City by a mere six shots and he and DeChambeau repeated at the Riverbend Two-Man and the Fresno City Two-Man.

But even a second consecutive NCGA Player of the Year honor (a feat only accomplished once since 1974) wouldn't sway Bettencourt from his ultimate goal to take another shot at playing for a living.

"I would miss amateur golf again, but to do something you've always dreamed about is the goal and I've always dreamed about playing on the PGA Tour," says Bettencourt, who plans on making a run at Tour qualifying in the fall. "And I'm so much stronger mentally now than I was the first time."

With the rules changes set forth by the USGA last year, Bettencourt won't lose his amateur status if he fails to qualify for the Tour. But he's hoping he won't need that safety net. Actually he's almost certain he won't.

"I know I can do it," Bettencourt says. "I believe in myself and I believe I can compete with anybody out there. I'm proud of what I've accomplished but there's so much more on the table."