Matt Bettencourt won the Reno-Tahoe Open on the PGA Tour on July 18, establishing a record. He became the first Alameda native to win on the PGA Tour. But that victory, in so many ways, never should have happened.

In fact, Bettencourt was nowhere near Northern California at the beginning of the week, with no thoughts of playing at Montreux. He was in Ohio, playing in a Monday qualifier for a Nationwide Tour event.

"That's where you find yourself when you miss eight of your last 10 cuts," Bettencourt explained. "And I was not playing well in the qualifier."

Fortunately, he had his cell phone. After making another bogey, it rang. Officials at Montreux informed him that enough golfers had dropped out of the RTO that he had made it into the field, based on his limited exempt status (after a re-shuffle), if he could make it to Reno in time for Wednesday's pro-am.

So he walked off the course (maybe ran), frenzied his way to the Columbus airport and hopped a red-eye to Reno. When he arrived at Montreux, one of the first players he met was Spencer Levin. Bettencourt was born in Alameda, but later his family moved to Modesto. Levin was from nearby Elk Grove. The first time these two locked horns was at the 2002 Alameda Commuters Championship, which is leaving its mark in history.

At that time, Bettencourt was on his way to becoming the NCGA Player of the Year, Levin was still in high school. Jeff Burda had a 5-stroke lead going into the final nine holes. Levin was the guy making a move. But Bettencourt shot a 29 on that final nine, closing out with five straight 3's on the scorecard. He won by three strokes, setting a tournament record score that still stands, 15-under-par 266. Burda also broke the old record with a 269 total. Levin tied Gary Vanier's old record score of 271.

Two years later, Spencer Levin became a household name, and the pride of Elk Grove and Modesto, with his run at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Bettencourt was working his way through the Nationwide and Canadian Tours. Levin finished 13th at that U.S. Open. But last year Bettencourt bettered him with a tie for 10th at Bethpage Black.

Bettencourt was too diplomatic to admit it, but meeting Levin at Montreux did something to get his confidence back. The two had become neighborhood rivals since that 2002 Commuters. Levin missed the cut. Bettencourt found himself running away with the lead at Montreux through 36 holes. A 75 on Saturday set him back. But he righted the ship on Sunday with some early birdies, and regained a two-stroke lead on playing partner Bob Heintz standing on the 72nd tee.

He pushed his tee shot right, into a deep fairway bunker. He watched Heintz hit his approach to two feet of the cup. Bettencourt hit out, and caught the bunker fronting the green. The wheels were coming off. He blasted out to seven feet, and missed the putt. So he prepared himself mentally for the playoff... but heard a weird gasp from the crowd. Heintz had lipped out his tap-in. A stunned Bettencourt won. It never should have happened.

The week started with failure in an obscure Monday Qualifying in Ohio, ended with blowing a PGA Tour lead on the final hole in Reno. Except he won, and that stunning fact had a hard time sinking in to his beleaguered consciousness as the TV cameras surrounded him. Suddenly, Matt Bettencourt had a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour, with current champion status. He broke down in tears, as did his wife, Kelly. As they say on tour, it was just his time.

Alamedans in U.S. Junior

Three members of the Alameda Junior Golf Club and a former East Bay Junior champ from San Jose played in last week's US Junior Championship. Carlos Briones missed the playoff to match play by a single stroke in the Boys division, shooting 76-74. Linda Brown missed the cut to match play in the Girls Championship.

But Grace Na (79-74, T25) and former EBJ champ Mariko Tumangan (75-70, 5th place) advanced to the final 64. Na, ranked 35th junior in the nation, defeated Katie Lee of Washington 1up in the first round of match play. In the second round she lost to Gyeol Park of Korea on the final hole. Tumangan advanced to the quarterfinals, where she lost to Gyeol Park 3-and-2.

Ron Salsig can be reached at