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Quarterfinal matches set at PNGA Junior Boys’ and Girls’ Amateur Championships

Max Herendeen and Zach Carter
Max Herendeen and his caddie Zach Carter strike a pose for the camera.

Pullman, Wash. – The quarterfinal matchups are set at the 66th PNGA Junior Boys’ and 65th Junior Girls’ Amateur Championships, hosted this week at Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman, Wash.

Matches in the Boys’ rounds of 32 and 16 and matches in the Girls’ round of 16 were contested today as the region’s best juniors continue to duke it out on the Palouse.

Championship Links

Junior Boys’:

Junior Girls’:

Cole Rueck
Cole Rueck

After defeating No. 32 seed Cole Jaworski of Hayden, Idaho 2&1 in this morning’s round of 32 match, No. 1 seed Daniel Kim was ousted in this afternoon’s round of 16 by No. 17 seed Cole Rueck of Corvallis, Ore. by a score of 4&3.

Kim jumped out to a 1 up lead through four holes in this afternoon’s match until Rueck caught fire and won holes 5, 7 and 8 two go 2 up. Both players halved the par-5 ninth with an eagle before Rueck made a second consecutive eagle on the par-5 10th to go 3 up. Rueck then proceeded to birdie three of the last four holes to seal the deal. He finished his round at 7-under-par after just 15 holes.

The 17-year-old Rueck will be a senior in the fall at Corvallis High School. Earlier this month he made match-play at the PNGA Men’s Amateur and just last week he had a top-20 finish at the AJGA Jordan Spieth Championship.

Junior Boys’ quarterfinal matchups:

  • (17) Cole Rueck of Corvallis, Ore. vs (9) Sam Renner of Bend, Ore.
  • (4) Max Herendeen of Bellevue, Wash. vs (5) Ethan Evans of Mercer Island, Wash.
  • (2) Collin Hodgkinson of Beaverton, Ore. vs (26) Caden Martinsen of Spokane, Wash.
  • (14) Burly Hildreth of Eastsound, Wash. vs (6) Benjamin Borgida of Shoreline, Wash.
Kennedy Knox
Kennedy Knox

In the Junior Girls’ Championship, No. 1 seed Kennedy Knox of Normandy Park, Wash. successfully advanced to the quarterfinal round with a 6&5 victory over No. 16 seed Brooke Gelinas of Bonney Lake, Wash.

Top-seeded Knox put together an impressive round in today’s match, ending the day at 3-under-par after just 13 holes.

This summer, Knox has won the Washington Women’s Amateur, the SWGA City Amateur, and the WJGA Girls’ State Championship, the first player in history to accomplish this feat. She will compete for the University of Washington Women’s Golf Team this fall.

Junior Girls’ quarterfinal matchups:

  • (1) Kennedy Knox of Normandy Park, Wash. vs (9) Jade Gruher of Camas, Wash.
  • (4) Taylor Mularski of Spokane, Wash. vs (5) Brooke Patterson of Eagle, Idaho
  • (15) Sofia Fuenmayor of Beaverton, Ore. vs (10) Emersyn Walker of Lakewood, Wash.
  • (3) Triana Fernando of Kirkland, Wash. vs (6) Emma Wong of Bellevue, Wash.

The two championships are being held concurrently August 16-20, and are being conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA). Both championships are considered as counting events for the World Amateur Golf Ranking, as well as AJGA Performance Based Entry.

Both championships consisted of 36 holes of stroke play qualifying on August 16-17, to determine seeding for the match play portion of the championships. For the Boys’ championship, 32 players will advance to match play; and for the Girls’, 16 players will advance.

All matches will be contested over 18 holes in a single-elimination format, with the exception of the two final matches, which will both be played over 36 holes on Friday, August 20.

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