Scotty Kennon Earns Medalist Honors at PNGA Junior Boys’ Amateur; Cassie Kim Medals at Junior Girls’; Brackets Set for Match Play

Scotty Kennon of Bandon, Ore. shot rounds of 66-73 to earn medalist honors and the No. 1 seed heading into the match-play competition of the 63rd Pacific Northwest Junior Amateur; while Cassie Kim of Yakima, Wash. shot rounds of 76-73 in earning medalist honors and the No. 1 seed in the 62nd Pacific Northwest Junior Girls’ Amateur.

Match play for both championships begins tomorrow, August 16. For brackets, tee times, pairings and to follow along with live scoring, click here for Junior Boys’ and here for Junior Girls’.

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

Follow @PNGALIVE

The two championships are being held concurrently at Sandpines Golf Links in Florence, Ore. and are conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA).

Both championships consist of 36 holes of stroke play qualifying, which were held August 14 and 15, to determine seeding for the match play portion of the championships. All matches will be contested over 18 holes in a single-elimination format, with the exception of the Junior Boys’ final match on Friday, August 18, which will be played over 36 holes.

Both championships are considered as counting events for the World Amateur Golf Ranking, as well as AJGA Performance Based Entry.

Kennon, 14, is looking to add to his already-impressive playing resume. In 2017 he has qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur and the Junior World Championships, was selected to represent Team Oregon at the Junior America’s Cup and the Hogan Cup, and finished runner-up at the Oregon Junior Amateur for the 14-15 age division. In 2015, he won the PNW PGA Junior Championship in the 12-and-under age division.

Other players making the championship flight match-play bracket in the Junior Boys’ is Sean Kato of Redmond, Wash., who last month won the Washington State Junior Championship. Kato finished runner-up in last year’s PNGA Junior Boys’. Also in 2016 he helped Team Washington win the Junior America’s Cup, and earlier this spring he helped Redmond High School win the WIAA 3A Boys’ High School State Championship. Kato is the No. 2 seed entering tomorrow’s match play.

Also making it to match play is Spencer Tibbits of Vancouver, Wash. who last summer won both the Oregon Junior Amateur and Oregon Junior Stroke Play Championship, and also won the 3A high school championship in Washington. Tibbits also qualified for the 2016 U.S. Junior, and was named the 2016 PNGA Junior Boys’ Player of the Year. He made it to the Round of 16 in last year’s PNGA Junior Boys’. Earlier this spring, Tibbits won his third WIAA 3A High School State Championship.

Kim, the No. 1 seed in the Junior Girls’, is no stranger to seeing her name on a leaderboard. Earlier this season she won the individual title at the WIAA 4A High School State Championship. She also finished third earlier this month in the Washington State Junior Championship, and qualified for the 2017 Junior World Championships. She is a rising junior at Davis High School in Yakima. Kim enters the match-play bracket this week as the No. 1 seed.

The No. 2 seed this week is Brittany Kwon of Bremerton, Wash. She was also the No. 2 seed in last year’s championship, ultimately making it to the final match before finishing runner-up. Kwon won this championship in 2014 as a 13-year-old. Earlier this spring, Kwon won her second consecutive WIAA 3A High School State Championship.

Also making it to match-play in the championship flight are Montgomery and Gabrielle Ferreira of University Place, Wash., the younger sisters of Jordan, who won this championship in 2012. Earlier this year, Montgomery was selected to play in the qualifier for the LPGA Tour’s ANA Inspiration.

The rich history of the PNGA Junior Boys’ Amateur Championship includes past champions such as World Golf Hall of Fame member Fred Couples, Web.com Tour players Alex Prugh and Andrew Yun, and John Bodenhamer, the former CEO and executive director of the PNGA who now is a senior director at the USGA.

The storied history of the PNGA Junior Girls’ Amateur includes past champions Jo Ann Washam, Peggy Conley, Joan Edwards-Powell, Mary Budke, and JoAnne Gunderson Carner, all of whom would later be inducted into the Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame after storied amateur and professional careers. Other past champions include current LPGA Tour players Paige Mackenzie and Jimin Kang.

These championships are two of 15 regional championships conducted annually by the PNGA.

Designed by world-renowned architect Rees Jones, Sandpines Golf Links opened in 1993 and was immediately lauded as the “Best New Course in America” by Golf Digest. Last year, Sandpines hosted the Pacific Northwest Mid-Amateur Championship.

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.