Lee, Naik to contend for PNGA Men’s Amateur Championship
Pullman, Wash – Byungho Lee of Plano, Texas, and Nilay Naik of Lake Oswego, Ore., will meet in the final match of the 124th PNGA Men’s Amateur Championship. The two players will tee off in their 36-hole championship match at 7:00am on Saturday, July 11, starting on the first tee at Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman, Wash., which has been hosting the championship all week.
Championship Links
Lee entered this morning’s quarterfinal match against Ryder Odem and had built up a 3-up through the front nine. At some point, Odem sustained a back injury, which led him to concede the match from the 10th tee.
In the afternoon’s semifinal matches, Lee drew Naoki Easterday, who had clinched each of his matches with at least two holes remaining. Lee remained up to the challenge, winning six of the opening nine holes to make the turn with a 5-up margin. Easterday battled back and won holes 11 and 15, but ultimately could not close the gap in time and Lee took the 4&2 win.
Lee is a rising junior at Pepperdine University and won the 2026 Texas Amateur in his home state. His college teammate, Luke Dariotis (Sacramento, Calif.), was also a quarterfinalist, having defeated Ian Schoonmaker and Shaunak Nair Thursday, the latter match in 21 holes.
As for Naik, he faced TingWei (Tim) Chang in the morning. Chang opened strong, winning holes 2 and 7 with birdies, and made the turn 1-up over Naik. But settling in, Naik found rhythm on the back nine by winning holes 11, 12 and 15, taking control of the match. A bogey by Naik on 17 allowed Chang to inch closer, but both players birdied 18 to allow Naik to take a 1-up victory.
In the semifinals, Naik went up against Grant Gudgel (Stillwater, Oklahoma), and the two gentlemen stayed in close quarters the entire way. Gudgel immediately took a 1-up lead with a nice approach on the first hole, and responded to Naik’s wins on holes 5 and 7 to make the turn with it. As in the morning, Naik’s play entered a level of smooth consistency, and the rising junior at the University of Michigan won holes 10 and 11, the latter after Gudgel found a greenside bunker. Gudgel re-tied the match with a birdie on the par-5 16th, but bogeyed 17 to give Naik his 1-up advantage back. Gudgel found the penalty area on the par-5 18th while Naik iced the match by reaching the green in two; Gudgel conceded from the fairway.
Naik recently completed his first season at Michigan after one season with Pomona College. He is a product of Lakeridge High School in Lake Oswego. He finished runner-up in the 2025 PNGA Men’s Amateur, losing to two-time champion Renner in the final match. He is a past Oregon Junior Amateur champion, and this year he finished second in the Royal Oaks Invitational.
Conditions were sunny with moderate winds, similar to previous days of the championship. Heat was very high, in the high 80s and low 90s, typical of East Washington in the summer.
First held in 1899, the PNGA Men’s Amateur is among the oldest amateur golf championships in the world. Players will compete for the Macan Cup, which is named after legendary golf course architect A.V. Macan, a member of the Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame and winner of this championship in 1913.
The PNGA Men’s Amateur was last held at Palouse Ridge in 2014 and won by James Beale. A design of Northwest native John Harbottle III, Palouse Ridge opened in 2008, replacing the old 9-hole WSU Golf Course that had previously existed on the land since 1925. The course is owned by Washington State University and is managed by CourseCo. A public course, it serves as the home of the WSU men’s and women’s golf teams. The layout has a grand and epic scale, flowing over the Palouse hills, and has long since been a regular destination for NCAA and AJGA championships, the men’s and women’s Pac-12 Championships, in addition to those of the PNGA and WA Golf.
The PNGA Men’s Amateur Championship is one of the 11 major, regional, amateur championships for men, women, juniors, and seniors conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.
About the Pacific Northwest Golf Association
The PNGA was founded on February 4, 1899. It is a 501c3 charitable, international, amateur golf association dedicated to preserving the true spirit of golf by supporting its member associations, conducting quality championships, and promoting activities beneficial to golfers in the Pacific Northwest. The PNGA remains committed to being a truly regional organization providing benefits and support to its member associations throughout the Northwest. For more information visit thepnga.org.
