113th Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship Set to Commence at Palouse Ridge
Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman, Wash. is set to host the most talented male amateur golfers in the Pacific Northwest and beyond on July 6-11 for the 113th Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship, conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA). The championship, which has a full field of 168 players, begins with 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying held on July 6-7, followed by a cut to the low 64 players who will advance to single elimination match play.
This years’ field is headlined by several notable contenders, including Frank Garber of Kirkland, Wash., who will be attending the University of Washington in the fall. Garber is the reigning PNGA Junior Boys’ Player of the Year, having won the 2013 Pacific Northwest Junior Boys’ Amateur, the 2013 Washington Junior Open, the 2013 Pacific Northwest Junior PGA, and being named the 2013 Junior America’s Cup Most Valuable Player.
Also in the field are Spencer Weiss of Sammamish, Wash., who will also be attending the UW in the fall, and Charles Kern of Mercer Island, Wash. a senior at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Weiss and Kern both qualified to play in this week’s Sahalee Players Championship.
Li Wang of Sammamish will also be competing. The four-time Washington Junior Golf Association state champion just finished his freshman year playing for the Yale University golf team. Dylan Wu of Medford, Ore., who just won his second consecutive individual high school championship, will also be competing at Palouse Ridge. Wu made it to the Round of 16 in last year’s championship before bowing to eventual champion Cameron Peck in 20 holes in their match.
Last year, Peck of Olympia, Wash. stormed through the match play bracket in winning the 112th Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur, held at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. Peck defeated Hans Reimers of Lake Oswego, Ore. 7 and 6 in the final match. Peck, the 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur champion, has since turned professional, so will not be returning this year to defend his title.
Reimers will be returning this year to try to finish the job. A recent graduate of Mercer University in Macon, Ga., Reimers had won the Oregon Open in 2013.
Also in the field is James Beale, Reimers’ teammate at Mercer, who is coming off an impressive fourth place finish at this week’s Sahalee Players Championship.
One of the oldest amateur championships in the world, players will compete for the Macan Cup, which is named after legendary golf course designer A.V. Macan, a member of the Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame and winner of this championship in 1913.
Past champions include Tiger Woods, Jeff Quinney, Ben Crane, Jeff Coston, Nick Flanagan, Jim McLean and PNGA Hall of Famers Chandler Egan, Harry Givan, Jack Westland, Bud Ward and George Holland, among others. After winning the 1994 championship, Woods said, “The PNGA Men’s Amateur will always be very special to me since it’s my first men’s amateur victory.”
The Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship is one of 15 major, regional, amateur championships for men, women, juniors, and seniors conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.
Opened in 2008, Palouse Ridge has already hosted numerous state, regional and collegiate championships, including the 2009 Washington State Amateur, several USGA qualifiers, and will host the 2015 Men’s Pac-12 Championship. Visit www.palouseridge.com for information.
