Sam Foust Earns Medalist Honors at 116th PNGA Men’s Amateur Championship; Match Play to Begin Tomorrow

Creswell, Ore. – Sam Foust of Edina, Minn. shot rounds of 69-70, a combined 5-under par, in the two rounds of stroke-play qualifying to earn medalist honors at the 116th Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship, being held this week at Emerald Valley Golf & Resort in Creswell, Ore. Foust has earned the No. 1 seed entering the match-play competition of the championship.

The Round of 64 will be held Wednesday, July 12, followed by the Rounds of 32 and 16 on Thursday, and quarterfinals and semifinals on Friday, with the championship match on Saturday, July 15. Each match will be contested over 18 holes, with the exception of the final match, which will be played over 36 holes.

For pairings, tee times and to follow along with live scoring, visit www.thepnga.org.

To stay connected with the championship on social media, follow @PNGALIVE on Twitter for live updates and use the hashtag #PNGAMensAm.

Click here for an in-depth article about this year’s championship; and click here for a complete bracket, and here for a complete hole-by-hole summary of stroke-play qualifying.

Foust, a rising junior on the men’s golf team at the University of Oregon which practices at Emerald Valley, relied on some local knowledge on the 7,145-yard layout.

“Yeah, we play here (at Emerald Valley) all the time,” Foust said. “I’ve definitely played the course a lot. It’s in a little different condition than we usually see it (with it being so dry lately), but I play here a lot and I think it gives us (UO) Ducks a little advantage.”

Of the upcoming match-play portion of the championship, Foust said, “I haven’t played a lot of match play, but I definitely like it. You only have to focus on one other player at a time. Anything can happen in match play, so there’s a little more pressure there. What seed you are usually doesn’t matter a whole lot.”

Foust had been the No. 1-ranked player in the state of Minnesota during his senior year of high school. He led Edina High School to the 3A high school team championship his junior year and a second-place finish his senior year.

Other notables to advance to match play are Edwin Yi, Foust’s teammate at the University of Oregon, who tied for second in the qualifying rounds, two shots back of Foust. Another UO teammate to make it is Kevin Geniza of Corvallis, Ore.

Also tied for second were Henry Lee of Coquitlam, B.C., a rising sophomore on the University of Washington men’s golf team; and Reid Hatley of Hayden Lake, Idaho, the PNGA Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of Year in 2015 and 2016.

The reigning Washington State Amateur champion, Chase Carlson of Tacoma, Wash., also advanced, as did Cole Madey of West Linn, Ore., who is a rising junior at UCLA and two weeks ago won the Oregon Amateur and also qualified for the 2017 U.S. Amateur. Madey was the runner-up in the 2014 Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur.

Cole’s older brother Clayton Madey also made it to match play. Brian Mogg of Sammamish, Wash. made it, but brother Chris did not. Aaron Whalen of Ephrata, Wash. made match play, while his brother Andrew, who was runner-up in last year’s championship, lost in a playoff for the final spot in this year’s bracket.

Drew McCullough of Richland, Wash. also made match play. He is a rising senior at the University of Wyoming, and won the Washington Open earlier this year, playing against the professionals, and finished tied for second two weeks ago in the Seattle Amateur, losing in a three-man sudden-death playoff. In 2016 he was a semifinalist at the PNGA Men’s Amateur.

Joshua Gliege and Graysen Huff, both of Eagle, Idaho, also advanced. Gliege was named the 2015 PNGA Junior Boys’ Player of the Year, while Huff won the same honor in 2014.

First held in 1899, the Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur is one of the oldest amateur golf championships in the world. Players will compete for the Macan Cup, which is named after legendary golf course designer A.V. Macan, a member of the Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame and winner of this championship in 1913.

Past champions include Tiger Woods, Jeff Quinney, Ben Crane, Jeff Coston, Nick Flanagan, Jim McLean and Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Famers Chandler Egan, Harry Givan, Jack Westland, Bud Ward and George Holland, among many others.

The Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship is one of 15 major, regional, amateur championships for men, women, juniors, and seniors conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.

Emerald Valley previously hosted the Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship in 2007, and also was the site of the 2014 Pacific Northwest Junior Boys’ Amateur. The course has also hosted U.S. Open qualifiers, most recently in 2014, as well as Oregon men’s amateurs, a U.S. Amateur qualifier last year and numerous high school state championships. Furthermore, some of the contestants in this championship played in the PNGA Junior Boys’ Amateur here in 2014, including medalist John Sand from Hoquiam, Wash.

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 allied associations, conducting quality championships, and promoting activities beneficial to golfers in the Pacific Northwest. For more than a century, the Association has been a pioneer in developing competitions and services and its mission has grown and evolved. Today, the PNGA remains committed to being a truly regional organization providing benefits and services to its members and member clubs throughout the Northwest.