Ethan Ashbrook of Santa Maria will return to defend his title at the 62nd Santa Barbara City Golf Championship starting Saturday morning at the Santa Barbara Golf Club.
Last year Ashbrook, a senior at Saint Mary’s College, defeated Tongun Lako Losarah in a two-hole playoff to take the title.
More than 180 golfers in five divisions will tee it up Saturday morning for the first round of the tournament, SBGC head pro Kevin Whithnell said.
That includes 88 golfers in the Championship Flight, which draws many top amateurs from throughout California. The draw includes local notables, including high school players Leo Metzger and Shams Jahangir-Arshad of San Marcos and Teddy Vigna of Dos Pueblos.
There are also three handicap flights in the tournament, and a Ladies Flight with 16 entrants.
All entrants play the first two rounds Friday and Saturday, with the top 30 percent (including ties) vying for titles in the third round on Monday.
The draws are “as full as we can get it” for the popular event, Withnell said. “A lot of people that no longer live in the area, a lot of times they’ll come back and play in the event.”
Spectators are welcome. “We’ll have a scoreboard up again, which we haven’t had in the last couple of years,” Withnell said.
Tee-off times run from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.