Medalist John Sand Continues His Run in the 60th Pacific Northwest Junior Boys’ Amateur Championship

John Sand of Hoquiam, Wash. continued his run through the 60th Pacific Northwest Junior Boys Amateur Championship unscathed. Sand won both of his matches and will be looking to advance to the Semifinals when he faces Sam Warkentin of Bainbridge Island, Wash. tomorrow in the Quarterfinals.

The Championship is being held at Emerald Valley Golf and Resort in Creswell, Ore.

Sand, the No. 1 overall seed defeated Scott Chu, the No. 32 seed and qualifier via playoff on Tuesday evening 5 and 4. He went on to face Brian Humphreys Washougal, Wash. in the Round of 16 this afternoon, and finished that match with a 4 and 2 victory. Humphreys applied pressure to Sand early on, and was only one down through the first nine holes. Humphreys stumbled slightly down the stretch, making a double bogey on the par-4 14th, and Sand’s birdie on No. 16 sealed the deal.

Matt Marrese of Bellevue, Wash. also shined in the first two rounds of Championship Flight Match Play. He defeated Josh Miller of Saanichton, B.C. 7 and 6 in the Round of 16 Wednesday afternoon. Marrese did not lose a single hole, and won four straight, and five of six to begin the match. He claimed a 4 and 3 win in the Round of 32 over Trever Lohman of Bellevue, Wash.

Marrese will face Sean Yi of Auburn, Wash. in the Quarterfinals on Thursday morning.

Ryan Maine of Spokane, Wash., and Andrew Funk of Sidney, B.C. played the match of the day on Wednesday in the Round of 16. Funk went two up after a birdie on No. 6, and made another birdie on No. 8 to remain two up. Maine battled back in a match that saw putts dropping from distance on several occations. He made birdie on the par-4 14th to bring the match All Square, and par on No. 15 to gain his first lead. Funk answered right back with a birdie of his own on No. 16 to square the match once again. On the 17th hole, Maine took the lead once again with a par, but Funk made birdie on the 18th to send the spectacular match to extra holes. Both players made par on holes 19 and 20, but Maine broke the deadlock on the 21st hole when picked up a tap-in birdie, and Funk left his third shot in the greenside bunker.

Maine will face Riley Elmes of Lake Oswego, Ore. in the Quarterfinals on Thursday. Elmes, who defeated Jack Reeves of Sandpoint, Idaho in the Round of 32 4 and 3 entered his afternoon pairing in the Round of 16 against Hunter Ostrom of Eagle, Idaho. Elmes, the 2014 Oregon Junior Amateur Champion defeated Ostrom 4 and 2.

The championship’s Quarterfinal and Semifinal matches, both consisting of 18 holes, will be held Thursday. The first match in the Quarterfinals will tee off at 7:30 a.m., and the first tee time in the Semifinal match is 12:00 p.m. The Final match will be held on Friday, and will be contested over 36 holes.

This championship is being conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA). This is one of 16 regional championships conducted annually by the PNGA.