Brill and Van Alstine to square off in PNGA Junior Boys’ Final; Arnzen to face Kwon in Junior Girls’ Final
Bellingham, Wash. – Teigen Brill of Spokane, Wash., will face Forrest Van Alstine of Vancouver, B.C., in the final match of the 68th PNGA Junior Boys’ Amateur, while Ella Arnzen of Boise, Idaho, will take on Yeeun Kwon of Vancouver, B.C., in the final match of the 67th PNGA Junior Girls’ Amateur.
The final matches for both championships will be contested over 36 holes on Friday, August 18th, at North Bellingham Golf Course in Bellingham, Wash. The Junior Boys’ final match will tee off at 7:00am, and the Junior Girls’ final will tee off at 7:15am.
Championship Links:
Junior Boys’:
Junior Girls’:
Brill, the No. 25 seed in the bracket, punched his ticket for the final match by defeating the medalist Conrad Chisman of Stanwood, Wash., in this morning’s quarterfinal round by a score of 5 & 4. Brill then took down Jack Kendrick of Vancouver, Wash., in this afternoon’s semifinal, winning by a score of 2 & 1.
Van Alstine, the No. 11 seed in the bracket, earned a spot in tomorrow’s 36-hole final match by defeating Eric Joo of Coquitlam, B.C., 2 & 1 in this morning’s quarterfinal round. In this afternoon’s semifinal, he dispatched Grady Millar of Vancouver, Wash., by a score of 3 & 2.
Earlier this summer, Brill won the WJGA District 5 championship, and earlier this month, he placed 7th at the WJGA State Championship. Brill is a rising sophomore at North Central High School in Spokane, Wash., where he plays on the golf team.
Van Alstine, who just turned 18 yesterday, graduated from high school earlier this year. He’ll be an incoming freshman this fall at the University of British Columbia, where he’ll play on the men’s golf team.
Arnzen, the No. 8 seed in the Junior Girls’ bracket, defeated the medalist Chelsea Truong of Victoria, B.C., in this morning’s quarterfinal round by a score of 1 up. She secured her spot in the final match by defeating Lucia Morelli of Mercer Island, Wash., in 19 holes in this afternoon’s semifinal round.
Kwon, the No. 2 seed in the bracket, earned a spot in tomorrow’s 36-hole final match by defeating Maddie Dustin of Salem, Ore., in this morning’s quarterfinal round. In the afternoon semifinal, she rallied back from four down at the turn to beat Tatum Otto of Issaquah, Wash., 1 up.
Earlier this summer, Arnzen qualified for and played in the PGA Junior Girls Championship. This past fall, she finished in 3rd place at the 5A Idaho High School state championship as a member of the Timberline High School girls’ golf team.
Kwon, just 14 years old, won the PGA of BC Junior Championship earlier this summer. Last month, she finished 5th at the BC Junior Girls Championship.
Both championships began with 36-holes of stroke play qualifying (August 14-15) to determine seeding for the match play portion of the championships. For the Boys’ championship, 32 players advanced to match play; and for the Girls’, 16 players advanced.
To be eligible for the PNGA Junior Boys’ and Girls’ Amateur Championships, contestants must have not reached their 19th birthday by midnight of August 18, 2023, and must have a Handicap Index or Factor not exceeding 8.4 for Boys’ or 12.4 for Girls’.
These championships are two of 11 major, regional, amateur championships for men, women, juniors and senior conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.
About North Bellingham Golf Course
North Bellingham Golf Course in Bellingham, Washington, was opened in July 1995. The course has been designed to naturally integrate the open field qualities of the historic Wilder Ranch by Ted Locke. Golfers enjoy panoramic views of Mt. Baker while being challenged by the prevailing gale winds sweeping across the landscape of this “Real Scottish Style Links Course.”
