PNGA Senior and Super Senior Men’s Amateurs being held at Old Works
Anaconda, Mont. – The 60th PNGA Senior Men’s and 15th Super Senior Men’s Amateur Championships are being held this week, Sept. 16-18, at Old Works Golf Club in Anaconda, Mont.
The week marks just the third time Montana will host a PNGA championship, and first since the PNGA and Montana State Golf Association (MSGA) began their partnership in 2024. Previously, the 1995 PNGA Junior Boys’ Amateur and 1913 PNGA Amateur – held at Yellowstone Country Club and Butte Country Club, respectively – had been the only other PNGA championships held in Montana.
Championship Links:
This year’s championships have been well received by players, with both seeing full fields.
“We’re looking forward to conducting these two championships in Montana,” said PNGA Senior Director of Championships Nate Schroeder. “The response from the players in filling both fields has been tremendous, and the support we’ve received from the Montana State Golf Association, particularly MSGA Executive Director Nick Dietzen, has been significant. The partnership between the PNGA and MSGA has been beneficial, and we see this week’s championships as a harbinger of more collaboration to come.”
In recent years, Old Works has hosted several MSGA championships, such as its Men’s, Senior and Super Senior Amateur Championships in 2023. Last year, the course hosted the Montana Cup Matches, sanctioned by the Yellowstone Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Section PGA.
The PNGA Senior Men’s Amateur has been held every year since 1965, except 2020 (canceled that year due to the pandemic). Past champions include Pacific Northwest Golf Hall-of-Famers Tom Brandes, Pat O’Donnell, Chris Maletis, Kent Myers, Ken Forster, Dr. Jack Lamey, Dr. John Harbottle, George Holland, Erv Parent and Carl Jonson.
This year, Paul Hogben of Seattle enters as defending champion, having won the 2024 title at Beach Grove Golf Club in Delta, B.C.
Other players to watch in this year’s Senior Amateur field include:
- Brian Leff (Happy Valley, Ore.) – 2023 Champion
- Erik Hanson (Kirkland, Wash.) – 2022 Champion
- Pat O’Donnell (Happy Valley) – 2019 Champion, PNGA Hall-of-Famer
- Mike Kennedy (North Vancouver, B.C.) – T2 to Hogben last year
Also excluding 2020, the Super Senior Championship has been held annually since 2010. Jim Shaw of Sooke, B.C., won the 2024 title; he is absent from this year’s field.
Players to watch in this year’s Super Senior Amateur include:
- Jim McNelis (Gig Harbor, Wash.) – 2023 Champion
- Brad Carey (Lake Oswego, Ore.) – 2022 Champion
- Jon Gallacher (Burnaby, B.C.) – 2017 Champion
- Richard Jonson (Seattle) – 2025 Washington Super Senior Amateur Champion
These championships are two of 11 major regional amateur championships for men, women, juniors, and seniors conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.
About Old Works Golf Club
Old Works Golf Club is a Jack Nicklaus signature design. The site on which Old Works was built had been a large-scale copper smelting operation that began in 1884. It eventually closed and lay idle until 1983 when it became a Superfund cleanup site. Through cooperation between the community, ARCO, state and federal agencies along with Nicklaus, ground was broken on May 26, 1994, and the course opened in 1997. The layout incorporates many historic relics of the copper smelter, from the flue and oven remains, to fairways that border and wind their way between black slag. The slag, a by-product of the copper smelting process, is also featured in all the bunkers on the course.
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.
