Nate Smith wins 50th PNGA Men’s Master-40 Amateur
Shelton, Wash. – Nate Smith of Tetonia, Idaho, won the 50th Pacific Northwest Men’s Master-40 Amateur Championship, held from August 4-8 at Salish Cliffs Golf Club in Shelton, Wash. Smith clinched the title with a 2 & 1 win over Daniel Kirkham from Tigard, Ore., in the 18-hole final match.
The championship began with 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying on August 4-5, followed by 18-hole single-elimination match play from August 6-7, culminating in today’s final.
Championship Links:
Smith played with purpose all week, entering the match play bracket as the No. 1 seed after the stroke-play qualifying rounds. Across the rounds of 32 and 16, he won both of his matches, 5 & 4. He secured 4 & 3 and 3 & 2 wins in the quarterfinal and semifinal matches, respectively, prior to his 2 & 1 triumph today. He never played the 18th hole throughout the week.
In the final match, Smith and Kirkham traded blows early, with the latter erasing a 2-up lead Smith had opened after the opening two holes. Smith then regained that same advantage after 10 holes, and after he and Kirkham swapped wins on holes 14 and 15, the match was clinched in his favor with a par on the 17th hole.
This marks Smith’s first PNGA title. He is a former professional golfer with 25 starts on the PGA Tour. He won the 2010 WNB Classic on the Korn Ferry (then Nationwide) Tour. After stepping away from pro golf in 2013, Smith later regained amateur status and won the 2024 Idaho Men’s Amateur Championship.
More recently, he represented Team Idaho in the Morse Cup competition during the 2025 Pacific Coast Amateur Championship, where he made the cut and finished tied for 13th.
The Pacific Northwest Men’s Master-40 Amateur is one of 11 major regional amateur championships for men, women, juniors, and seniors conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.
About Salish Cliffs Golf Club
Salish Cliffs is an amenity of the Little Creek Casino & Resort, which is owned and operated by the Squaxin Island Tribe. Designed by Gene Bates and opened in 2011, the course is consistently ranked in the top 100 resort courses by Golfweek magazine. Visit salishcliffs.com for more information.
