Quayle Birdies Final Hole to Win 114th Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur
Anthony Quayle of Queensland, Australia sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the 36th hole of the final match to defeat Shintaro Ban of San Jose, Calif. and win the 114th Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship.
Ban had squared the match on the par-3 35th hole when Quayle 3-putted. After Quayle sank the birdie putt on the final hole, Ban saw his own birdie attempt, which would have extended the match, slide by the hole, giving Quayle the title.
In the morning round of the match, played on the resort’s Woodlands course, Quayle built an early lead as he played the round in 7-under par, and was 3-up at the lunch break as the two prepared to play the resort’s Meadows course in the afternoon round of the match. Ban quickly got back into the match,
squaring it up with a birdie on the par-5 19th hole and two eagles, which included a hole-out from the fairway on the 419-yard par-4 22nd hole and a 3 on the par-5 24th hole when he reached the green in two.
On the last nine holes, Quayle birdied the 28th and 29th holes, both par-4s, then Ban won the 30th hole. Then, in gunslinger style, the two players matched birdies on the 31st, 33rd and 34th holes, Quayle clinging to a 1-up lead. Ban squared the match on the 205-yard par-3 35th hole, as Quayle double-bogeyed the hole (he would double-bogey both par-3s on this final nine), which set up the final hole dramatics.
The championship was held at Sunriver (Ore.) Resort, and was conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA).
Of the putt on the final hole, Quayle said, “I just told myself I could make it, trying to keep positive thoughts in my mind. I was a little bit nervous and just wanted to put a good stroke on it. It was straight uphill.”
After making birdie, Quayle had to stand by and watch as Ban attempted to tie the hole with his own birdie. “In match play you always have to believe the other guy is going to make it,” Quayle said. “Otherwise it’s too much of an emotional rollercoaster.”
Of his win, Quayle said, “It’s such a massive relief. There’s so much stress all week, so much golf and so many matches. It’s very taxing taxing mentally. This win helps the confidence in my game, and I’ll always be able to say I have it on my resume that I won the Pacific Northwest Amateur.”
Quayle, the No. 5 seed, had defeated No. 1 seed Charlie Kern of Mercer Island, Wash., 1-up, in yesterday’s semifinal match, a contest that had also gone down to the final hole of the match.
Quayle, 20, recently won the Tasmanian Amateur Open Championship, is a member of the Queensland Men’s State Team and is ranked in the top 15 in the Australian Amateur Rankings.
Ban was attempting to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Shotaro, who had won this championship in 2012. Ban just finished his freshman year playing on the men’s golf team at UNLV. He was a co-medalist at the 2012 U.S. Junior Amateur, and qualified for the 2013 U.S. Amateur. He won the 2014 San Francisco City Men’s Amateur, and last week tied for seventh at the Sahalee Players Championship.
The Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur is one of the oldest amateur golf championships in the world. Past champions include names such as Tiger Woods, Jeff Quinney, Ben Crane, Jeff Coston, Nick Flanagan, Jim McLean and Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Famers Chandler Egan, Harry Givan, Jack Westland, Bud Ward and George Holland, among many others.
Players competed 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.
