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Wanderscheid Defeats Feutz in Thrilling Championship Match
Moscow, Idaho (August 14, 2009) – Stroke play qualifying Medalist Zach Wanderscheid of Goldendale, Wash. became the 55th PNGA Junior Boys’ Amateur champion today defeating James Feutz of University Place, Wash. 1 up in an exciting 36-hole championship match.
Rain and wind greeted the players this morning at the University of Idaho Golf Course in Moscow, Idaho as the two teed off at 7:30 a.m. Although the rain lasted only a short amount of time, the cold wind picked up throughout the day as the finalists battled through the elements. After a very impressive first nine holes that saw Feutz fire a 5-under par 32 and Wanderscheid a 3-under par 34; the birdies and pars of the front nine turned into bogeys and double bogeys on the back nine as the howling wind picked up. After the first 18 holes, Feutz was able to hold a 2 up advantage using four birdies and an eagle along the way.
Feutz was able to maintain a 1 up lead after 29 holes until Wanderscheid won 3 out of the next four holes with two birdies and a par to take a 2 up lead with only three holes to play. It was Wanderscheid’s first lead in the match since the 4th hole of the morning. After halving the 16th hole with pars, the two approached the difficult 230-yard par 3 17th hole. Wanderscheid played first and hit it safely on the green 40-feet from the hole. Feutz followed with a great shot right over the flag that ended up just over the green leaving him a 20-foot chip shot.
Playing first, Wanderscheid rolled his first putt to about 5-feet leaving Feutz with a birdie chip to win the hole and extend the match. Feutz’s chip looked good the entire way, but it hit the back of the cup and bounced out leaving Wanderscheid with a putt to win the match. After carefully reading the putt from every angle, Wanderscheid knocked it in right in the back of the cup and become the 2009 PNGA Junior Boys’ Amateur champion.
Wanderscheid joins an impressive group of past PNGA Junior Boys’ Amateur champions joining the likes of Fred Couples, Alex Prugh, and Andrew Yun.
To be eligible for the Pacific Northwest Junior Boys’ Amateur Championship, contestants must not have reached their 18th birthday by the final day of the competition and also carry a handicap index of 24.4 or less. The championship consists of 36 holes of stroke play qualifying to determine flights for the match play portion of the championship. The lowest 32 scorers from the qualifying rounds will advance to the Championship Flight, with each of the remaining flights being comprised of eight contestants. All matches are single-elimination and contested over 18 holes, except for the championship flight final match which will be played over 36-holes.
