Pasatiempo Golf Club, the Alister MacKenzie design nestled into the coastal foothills in Santa Cruz, was the host course for the 73 rd Western Intercollegiate Golf Championship last week. With Topgolf as the presenting sponsor, San Jose State University as the official tournament host, and Golf Channel as the telecast partner, the elements for complete success were in place.

With a bit of iffy weather on day one, followed by two days of near Chamber of Commerce skies, the thought here is that Kennaday couldn't have been more elated, especially with the pristine coverage offered by the Golf Channel. That Kennaday's Spartan's put on a mad rush for the title was the cherry on top of the cake.

While the Stanford Cardinal, led by long-time coach Conrad Ray -- an NCAA champion as a player and coach -- won the team title and Iasiah Salinda the individual title, the final round was highlighted by 11 (yes, 11!) lead changes among Stanford, San Jose State and California.

 

Stanford shot a 10-under par 340 on the final round to capture the 73rd Western Intercollegiate presented by Topgolf. The Cardinal, first-and-second round leader San Jose State, and Cal traded the team lead 11 times until Stanford gained control on the back nine for the win

   

Cal finished second in the 13-team field. The Golden Bears had a six-under par 1,046 team total, six behind champion Stanford and five ahead of third-place San Jose State, which led after the first and second rounds

 

The weather, television coverage and competition were of the highest order, as was the chicken/avocado club sandwich in the grill, but the real story for this scribe was the social atmosphere of the event. Here are some personal highlights:

 

*  First and foremost, any event that may fall under the auspices of a Sports Information Department led by Lawrence Fan and his staff is going to be done right. Fact: The information flowed and was accurate and fair-minded.

 

*  Standing on the first tee at Pasatiempo, a down-hill par 5 (played as a par 4 for these talented lads) I watched 28 players tee off. At least 20 of them hit the exact middle of the fairway! Believe me, an architect with a protractor and a tee square couldn't have found the middle of the fairway more efficiently than these freakishly-good players. Actually, you could find one of my tee shots and just measure 47 yards to the left. That would about do it, too.

*  Announcing the names on the first tee was a long time asset to golf in Northern California and a dear friend, John Shiro. Shiro showed me some of the names on the list that he had to get through and intimated that he didn't want to let any of the kids down by screwing up their name. He pulled through with flying colors. I am sure that after the last name he bellowed on Wednesday he began drinking heavily. I know I would have.

 

Isaiah Salinda posted scores of 64-68-70=202 and made a birdie putt on the 18th hole in the final round to force a playoff with San Jose State's Sean Yu

Sean Yu had a career best 64 to share the first round lead with Salinda and USC's Justin Suh, and followed up with a 71 and a 67 for his eight-under par 202 total on the par 70 Pasatiempo Golf Club course

 

*  I was able to greet Christian Banke and Nate Jetter, whose fathers, both named Dana, have been friends of mine for decades and both played in the event years ago. Seeing this generational transition suddenly made these 71-year-old legs a little wobbly and in need of a place to sit down.

 

*  As I moved over to watch incoming shots at the par five 9 th hole, I was treated to a double eagle, putts that had 20 feet of break, wedges that spun back off the green, and a flash back to the time I five-putted this green. The thought of waddling over to the 18 th hole suddenly came over me.

 

*  The squeaky clean appearance and demeanor of all of the teams and coaches might have been the biggest take-away from the event. The quality of their respective personalities, integrity and sportsmanship personified what the God-given game can help nurture. I couldn't help but notice that these young men will someday be our leaders who will inspire those who follow. It is a great hope of mine that many of the players from local schools will choose to stay in the area because, selfishly, I like to be surrounded by as many bright, energetic and well-focused people as possible. Should I someday need some sort of surgery, it would be a great comfort to look up to see any of these young men with a scalpel in his hand.

 

Yep, John Kennaday had a vision of what the WI could become and I'm happy to report, in my opinion, that he took something that was great and made it even better. If the reader has a chance to make it down there next year, don't miss it!!  I'll see you there. I'll be the guy in awe of all the drives that hit the fairway.

When the gown-clad Justices of United States Supreme Court determined as unconstitutional the federal ban on sports betting established by the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA), they made sports history: They opened the gates to the sports gambling kingdom.

With legalized sports wagering a reality, experts agree there's plenty of money to be made. By 2023, 32 states could offer regulated sports betting, generating a market worth more than $6 billion in annual revenue (Eilers & Krejcik Gaming). As Big League organizations tread tentatively into this uncharted territory, they'll follow the pioneering trail blazed by Brett Lashbrook, whose USL soccer squad was the first pro sports team to fully embrace sports wagering. Attend a  Las Vegas Lights game and you'll hear an MC encourage attendees to use their mobile devices to bet on almost anything game-related.

Owner and President of the Lights, Lashbrook is bullish on sports wagering's potential to open new revenue streams for lesser leagues.

"We tapped into Vegas' existing sports wagering infrastructure to establish and promote mobile gaming in our stadium," said Lashbrook, whose Lights last year signed a deal with William Hill, a bookmaker based in London, England. He explains that lesser leagues and teams have more flexibility in terms of creating partnerships and experimenting with sports gambling.

While the impact of legalized sports wagering to expand profits for major pro sports leagues is well established and exhaustively discussed, Lashbrook's activities indicate that widespread betting offers "2nd Tier" leagues like the USL and others opportunities to generate new revenue streams and increase team exposure.

According to the  UNLV Center for Gaming Research, in 2017 betting in Nevada on football, basketball and baseball each achieved record highs. Of the overall betting pie, football, basketball and baseball took about 91% combined (36%, 31% and 24%, respectively). The "other" category--hockey, soccer and other sports--comprised a record 9% of 2017 betting.

Increased betting on "other" sports slightly eroded betting on football, basketball and baseball. The end of PASPA will accelerate that trend, making regulated sports gambling widely accessible and spurring unprecedented growth. Because regulated gambling opportunities will expand alongside the growth of regulated gambling venues, gaming experts believe betting on "other" sports will also increase.

Count Lashbrook among those experts: "There absolutely will be a trickle-down effect. Being at the forefront of this trend has generated sponsorship dollars we hadn't anticipated months ago. This is a huge market for all sports," Lashbrook continues. "The concept is the same, only the scale is much bigger."

Lashbrook contends that legalized sports wagering offers lesser leagues and teams three sources to generate revenue:

Lashbrook says more sports wagering will generate more revenue simply because betting is fun: "Gambling makes the game more fun, and we want our fans to have as much fun as possible." Lashbrook's Lights are in the business of monetizing fun, and business is booming.