Hair wins epic 3-man playoff at PNGA Senior Men’s Amateur; O’Donnell emerges to capture Super Senior
Anaconda, Mont. – Nate Hair of Spokane Valley, Wash. shot rounds of 74-72-69 and subsequently defeated Tom Herrick (Olympia, Wash.) and Chris Bae (University Place, Wash.) in a two-hole playoff to win the 60th Pacific Northwest Senior Men’s Amateur Championship at 1-under par; while Pat O’Donnell of Happy Valley, Ore. shot rounds of 72-74-67 to win the 15th Pacific Northwest Super Senior Men’s Amateur at 3-under par. Both championships were held this week, September 16-18, at Old Works Golf Club in Anaconda, Mont.
The week marked just the third time Montana hosted a PNGA championship, and first since the PNGA and Montana State Golf Association (MSGA) began their partnership in 2024.
Championship Links:
Hair entered the final round three strokes behind the lead of Bae, Bill Dunn (Missoula, Mont.) and Darren Kuhn (Pocatello, Idaho). Carefully navigating the course, Hair went bogey-birdie on holes 2 and 3, before carding another birdie on the ninth to make the turn at 1-over for the championship. Gaining momentum, three more birdies came each on holes 11, 12 and 15. A bogey on the par-3 17th erased one shot of progress, but his total of 69 allowed him to post the 1-under number that earned him a playoff spot.
Taking on Bae and Herrick, Hair triumphed on the second playoff hole by getting up and down to save par, while his two opponents both bogeyed the hole. The result marked a long time coming between PNGA titles for Hair, whose only other win came at the 2014 PNGA Men’s Master-40.
Hair’s wife, LPGA Tour player Wendy Ward, caddied for her husband each round. Prior to this week, the only other time Hair had played Old Works was 28 years ago, one day after they got engaged in nearby Bozeman.
“I love Montana, and when I heard this championship was being held at Old Works, I was all in,” Hair said.
Herrick and Bae finished in a tie for second; Herrick went 77-69-69 on the week, making the playoff despite being 11 shots behind after the first round, while Bae posted rounds of 71-72-72.
Darren Kuhn of Pocatello, Idaho, and Bill Dunn of Missoula, Mont., each decorated senior players from their respective states who entered the final round with a share of the lead, finished T4 and seventh, respectively.
In the Super Senior, O’Donnell erased a 5-stroke deficit to 36-hole leader Brad Carey (Lake Oswego, Ore.) en route to victory. His final round 67 included an eagle on the par-5 third hole, which Carey bogeyed, causing a three-shot swing. A two-shot swing occurred on the ninth hole, which Carey again bogeyed, and O’Donnell birdied. After that, both players were tied, and O’Donnell carded three more birdies on his second nine to seal the championship. The PNGA Hall-of-Famer’s total of 67 was the lowest of the Super Senior championship by two shots and propelled him to a three-shot victory.
O’Donnell is no stranger to victory. The winner of the 2019 PNGA Senior Men’s Amateur, he also won both the Oregon Senior and Super Senior championships this year, along with the Golfweek Super Senior Amateur. He is a perennial selection for Team OGA in the PNGA Lamey Cup and has been named PNGA Senior Men’s Player of the Year three times (2009, 2016, 2019).
“[I had] never been to Old Works before,” said O’Donnell, who was excited to play in Montana this week. “I wanted to come here because of the new partnership between the PNGA and the MSGA. Montana has some good players, so it’s been good to see new faces and compete against them.”
Carey, the 2022 PNGA Super Senior champion, finished second alone, at even par.
These championships are two of 11 major, regional, amateur championships for men, women, juniors and senior conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.
