LAS VEGAS (July 29, 2026)–Chris Price (Net), Jim LiCausi (Senior Net) and George Yocum (Silver Net) won championships in the 2026 Nevada State Net Amateur. The match-play event was played June 27-29, 2026, on the Sunrise-Canyon nines at Spanish Trail Country Club.–by Bill Bowman
Net
Chris Price won three straight holes late in the championship match and went on to win the Net crown 3-and-1 over Joe Alvarez.
It was Price’s second 3-and-1 victory of the day as he won his semifinal match over Chris Kanthak by the same margin.
It was Price’s first win in 2026. He won twice in 2025, an individual title and a team crown.
Price said a win of this magnitude is one that will stay with him.
“This is one I’ve had circled on my calendar for the last five years,” he said. “I had never made it to match play before so to win this is special. There are a lot of very good players in this field so to come out on top…it’s a great feeling.”
Price’s run of three straight hole wins–on holes 15, 16 and 17–saw him close out the match in which he was two-down just four holes into the match.
“Being two-down early I just tried to keep playing my game and it worked out,” he said.
The win also finished off quite a run on the golf course…or make that golf courses.
“This was my eighth straight day of golf,” he said with a laugh. “I was coming off a week playing up in Idaho. I drove back from Idaho on Sunday night for a 9:40 tee time on Monday morning. I was lucky that my girlfriend (Jennifer Micheli) drove the last four hours so I could nap a little before getting four hours of sleep after we got back before I had to get up.”
Price said his finish really solidified his confidence going forward.
“To go birdie-birdie-birdie is a great feeling,” he said. “The stars aligned this year…that’s all I can say.”
Senior Net
Jim LiCausi won three straight holes late in the front nine (the sixth, seventh and eighth) en route to a 4-and-3 win over Jeffrey Canarelli in the Senior Net Division.
It is LiCausi’s fifth state title as he has won three other Nevada Senior Net Amateur titles to go along with one Nevada State Amateur crown.
“It was a challenge out here,” LiCausi said. “The rough was really penalizing so you got rewarded when you hit the fairway.”
LiCausi added his winning three straight holes definitely gave him momentum.
“I got up on Jeff early and then he came back and everything was tied for a bit,” he said. “Then I started throwing darts at the pin and put the pressure on him.”
LiCausi added his game is in a solid place.
“It’s always the same thing for me…fairways and greens and the short game,” he said. “If those are on, I’m in a good spot and they were on this week.”
Well, except for one shot.
“The first day of stroke play, on No. 14, I hit it so far right out of bounds,” he said. “Everyone heard a click like it hit a house. Then I hit my next shot into the water. We got up there and my first ball was there in the dirt. It was a huge break because I was on my way to a huge number…maybe even double digits. I wound up with a par. I want to thank that person’s house because without that, I would not have made match play.”
After the final round, LiCausi also wanted to give out props.
“I really want to thank Tim, Michael, Barb, Sue and the others on the staff,” he said. “They were out there in the hot, hot weather the whole time. They were real troopers. I also want to point out that playing on Spanish Trail was great. It’s always nice to play on a quality golf course and it was great out here.”
Silver Net
Eighteen holes wasn’t enough as George Yocum beat Greg Matta on the 22nd hole to win the Silver Net title.
It was Yocum’s second state crown and first victory in 2026 after winning three times in 2025.
“I was really disappointed…I did not want to go extra holes,” Yocum said. “But, honestly, the heat got to me on 15 and started causing me serious issues. I was a little surprised I made it to the end.”
He also credited Matta’s play for forcing the extra holes.
“It was a very, very competitive match,” Yocum said. “One of us was one-up or one-down for just about the entire round. He did a really good job and made a lot of nice putts. I had a few chances to pull ahead but he made shots that didn’t allow me to do that.”
Yocum added he was confident heading to the overtime.
“I was hitting the ball well,” he said. “I felt that I was playing well enough to win and I hung in there. At times it was a challenge. I could be Jekyll and Hyde on the same hole…playing well and playing poorly.”
But in the end, Yocum said the format helped him out.
“I’ve played a lot of match-play events and this was his first,” he said. “I think that experience was a big difference that really helped me.”
