A crowning moment: Valociek wins 101st Arizona Amateur Championship

GILBERT, Arizona (August 23, 2025) — Kobe Valociek went from deflation to elation on the 17th green Saturday during the 101st Arizona Amateur Championship. 

The championship match was tied through 16 when Valociek stamped a tee shot inside 10-feet on the par-3 island green. Sinking the putt would give him a birdie and a 1-up lead over Tucson’s Jorge Parada at Seville Golf & Country Club. 

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“I had a good line on it, there were a couple bumps we were trying to navigate,” Valociek said. “I hit a putt perfect, it was right on my line about 6-inches out. It was dead center… It moves a little right, hits the lip and goes 180 (degrees).”

Valociek watched the ball roll around the cup and stall for a heartbeat. He sat on his heels in disappointment while almost simultaneously, gravity took its course on the ball, sucking it into the hole. 

“I wasn’t even looking and the ball went in,” Valociek joked. His later birdie on No. 18 would officially crown the 22 year old as the 2025 Arizona Amateur Champion. 

Kobe Valociek celebrates a sinking his birdie putt on No. 18 at Seville Golf & Country Club to secure the title as the 2025 Arizona Amateur Champion on Saturday. (Photo by: Camiren Huth)

Following a week of challenging golf in the intense desert heat, the championship came down to Valociek and Parada, battling head-to-head in the sixth round of match play. 

The talent of these golfers shined as the pair traded hole wins on No. 2 and 3, tying eight straight holes thereafter. 

Valociek was first to create separation with a birdie on the par 5 12th hole for a 1-up lead. Ties on holes 13-15 put pressure on Parada who rose to the occasion with a birdie on No. 16 to square things up. 

Valociek remained poised and managed to regain control on No. 17 and 18. He said the key to winning this week was playing steady golf. 

“My worst round all week was a 67,” he explained. “There’s a lot of good players out here so it’s take what you can get, hit your shots and it’s one hole at a time. It’s pretty much a one-hole match 18 times.” 

The week began with 144 of the best amateur golfers Arizona has to offer. After 36-holes of stroke play, the top-64 golfers remained for a match play bracket. Six match play rounds were required to win the title.

Valociek was not playing alone this week. Accompanying him was his father who acted as his caddy and kept him mentally balanced throughout the tournament. 

“It was pretty special to be able to pull this off with him on the bag…” Valociek said. “We talked through a lot of shots and he kept me calm when I needed it and fired me up when I needed it. I really appreciate everything he’s done and it’s cool to get the win and have him on the bag because he gets the win too.”

Jorge Parada (left) congratulates Kobe Valociek for winning the 101st Arizona Amateur Championship at Seville Golf & Country Club on the 18th green. (Photo by: Camiren Huth)

Notable:

• Seville Golf & Country Club served 63 eagles; 1,624 birdies; and 1,047 bogeys-or-worse across the six-day event
• 28 of the 63 matches in the 64-man match play bracket went to the 18th hole — nine of which went to extra holes
• The longest match of the tournament went three extra holes between Landon Ashcraft and Jack Kozlowski — 21 holes in total
• The low round of the tournament goes to 21 year old Jack Dozer with a 10-under round of 62 in Tuesday’s stroke play
• Competitors ranged in ages 15-65

DAY FIVE RECAP: Arizona Amateur Championship final is set — Parada vs Valociek

GILBERT, Arizona (August 22, 2025) — Since age 15, Kobe Valociek has been a staple at the Arizona Amateur Championship. 

But the 22-year-old will be playing Q School tournaments this fall, marking the 101st annual championship, his last tournament as an amateur. On Saturday, he will have the chance to compete for the championship title against Tucson’s Jorge Parada at Seville Golf & Country Club. 

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“This is my last Arizona Am, I turn pro in the fall, so it’s pretty special,” Valociek said. “I’ve played this tournament for eight years now so making a run like this is cool. I’ve been playing solid all week and I’ve just kept my head down and kept chugging away. That’s all I’m going to try to do tomorrow.”

Valociek’s road to the final was not an easy one. He found himself standing on the No. 18 tee box in a tied match in Friday’s semi-final. It was do or die. 

Valociek had little issue carrying the left-side bunker all week on No. 18, but a headwind halted his tee shot to the right edge of the sand, kicking it in. 

Tucked close to the lip, Valociek had to make a decision on laying up or going big. He knew a high 5-iron shot could make it over the lip, he just had to execute. 

“I had perfect contact and landed it 27-feet away,” he said. “That was the best shot I hit all week. It was a phenomenal finish and I executed my shots exactly how I wanted to, so I was happy about that.” 

The No. 10 seeded Valociek won five of his six match play rounds by one hole, including two matches riding to an extra 19th hole. He has proven to himself his ability to pull out wins in close matches. 

Kobe Valociek tee shot at Seville Golf & Country Club during the 101st Arizona Amateur Championship. (Photo by: Corey Cavanaugh) 

Parada’s path to the finals began with a red-hot first round in stroke play on Monday. The 21-year-old rattled off a 9-under (63) round featuring 11 birdies — the most of any single round in the tournament. 

The 2025 Arizona Stroke Play Champion cooled off slightly in round two at 1-under, earning him the No. 12 seed in match play. 

After cruising through his round of 64 match with a 6&5 victory, Parada gritted out a 2&1 victory and later a 5-hole comeback win in Thursday’s rounds of 32 and 16, respectively. 

Parada continued his winning streak Friday morning on an extra hole in the quarter-final and a 2-up win in the semis. He was thrilled with his golf game this week. 

“I had some difficult matches today,” Parada said following his quarter and semi-final rounds. “Both players were great players, they were so consistent and not going to make any errors. You just have to find a way. It feels amazing to be in the championship match tomorrow.”

Jorge Parada tee shot at Seville Golf & Country Club in the quarter-finals of the 101st Arizona Amateur Championship. (Photo by: Corey Cavanaugh)

Notable

• Seville Golf & Country Club member Owen Greenough earned a club exemption to compete in the Arizona Am. The high school junior managed to reach the match play semi-final and was a hole away from the finals. He lost to Valociek. 

• At just 16 years old, Evan Tyree carried a standout golf game through the quarter-final where he lost in the extra 19th hole to Parada.

  Tyree, a junior at Brophy College Preparatory, traded textbooks for tee shots all week and felt his short game is what kept him in the tournament and out of class. He was unfazed while golfing with players three-times his age and enjoyed the match play portion of the competition. 

  “It’s pretty fun going head-to-head,” Tyree said. “It’s a lot of competition and I like the challenge. A birdie beats a par no matter how old you are and how big you are.”  

What’s Next

The 101st Arizona Amateur Championship concludes Saturday with the top-2 golfers facing off in match play for the championship title. 

The winner of the championship will have won six head-to-head rounds of match play and will receive an automatic exemption into the 2026 U.S. Amateur Championship at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania. The semi-finalists have all earned exemptions through local U.S. Amateur qualifying.

Follow @azgolfassociation on Instagram and Facebook for live updates and images from the tournament.

DAY FOUR RECAP: Crisis averted: Arizona Amateur Championship golfers reach quarter-final despite bumps in the road

GILBERT, Arizona (August 21, 2025) — Whispers of Austin Fisher’s towering distances off the tee circulated through Seville Golf & Country Club all week during the 101st Arizona Amateur Championship. 

But when the face of his driver cracked on the first swing in the match play round of 16 on Thursday, he was forced to improvise. 

“I couldn’t replace it so I went and used a 1-iron all day and battled,” Fisher explained. 

The 30-year-old from Scottsdale managed to keep blasting balls down fairways with the 1-iron en route to a 3 & 1 victory over Hayes Dupree. 

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Driverless, the wedge game became most important to Fisher's success.  

“That has been my focus,” Fisher said. ”Keep it inside the trees, try and hit fairways and keep it in play to give yourself a wedge in hand to hit as many greens as possible.”

Fisher got off to a commanding 4-up lead through the 8th hole before dropping one on the 9th. The match went to the par-3 17th where Fisher dotted his tee shot to a foot for the birdie and the win. 

He advances to Friday’s quarter-final and, with a new driver head on his shaft, knows he can keep his run alive in his first-career AZ Am. 

“I always go in and believe in myself,” Fisher said. “I feel like I could show up any day and give anybody a run. That’s what I’ve been doing, so as long as I keep playing good golf and keep it in play, I’ve got a shot this week.” 

Austin Fisher broke his driver on the first hole in the round of 16 on Thursday. He managed to rely on his short game for a 3&1 victory in the match. (Photo by: Corey Cavanaugh) 

While Fisher dealt with driver malfunctions, 21 year old Jorge Parada was facing struggles of his own. 

Down five holes with just eight to play, Parada needed to find something and find it quick. 

“I was hitting it great but wasn’t making the putts I needed to make,” the Tucson native explained. “Trey (Moore) was playing fantastic and I had to dig in really deep. I don’t think I’ve ever dug that deep. Ever.” 

From there, Parada rattled off six winning holes — halving the remaining two holes — for a six-point-swing and a 1-up victory. It was the largest comeback victory on Thursday, which held both the rounds of 32 and 16. 

Parada said the resolve he showed on the back nine boosted his confidence for the tournament and proved he can go toe-to-toe against any matchup. He thinks Seville is the perfect venue for exciting golf down the stretch. 

“It’s a course you can make a lot of birdies on, so it’s great for match play,” Parada said. “I’ve been enjoying it and I hope to be here for a couple more days.” 

Notable

• The top four seeds in match play have all been eliminated prior to the quarter-final — No. 1 Jack Dozer; No. 2 Cody Massa; No. 3 Wyatt Chapman and No. 4 Grant Cesarek.
• The highest remaining seed is No. 27 Owen Greenough from Chandler. The lowest is No. 9 Brian Blanchard of Scottsdale.
• The youngest remaining competitor is 16 year old Evan Tyree who holds the No. 20 seed and matches up against Parada in Friday’s quarter-final.

What’s Next

Match play continues for the 101st Arizona Amateur Championship with the quarter and semi-final matches on Friday. The top-2 golfers face off Saturday for the championship title. 

The winner of the championship will have to win six head-to-head rounds of match play, running through Saturday morning. They will receive an automatic exemption into the 2026 U.S. Amateur Championship at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania. Semi-finalists will earn an exemption through local U.S. Amateur qualifying.

Follow @azgolfassociation on Instagram and Facebook for live updates and images from the tournament all week.

DAY THREE RECAP: Arizona Amateur Championship round of 64 concludes, favorites and underdogs advance

GILBERT, Arizona (August 20, 2025) — Jack Kozlowski loves the underdog lifestyle. 

The 25-year-old from Scottsdale hasn’t played much competitive golf since graduating from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, three years ago — but on Wednesday, he turned his No. 57 seed into a long shot victory during the match play round of 64 in the 101st Arizona Amateur Championship at Seville Golf & Country Club in Gilbert. 

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Kozlowski found himself two holes back at the 16th tee, pinned against No. 8 seeded Daniel Henely.

The 309 yard par 4 has been a high risk-reward hole all week and after watching Henely swing a smooth 3-iron from the box, Kozlowski knew it was time to risk it. He reaped the benefits of his decision, drilling a 15-foot birdie putt to get to one-down in the match. 

The pair parred No. 17 and Kozlowski managed square things up on 18 after placing a 4-iron approach to 20-feet for an eventual eagle. 

To the 19th hole. 

Kozlowski and Henely were one of three pairings to see extra golf Wednesday. Ties through 18 mean a trip back to the first tee box. The first player to win a hole wins the match. 

“Through the tunnel, on the way to the first tee, I’m telling myself that I’m not supposed to be here, but I got here,” Kozlowski said of his extra-hole mentality. “Let’s just make the most of it and see what we can do. I didn’t play any more scared than I was the whole day.”

On the 19th, Kozlowski stamped his wedge shot to 7-feet. Henely’s rolled up the green leaving a 25-foot downhill putt to the cup. He nailed it for birdie and Kozlowski equalized. 

Kobe Valociek swings from the tee box on No. 17 at Seville Golf & Country Club during the first round of match play on Wednesday. (Photo by: Corey Cavanaugh) 

The match went 20 holes as Kozlowski recovered a tough drive to the desert terrain on the right side with a pin-high second stroke just right of the green. He got up-and-down for par while Henely’s third-stroke chip shot rolled past the cup, leading to a two-putt for bogey. 

Kozlowski was elated following his victory, saying the format of the tournament plays well to his strengths. 

“If I play stroke play I’m never going to win out here,” Kozlowski said. “To get it reset over match play and then you have the underdog mentality — I had nothing to lose out there, so it set me free. I’m sure there’s a lot more pressure on (Henely) to win than me, so it was cool to get it done.”

Notable

• The largest margins of victory in the round of 64 came from No. 2 Cody Massa’s 7&6 win over No. 63 Quinton Breuer and No. 12 Jorge Parada’s 6&5 victory against No. 53 Daichi Molde.
• The biggest upset in the round of 64 came from No. 61 Charlie Palmer who defeated No. 4 Grant Cesarek, 2&1.
• Wednesday morning began with the stroke play playoff, shrinking the remaining field of 75 down to 64 for match play. Richard Hearden, Quinton Breuer and Joe Houghton were the three to advance — though all three came up short in the round of 64. 

What’s Next

Match play continues for the 101st Arizona Amateur Championship with the rounds of 32 and 16 on Thursday. The round of 8 and the semifinals will take place Friday and the top-2 golfers will go head-to-head Saturday for the championship title. 

The winner of the championship will have to win six head-to-head rounds of match play, running through Saturday morning. They will receive an automatic exemption into the 2026 U.S. Amateur Championship at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania. Semi-finalists will earn an exemption through local U.S. Amateur qualifying.

Follow @azgolfassociation on Instagram and Facebook for live updates and images from the tournament all week.

DAY TWO RECAP: Phoenix’s Dozer Earns 101st Arizona Amateur Stroke Play Medalist Honors

GILBERT, Arizona (August 19, 2025) — Jack Dozer sees his golf game as a roll of the dice.

“It happened to be a couple birdies today,” Dozer said of his 10-under (62) second round of the 101st Arizona Amateur Championship at Seville Golf & Country Club in Gilbert. 

Dozer’s 36-hole stroke play score of 15-under earned him the title of Stroke Play Medalist for the event, guaranteeing him the No. 1 seed for the match play portion. 

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The 21-year-old rising senior at the University of Denver was one of two golfers to go bogey-free across both days of stroke play — Austin Fisher (-9) was the other to piece together two clean sheets. 

The course presented 43 eagles in stroke play and 99 double bogeys-or-worse. The par-4 sixth hole lent a risk-reward option which took more than it gave to its competitors. It proved the most challenging hole on the course with a scoring average of 4.20.

With out-of-bounds left and water to the right, finding the fairway became paramount to a good score on No. 6. It gave way to just 30 birdies across rounds one and two, while hijacking 75 bogeys-or-worse.

Golfers walk across the bridge leading to Seville Golf & Country Club's iconic island green on No. 17. (Photo by: Camiren Huth)

Sunday’s practice round was Dozer’s first time at Seville. He quickly recognized how penalizing the rough can be and focused on finding the optimal driver lines from the tee box. He said Monday’s round helped to dial those lines in, leading to his dominance in round-two. 

Dozer also pointed to his putter and the green conditions for his success.

“The greens got a lot better today,” he explained. “They were a little bumpy yesterday (afternoon)… it was good to see and I think they’ll just keep getting better. They got a little quicker today too.” 

The field, which began at 144 golfers, was cut at 2-under Tuesday and 75 golfers remain. While 61 of those golfers are safely in the 64-man match play bracket, 15 players will compete in a playoff Wednesday morning for the final three spots.

Golfers in the playoff will play a sudden-death format on holes 16-18 until the final three slots are filled. Those three jump back on the course for the round-of-64 match later in the day while the other 12 head home.

Dozer will not let the medalist title go to his head. He sees match play as a complete restart and looks forward to the challenges ahead. 

“These last two days are completely wiped, unfortunately,” Dozer said. “I’m just going to keep it one shot at a time, choose the targets, have a few putts go in and see where it gets me.”

What’s Next
The Arizona Amateur Championship continues Wednesday morning for the first round of match play. 

The top-64 will be seeded into a single elimination match play bracket and by Wednesday evening, the group will cut in half to 32.

The winner of the championship will have to win six head-to-head rounds of match play, running through Saturday morning. They will receive an automatic exemption into the 2026 U.S. Amateur Championship at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania. Semi-finalists will earn an exemption through local U.S. Amateur qualifying.

Follow @azgolfassociation on Instagram and Facebook for live updates and images from the tournament all week.

DAY ONE RECAP: Low scores plentiful in day 1 of Arizona Amateur Championship

GILBERT, Arizona (Aug. 18, 2025) — Even par just won’t cut it when up against Arizona’s best. 

On Monday, 144 golfers ranging from age 15-65 took to Seville Golf & Country Club in Gilbert for the 101st playing of the Arizona Amateur Championship. More than half the field (73 golfers) submitted a round-one scorecard with a red number.

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The tournament takes part across six days — 36-holes of individual stroke play where the top-64 golfers advance to a four day match play bracket. 

Seville, a Gary Panks design, is a par 72 course playing at 6,969 yards on Monday. The par 5 18th proved the easiest in round one with five eagles and 74 birdies for a scoring average of 4.49.

The biggest challenge of the day came at holes 8 and 9 with just eight and nine birdies, respectively, forcing 38 and 40 bogeys-or-worse. The course’s signature island-green par 3, No. 17, swallowed six double-bogeys and 17 birdies.

Seville Golf & Country Club's iconic 17th island green. (Photo by: Corey Cavanaugh)

Tucson’s Jorge Parada sits as the stroke play leader through day one with a 9-under round (63) on 11 birdies and two bogeys. 

The 2025 Arizona Stroke Play champion fell behind early with a square on his scorecard on the first hole. Not shaken, Parada fired off five birdies across the next six holes. His birdie frenzy continued at the turn with five straight from holes 10-14. 

Wyatt Chapman, a 20 year old student at Marquette University, is one stroke short of the tournament lead. His 8-under round of 64 includes an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey to close out the day. 

Chapman trains out of Power Ranch Golf Club, but as a Gilbert resident he has had a number of opportunities to test his game at Seville — a leverage point he was hoping to exploit this week. 

“I think the greens can be a little grainy with chipping,” Chapman said. “Knowing that was a little to my advantage and knowing what shots stop faster than others. The green-reading out here can be tricky at times. That helped me out a bit.”

Beginning his round off the back-nine, Chapman opened with a pair of pars and came out with the day’s lone eagle on No. 12, a 575 yard par 5 — the longest hole on the course. 

“The pin was in the back and I hit a good drive,” Chapman said. “I had 270 (yards) in on a sidehill lie. I hit a pretty good 3-wood up there, it landed and just rolled over the back. It was a pretty tough chip, but I hit it in the bank and it popped up perfectly and drifted in over the front edge. It was a good start to the round for sure.”