Mike Haack Rebounds to Win 32nd PNGA Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship
Florence, Ore. – Mike Haack of Bellevue, Wash. overcame a shaky second round to post a solid final round even-par 72 in winning the 32nd Pacific Northwest Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship. This is the second title for Haack, having also won this championship in 2009.
The 54-hole stroke-play championship was held at Sandpines Golf Links in Florence, Ore. and was conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA).
Haack shot a 3-under par 69 in the first round to set the early pace and jump to the top of the leaderboard, but a second round of 4-over par 76 that included a double bogey and a quadruple bogey allowed the field to catch up with him, giving Seattle’s Sean Packer a two-stroke lead going into today’s final round.
Paired together in today’s final group, Packer played the front nine in 1-over, while Haack had two birdies to make the turn at 2-under for the day. The three-shot swing allowed Haack to take the overall lead with nine holes to play. He stumbled a bit, shooting 2-over on the back side, but had enough cushion to win by two strokes over Packer, Ryan Kelly of Gig Harbor, Wash. and Luke Wilson of Tacoma, Wash., who all tied for second.
“This feels real good,” said Haack of his win. “The PNGA always has a strong field, and there were a lot of good players here this week to it was nice to have the opportunity to play well here.”
With no player in the field finishing under par, Haack explained the tough conditions of the course. “With the wind picking up here, the course really dried out and the greens were rolling very fast. I was able to hold out in the last few holes today to hold on. My attitude today (starting the round two strokes behind Packer) was just to go play solid. With the windy conditions, I knew that nobody was going to go low, so I just wanted to play steady and see what happens.”
Haack was named the Washington State Golf Association Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year in 2013 and 2014.
Kelly shot the only under-par round of the day, shooting a 2-under par 70 to climb into a tie for second. Earlier this summer, Kelly, 42, had tied for fourth in the Washington State Men’s Amateur, competing against the college players. Kelly is the older brother of PGA TOUR player Troy Kelly. Ryan caddies for Troy on the tour.
Click here for complete hole-by-hole final scoring. To stay connected on social media, follow @PNGALIVE on Twitter and use the hashtag #PNGAMensMidAm.
To be eligible to compete in the 2016 PNGA Men’s Mid-Amateur, players must be 25 years of age or older by September 13, 2016 and must have a USGA Handicap Index or Golf Canada Handicap Factor of 8.4 or lower.
Sandpines Golf Links opened in 1993 and was named the Best New Public Course in the America for that year by Golf Digest. The course was designed by Rees Jones, the noted architect famed for being the “U.S. Open doctor.” Sandpines is professionally managed by OB Sports.
