Brandes advances in PNGA Master-40 match play
The rounds of 32 and 16 were held today in the 45th Pacific Northwest Master-40 Amateur Championship, being held this week at the par-71 Salishan Golf Links in Gleneden Beach, Ore., and No. 1 seed Tom Brandes of Bellevue, Wash. made his way through both matches.
Championship Links:
In this morning’s round of 32, he easily handled Devon Loudon of Silverdale, Wash., 7&6; while in the afternoon’s round of 16 he outlasted Nate Hair of Spokane, Wash., 2&1. Hair won this championship in 2014.
This morning, No. 9 seed Michael Haack of Renton, Wash. defeated defending champion Jeff Strickland of Mill Creek, Wash., 2&1; and then handled Dale Johnson of Hayden, Idaho, 5&4 in this afternoon’s round.
Haack, a three-time winner of the PNGA Mid-Amateur Championship, will now face Brandes in tomorrow morning’s quarterfinal matches. Brandes was inducted into the Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame in 2015, and is looking for his first Master-40 title.
In other matches, No. 3 seed Dana Christianson of Tacoma, Wash. defeated Rick Hatton of Gleneden Beach, Ore., 2&1 this morning; then in the afternoon defeated 2018 champion Darren Kuhn of Pocatello, Idaho, 1-up. Christianson won this championship in 2016, and will face No. 11 seed Mike Swingle of Bellevue, Wash. in tomorrow morning’s quarterfinal matches.
The highest seed to remain alive in the bracket is No. 29 seed Tom Greller of Newberg, Ore. Greller, whose brother Michael caddies for Jordan Spieth on the PGA Tour, will face No. 12 seed Tom Lewis of Olympia, Wash. in the quarterfinals.
The quarterfinal and semifinal matches will be held tomorrow, June 25. All matches are played at scratch, with the final match being held Friday, June 26.
This year’s championship began with 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying on June 22-23 to determine match-play seeding. The full field of 72 competitors was cut to the low 32 scores, who advanced to single-elimination match play. All matches are played at scratch, with the final match being held Friday, June 26.
The championship, which is conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA), consists of the top amateur male golfers in the Pacific Northwest over the age of 40.
To stay connected with the championship on social media, follow @thePNGA on Twitter.
Salishan Golf Links is an amenity of Salishan Resort. Originally opened in 1965, the golf course reopened in June of 2004 after a multimillion-dollar restoration overseen by Oregon golf legend and PGA Tour player Peter Jacobsen and his design firm, Jacobsen-Hardy Golf Design. The restoration preserves the layout and the spirit of Salishan’s fabled links while enhancing playability and opening the golf course to ocean views. Visit salishan.com/adventure/golf for more information.
During the current COVID-19 health crisis, the PNGA along with its championship venues are committed to the safety of all players, volunteers and staff of its championships, and have formulated a policy for safeguarding everyone’s safety.
The Pacific Northwest Master-40 Amateur is one of 15 major, regional, amateur championships for men, women, juniors, and seniors conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some cancellations have occurred in 2020, and the updated schedule can be viewed here.
