Brandes and Christianson to meet in final match at PNGA Master-40
After 36 holes of qualifying and four matches played, Tom Brandes of Bellevue, Wash. and Dana Christianson of Tacoma, Wash. will square off in the final match of the 45th Pacific Northwest Master-40 Amateur Championship, being held this week at the par-71 Salishan Golf Links in Gleneden Beach, Ore.
The 18-hole final match will be held Friday, June 26, with the two players teeing off at 7:30am. To follow along with live hole-by-hole scoring of the match, visit thepnga.org.
Championship Links:
Brandes, the No. 1 seed, was inducted into the Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame in 2015. He has numerous PNGA titles to his credit, but is trying for his first title in the Master-40.
Brandes defeated No. 9 seed Michael Haack of Renton, Wash. 2&1 in this morning’s quarterfinal match. Brandes had a 4-up lead over Haack after 11 holes, but Haack, a three-time PNGA Mid-Amateur champion, won two of the next four holes to cut the lead in half after 15 holes. Brandes closed him out on the 17th.
In the semifinal match this afternoon, Brandes took an early 2-up lead after two holes and never looked back, handily defeating No. 12 seed Tom Lewis of Olympia, Wash. 6&4.
Christianson, the No. 3 seed, will be trying for his second title in this championship, having won it in 2016.
In this morning’s quarterfinal matches, Christianson, defeated No. 11 seed Mike Swingle of Bellevue, Wash. 3&2.
Christianson held off the No. 18 seed Jeff Byrnes of Buckley, Wash. in this afternoon’s semifinal match to advance to the final. Byrnes took a quick 3-up lead after three holes, but Christianson battled back to take the lead and ultimately closed out the match with a 1-up victory.
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 were played at scratch.
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.
