116th PNGA Men’s Amateur Championship Begins at Emerald Valley

Emerald Valley Golf & Resort in Creswell, Ore. is set to host the most talented male amateur golfers in the Pacific Northwest and beyond on July 10-15 at the 116th 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 10-11, followed by a cut to the low 64 players who will advance to single-elimination match play.

The Round of 64 will be held Wednesday, July 12, followed by the Rounds of 32 and 16 on Thursday, and quarterfinals and semifinals on Friday, with the championship match on Saturday, July 15. Each match will be contested over 18 holes, with the exception of the final match, which will be played over 36 holes.

For pairings, tee times and to follow along with live scoring, visit www.thepnga.org.

To stay connected on social media, follow @PNGALIVE on Twitter for live updates and use the hashtag #PNGAMensAm.

Click here for an in-depth article about this year’s championship.

Last year’s championship concluded at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Wash. when University of Washington player Carl Yuan defeated Andrew Whalen of Ephrata, Wash. 5 and 3 in the final match.

Yuan joined an elite group of past champions that includes 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.

One of the oldest amateur golf 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.

Some of the players to watch for in this year’s championship:

• Andrew Whalen, last year’s runner-up, who just completed his senior season at Northwestern. Whalen’s brother, Aaron, is also entered. (Other brother acts include Cole and Clayton Madey and Brian Mogg, Washington State, and Chris Mogg of Gonzaga. The Moggs’ uncle Brian Mogg is a noted swing coach with his Brian Mogg Golf Academy at Chambers Bay. Last month Cole Madey won the Oregon Amateur.)
• A.J. Ewart, an 18-year-old from Coquitlam, B.C., was runner up last year in the British Columbia Men’s Amateur and in the Junior Boys’ Championship.
• Chase Carlson, of Colorado Christian University, won the 2016 Washington State Amateur at his home course of Tacoma Country & Golf Club in a six-hole playoff with WSU golfer Derek Bayley, also entered here, who shot a second-round 59 en route to winning the 2016 Rosauers Invitational.
• Josh Gliege, a Texas A&M freshman was 2015 PNGA Junior Boys’ Player of the Year. Graysen Huff of Auburn University won that award in 2014. Both players are from Eagle, Idaho.
• Joe Neuheisel, from Manhattan Beach, Calif., is the 20-year-old son of former Washington and UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel. Charles “CJ” Sitton V is the son of Oregon State basketball hall of famer Charlie Sitton; the younger Sitton attends Oregon, where he is president of the club golf team. Sam Triplett, who plays at Northwestern, is the son of PGA Tour pro Kirk Triplett.
• Cole Chrisman, who earlier this year led Summitt High School of Bend, Ore. to its third straight state 5A title and will play collegiately at Idaho, recorded an albatross at age 16 when he aced the par 4 fifth hole at Awbrey Glen Golf Club in Bend. Li Wang of Sammamish, Wash., just completed his senior year as captain at Yale, where he matched an NCAA record shooting 60 in the Macdonald Cup.

There are exceptions to the college kids theme. Former University of Arizona golfer Reid Hatley of Hayden Lake, Idaho, was the PNGA Men’s Mid-Amateur player of the year in 2015 and 2016 and won the PNGA Men’s Mid-Amateur in 2013. Hatley, in his mid-30s, was the college roommate of PGA Tour pro Ricky Barnes and owns a business, RHI Golf, that makes customized course stands, bag and club stands, benches, trophies and other products for some of the best-known properties in golf, including Pebble Beach.

Other top mid-amateur players (25 and older) include Jason Aspelund of Federal Way, Wash., who is a grounds operation manager for Alaska Airlines and was a high school soccer star who played that sport collegiately; Craig Larson of Tacoma, Wash., who teamed with former major league pitcher Erik Hanson to win the PNGA Senior team championship last year; Jeff Ward of Bend, the 2014 PNGA Mid-Amateur champion, and Justin Kadin of Corvallis, the 2015 OGA Mid-Amateur champion.

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.

Wine Valley previously hosted the Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship in 2007, and also was the site of the 2014 Pacific Northwest Junior Boys’ Amateur. The course has also hosted U.S. Open qualifiers, most recently in 2014, as well as Oregon men’s amateurs, a U.S. Amateur qualifier last year and numerous high school state championships. Furthermore, some of the contestants in this championship played in the PNGA Junior Boys’ Amateur here in 2014, including medalist John Sand from Hoquiam, Wash.

The PNGA was founded on February 4, 1899. It is a 501c3 charitable, international, amateur golf association dedicated to preserving the true spirit of golf by supporting its allied associations, conducting quality championships, and promoting activities beneficial to golfers in the Pacific Northwest. For more than a century, the Association has been a pioneer in developing competitions and services and its mission has grown and evolved. Today, the PNGA remains committed to being a truly regional organization providing benefits and services to its members and member clubs throughout the Northwest.