114th PNGA Women’s Amateur and 14th Women’s Mid-Amateur Championships Return to Idaho

BanBury Golf Course in Eagle, Idaho will host some of the best female amateur golfers in the Pacific Northwest and beyond as the 114th Pacific Northwest Women’s Amateur and 14th Pacific Northwest Women’s Mid-Amateur championships will be held concurrently July 7-11.

Both championships are conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA).

The Women’s Amateur begins today with 36 holes of stoke play qualifying on July 7-8, followed by single-elimination match play for the low 32 players. The field will include players representing California, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Washington, British Columbia, New Zealand and the Philippines.

Many players in the field have enjoyed recent success, including Princess Mary Superal of the Philippines, the reigning U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur champion; Gigi Stoll of Tigard, Ore., the 2014 and 2015 Women’s Oregon Amateur champion and 2014 PNGA Women’s Player of the Year; Gabrielle Barker of Caldwell, Idaho, who recently won the 2015 Idaho State Women’s Amateur Championship by shooting a course record final-round 66; and Alivia Brown of Gig Harbor, Wash., champion of the 2015 Washington State Women’s Amateur.

The reigning Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, Amanda Jacobs of Seattle, will be present at BanBury to defend her title against the likes of Kareen Markle of Meridian, Idaho, a three-time Mid-Amateur champion and the 2013 and 2014 PNGA Senior Women’s Player of the Year; and Alison Murdoch of Victoria, B.C., a member of the Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame, the 2006 and 2008 Women’s Mid-Amateur Champion, and 2012 PNGA Senior Women’s Player of the Year.

First held in 1899, the Pacific Northwest Women’s Amateur Championship is one of the oldest amateur golf championships in the world. Past champions include Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Famers who made up the Golden Age of female golfers in the Northwest such as JoAnne Gunderson Carner, Jo Ann Washam, Pat Lesser Harbottle, Edean Ihlanfeldt, Violet Pooly Sweeney, Marcia Fisher, and Betty Jean Hulteng, among others. Past champions also include many others who would later go on to the LPGA Tour, such as Jimin Kang, Peggy Conley, Ruth Jessen and Shirley Englehorn.

BanBury Golf Course is located just outside of Boise in Eagle, Idaho. The course has a long connection with the PNGA after hosting several PNGA championships, as well as the 2005 U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur. The course’s architect, John Harbottle III, was the son of Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Famers, Dr. John and Patricia Harbottle.

The Pacific Northwest Women’s Amateur and Mid-Amateur are two of 15 major, regional, amateur championships for men, women, juniors, and seniors conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.