Fresno native Ayden Fynaut wins 99th city amateur championship
Ayden Fynaut turned a shaky start into a six-shot win at Riverside, giving Fresno a hometown champion just as the city amateur nears its centennial.
Fresno’s oldest amateur golf tradition got a hometown winner at just the right moment. Ayden Fynaut, a Fresno native and Pepperdine commit, won the 99th Fresno City Amateur Championship at Riverside Golf Course in northwest Fresno, finishing 14-under after three rounds and closing with a 65 on Memorial Day.
Fynaut pulled away from Kevin Cook and Jonathan Chen, who tied for second at 8-under. He birdied nine times in the final round and made long putts on holes 10 and 11 to break the tournament open. The victory carried extra weight because Fynaut said he fought shanks during the first two days, then worked with coach Mike Schy before the final round and found his rhythm when it mattered most.
That kind of turnaround fits a tournament that has long been more than a single weekend of scorecards. The Fresno City Amateur’s history page traces the event to 1928, when the city embraced the golf craze with help from the local newspaper, Sunnyside Country Club and the Fresno City Recreation Department. Nearly a century later, the championship still serves as a showcase for some of California’s strongest amateurs and a reminder that Riverside remains a central stage for Fresno County golf.
This year’s championship flight was held May 23-25, with flights played May 16-17 and the field cut to the top 40 players plus ties for the Memorial Day Monday finish. The championship flight was open to players with a 5.4 index or better, and the broader event now includes ladies, senior and master’s flights, a format that keeps the tournament rooted in the community rather than focused on one title alone. The 2026 event page listed Kevin Cook as the Masters Division champion.
Fynaut’s win also adds to a run of Fresno-area success that helps explain why the event still matters locally. Michael Weaver won the 98th championship in 2025, and Aidan Tran won the 96th in 2023. Fynaut, listed by the AJGA as a Fresno golfer in the Class of 2026 with Pepperdine as his letter of intent school, is set to head to Malibu after finishing his senior season with a trophy that places his name inside one of Fresno golf’s longest-running traditions.
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