Hibler wins second consecutive PNGA Master-40 Championship
McCall, Idaho – Jesse Hibler of Meridian, Idaho put an exclamation point on his win in last year’s PNGA Master-40 by successfully defending his title this week in the 47th PNGA Master-40 Championship, held at Jug Mountain Ranch in McCall, Idaho.
Hibler, the No. 1 seed in the match-play bracket, defeated No. 10 seed Dustin Ianson of Boise, 1-up, in today’s 18-hole championship final match.
Ianson gave Hibler the most trouble of all the matches Hibler played this week, and was 1-up over Hibler after nine holes in today’s final. But Hibler proceeded to win holes 10-13 to start the back nine, building a lead that Ianson could not overcome, eventually running out of holes to catch Hibler.
Hibler had breezed through his previous matches by margins of 5&4, 3&1, 8&7 and 5&4.
“I was fortunate to play in the Idaho State Mid-Amateur last week (also held at Jug Mountain Ranch), which gave me a good preview of the course heading into this week’s championship,” said Hibler after taking the Master-40 title. He finished second in the Idaho State Mid-Amateur, one shot back of the winner.
“I was able to get my yardages down, and see where the trouble is. In match play, it’s all about fairways and greens, and staying out of trouble, and there is trouble on this course. So that was my plan for this week.”
During his match today, Ianson had been able to save some unexpected pars and made some long birdie putts, which didn’t ruffle Hibler too much. “In my experience with match play, you try not to get too nervous about that. Those things happen. I just try to stay patient, and play my game. So I just stayed with my game, and it panned out.”
Watch Hibler’s post-match interview here.
Championship links:
The championship began with 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying on August 29-30 to determine match play seeding. The top 32 players then qualified for single-elimination match play. All matches were contested over 18 holes.
The field consisted of the top male amateur golfers in the Pacific Northwest over the age of 40.
The Pacific Northwest Men’s Master-40 Championship is one of 11 major, regional, amateur championships for men, women, juniors, and seniors conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.
