PNGA Team Set to Compete in Morse Cup at 48th Pacific Coast Amateur
The Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA) will be represented by the three-man team of David Fink of Corvallis, Ore., Carl Jonson of Bainbridge Island, Wash. and Thomas Lim of Eugene, Ore. in the Morse Cup team competition of the 48th Pacific Coast Amateur Championship, being held July 22-25 at the Pine Canyon Club in Flagstaff, Ariz.
Heading back to Flagstaff for the first time since 2001 when Corey Prugh won at Forest Highlands GC, the Pine Canyon Club will see its inaugural hosting of the event. The venue will be challenged by a field packed with a number of future, current and former NCAA standout athletes, some of whom currently rank in the top 100 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR).
Taking place concurrently during the championship’s first two rounds will be the battle for the Morse Cup, a 36-hole stroke play team competition using predetermined rosters representing the 15 member Associations of the Pacific Coast Golf Association. The defending champions of the Morse Cup are the contingent from the Northern California Golf Association.
Fink will be playing as a member of Team PNGA for the third consecutive year. He won the individual Pacific Coast Amateur title in 2012, the year the PNGA won the Morse Cup competition (they finished runner-up in 2013). Fink recently graduated from Oregon State University, where he played on the men’s golf team all four year.
Also returning this year as a member of Team PNGA is Jonson, who will be a senior at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Jonson was a semifinalist at the 2013 PNGA Men’s Amateur, and was runner-up in the 2012 PNGA Men’s Amateur.
Lim, who will be a sophomore at the University of Oregon, won the Oregon Amateur last month. In his first collegiate event, he won the individual title at the 2013 Husky Invitational.
Highlighting the field at this year’s championship proper will be former Cal-State Fullerton Titan in Mark Anguiano of Whittier, Calif. Ranked No. 25 in the world according to WAGR, Anguiano looks to add to his impressive 2014 campaign that has already included being named the “Big West Male Golfer of the Year” and winning last month’s Sahalee Players Championship.
Other impressively-ranked notables looking to make a splash in the highly touted field will be former UC Davis Aggie Matt Hansen of Los Osos, Calif. (ranked No. 88)), University of Washington Husky Jonathan Sanders of Chatsworth, Calif. (ranked No. 90) and Lorens Chan of Honolulu (No. 98), a junior on the UCLA Bruins men’s golf team.
Also working off of strong 2014s and hoping to break into the winner’s circle at Pine Canyon Club will be recent Oregon Amateur champion Thomas Lim of Moorpark, Calif. (No. 109), Mercer University Bear Hans Reimers of Lake Oswego, Ore. (No. 145) and New Mexico/West Texas Amateur champion and University of New Mexico Lobos senior Sam Saunders of Albuquerque, N.M. (No. 243). Also in the field is the only former Pacific Coast Amateur champion in David Fink of Kailua, HI (No. 202). Fink won the 2012 edition at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore. and hopes to add a second Updegraff trophy to his mantle. Last year’s champion Tyler Raber will not be defending, as he has since turned professional.
The Ed Updegraff Trophy was named after the longtime volunteer and standout amateur golfer who played on three Walker Cup teams (1963, 1965 and 1969), won the 1967 Pacific Coast Amateur title and was the 1999 Bob Jones Award recipient from the USGA.
Play for the 72-hole stroke play championship will begin on Tuesday, July 22 at 7 a.m. with practice rounds being held the two days prior. Play will conclude with the eventual champion being crowned on Friday, July 25, 2014.
Past champions of the Pacific Coast Amateur who have gone on to successful professional careers include PGA Tour winners Billy Mayfair (1987, 1988), Jason Gore (1997) and Ben Crane (1998) as well as Web.com Tour winners and brothers Michael Putnam (2004) and Andrew Putnam (2010).
For more information on the championship, visit www.pacificcoastamateur.com.
For a full listing of players, click here.
Follow along with this year’s championship on social media using Twitter handle @pacificcoastam , Instagram @pacificcoastam and Facebook /pacificcoastamateur using the official hashtags #PACCoast and #PineCanyon
About the Pacific Coast Amateur Championship
Although its present history only dates from 1967, the Pacific Coast Amateur Championship’s roots make it one of the oldest amateur golf championships in U.S. history. The first championship was held on the links of San Francisco Golf Club at The Presidio, April 24-27, 1901. Championships were held annually through 1911, all being conducted in California except for the 1909 championship, which was held at Seattle Golf Club in Washington. The Pacific Coast Amateur then ceased to exist, only to be reconstituted at Seattle Golf Club on August 10-12, 1967 with the Pacific Northwest, Northern California, Southern California, Oregon and Arizona golf associations participating. Today, 15 member Pacific Rim golf associations comprise the Pacific Coast Golf Association. For more information visit www.pacificcoastamateur.com or follow on social media @pacificcoastam using #PACCoast