Field Cut to Eight After Marathon Day Match Play at 113th Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship
The remaining field of 32 players were tested in 90-degree weather as they fought through morning and afternoon matches to advance in the 113th Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship, being held at Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman, Wash. The quarterfinal and semifinal matches will be held tomorrow.
The championship, which started with an elite field of 168 amateurs, is conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA).
The storyline that dominated the day’s matches was that of the Madey brothers. Hailing from West Linn, Ore. the brothers – Cole and Clayton – won their respective matches in the morning’s Round of 32, and advanced to face each other in the Round of 16.
Younger brother Cole, 17, defeated Spencer Weiss of Sammamish, Wash. 4 and 2, while older brother Clayton, 19, won 6 and 5 over Scott Kim of Richland, Wash. The two teed it up like they have so many times before, but with much more than bragging rights on the line this time.
“It’s hard to play your brother because nobody really wants to win,” Cole said. “I had been down all day, and I think everyone just got tired. I just made a couple of putts coming down the stretch, fortunately, but I feel bad.”
“It was a lot of fun. I knew going into the day that it was going to be up and down, and that it would probably go to the last hole, and it did,” Clayton said. “It went all the way to 18, and he closed out with a couple birdies. I was proud of him. He wasn’t feeling well during the middle of the round, but he stuck it out.”
Although Clayton was certainly proud of his brother, he didn’t hesitate to let Cole know that he may have won the battle, but he hadn’t won the war.
“I’ll get the next one,” Clayton said
If Clayton got the best out of Cole while the two were competing, Cole hopes to get the most from his brother when the two are teamed up.
“Clayton will be on the bag tomorrow,” Cole made sure to note. “You get a little amped up with extra holes, so I think I did a good job of that, and came
out and played much more solid in the second round.”
Solid is a good way to describe Charlie Kern’s match in the Round of 16 against Will Brink, of Manteca, Calif. Kern, from Mercer Island, Wash. who finished tied for 13 in last week’s Sahalee Players Championship, won 3 and 2, making three birdies without a single bogey to advance to the quarterfinals tomorrow. He will face Cole Madey, teeing off at 7:40 a.m.
The Palouse Ridge Golf Club set-up was altered for the two rounds on Wednesday. The par-4 15th hole became a 300-yard par-3, and the par-4 17th was played as a 527-yard par-5. The back nine consisted of four par 3s and three par 5s.
Other notables that advanced to the quarterfinals included 2013 runner-up Hans Reimers of Lake Oswego, Ore. He defeated Jarrett Foote 2 and 1. Future Washington State University player Derek Bayley of Rathdrum, Idaho also advanced, defeating upset-specialist Tye Gabriel of Portland, Ore.
Starting times in the quarterfinal matches begin at 7:30 a.m. and run to 8:00 a.m. tomorrow. The semifinal matches begin at 12:00 and 12:10 p.m. The final match will be contested over 36 holes on Friday.
Past champions of the Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship include Tiger Woods, Jeff Quinney, Ben Crane, Jeff Coston, Nick Flanagan, Jim McLean and PNGA Hall of Famers Chandler Egan, Harry Givan, Jack Westland, Bud Ward and George Holland, among others. After winning the 1994 championship, Woods said,
“The PNGA Men’s Amateur will always be very special to me since it’s my first men’s amateur victory.” Watch preview here.
