Quarterfinals in the 39th Pacific Northwest Men’s Master-40 Championship are set

The Championship Flight of 32 was narrowed down to 8 after contestants played two rounds of match play on Wednesday. Here is a look at the quarterfinalists and how they got here:

#1 Seed
Erik Hanson
Kirkland, Washington

Hanson continued his stellar play from stroke play qualifying and handled his morning match with ease, cruising to a 5&4 win over Stephen Dunn, of Shoreline, Wash. Hanson never trailed in the match, and closed it out in a deciding manner by winning holes 13 and 14.

Hanson’s afternoon match produced a similar result, as he defeated Steve Johnson of Bremerton, Wash., 6&4. He, again, did not trail in the match and won holes 13 and 14 to seal the victory.

#25 Seed
Dana Christianson
Tacoma, Washington

Christianson was matched up against the #8 seed Alex Stamey, of Mill Creek, Wash., in his morning match. He maintained a 1 up lead throughout the majority of the round and was able to win holes 16 and 17 to close out a 2&1 victory after Stamey squared the match on 15.

In the afternoon, Christianson jumped out to and early 3 up lead after 5 holes against Edward Jonson, of Bainbridge Island, Wash. Jonson battled back and took a brief 1 up lead before the match was squared on hole 12. It remained that way until Christianson was again able to win holes 16 and 17 on his way to a 2&1 victory.

#4 Seed
Tom Brandes
Bellevue, Washington

Brandes is no stranger when it comes to winning PNGA Championships, having twice won both the PNGA Senior Men’s Championship and the Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship, however he has yet to claim a Master-40 title. He began the match play portion of this year’s event by defeating Matt Clemo, of Tulatin, Ore., 4&3.

In the afternoon he defeated a fellow PNGA Champion also looking for his first Master-40 victory in Kent Brown, of Colville, Wash., by a score of 2&1.

#12 Seed
Rob Bringardner
Snoqualmie, Washington

Bringardner had the largest margin of victory in the event thus far in his morning match when he defeated Gregg Ott, of Kent, Wash., 7&5.

Keith Crimp, of Ellensburg, Wash., proved to be a tougher challenge in the afternoon, however Bringardner prevailed 2&1.

#2 Seed
Craig Larson
Tacoma, Washington

Larson used birdies on both of the front side par 5’s to help build a 4 up lead through 10 holes. He would eventually defeat Larry Redfield, of Puyallup, Wash., 5&4.

In the afternoon he won 3&2 against Joe Knight, of Campbell River, B.C.

#10 Seed
Paul Houvener
Mill Creek, Washington

In the morning, Houvener alternated between a 1 and 2 hole lead for the majority of his 2 up victory over Brad Kirkpatrick, of Seattle, Wash.

He had a bit of an easier time with Darren Kuhn, of Pocatello, Idaho, in his 5&4 victory in his Round of 16 afternoon match.

#3 Seed
Nate Hair
Edwall, Washington

Hair won a back and forth match with Roger Eichhorn, of Bend, Ore., in 19 holes during his morning Round of 32 match.

After turning around and beginning play in the afternoon less than 20 minutes after finishing his morning victory, Hair quickly fell behind  4 holes to Karl Smith, of Gig Harbor, Wash. He would eventually square the match on hole 13 and again go on to win in 19 holes.

#27 Seed
Drew Machleid
Seattle, Washington

Machleid traded holes throughout his morning match with Roger Thorn, of Redmond, Wash., before finally claiming a 2&1 victory.

He then won another tight match by defeating Jeff Ward, of Bend, Ore., 1 up in the afternoon.

Quarterfinal matches will begin at 7:30 a.m. Thursday morning.