Strong contenders advance at PNGA Men’s Master-40 while No. 1 seed retired; Quarterfinal bracket set
Walla Walla, Wash. – The Rounds of 32 and 16 at the 51st PNGA Men’s Master-40 Amateur saw multiple highly seeded players advance through to the quarterfinals, while the No. 1 was eliminated.
The matches, held at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Wash., came after two days of 18-hole stroke-play qualifying rounds.
Championship Links
Jeff Widdows (Yakima, Wash.) began his week with a 4-over par round of 76 in the opening stroke play round. But, clawing his way back, he got into red figures Tuesday with a 5-under 67 to safely enter match play as the 17th seed out of 32. Widdows met four-time Master-40 champ and 2026 PNGA Hall of Fame inductee Erik Hanson (Kirkland, Wash.) in the Round of 32 and the players shared an excellent match. They made the turn tied, and Widdows was soon 1-up through 15, but Hanson re-knotted the match at 17. The two split the 18th hole to end the match tied, but Hanson conceded due to a personal obligation.
Widdows then met Jason Huff (Moscow, Idaho), the stroke play medalist who earned that honor by going 11-under par through 36 holes. Continuing his strong form, Huff won the third and fourth holes to go 2-up early, but the momentum soon shifted to Widdows. He won the par-3 seventh after a Huff bogey, and another dropped shot by the medalist on 10 left the match tied. Carefully and gradually assuming control of the match, Widdows carded a par on 13 and birdie on 15 for a 2-up advantage, which he maintained en route to a 2 & 1 victory.
No. 9 seed William Snow (Vancouver, Wash.) is also a quarterfinalist. He drew Jason Clifford (Boise, Idaho) in the Round of 32 and never trailed en route to a 4 & 3 win. Snow was then matched up with Stephen Connor (Kamloops, B.C.) and again started hot, taking a 3-up lead by the end of the fifth hole. Connor was resilient in ensuing holes and trimmed his deficit to 1-down, but Snow pulled away by winning holes 12, 13 and 15, and the match soon ended 4 & 3 in his favor.
The defending Master-40 champion Nate Smith again made it to the quarterfinals with margins of victory no smaller than four holes. In the Round of 32, Smith faced Colin Gilliam (Bowen Island, B.C.) and was 2-up after the front nine. Three more hole wins on the back nine led to a 4 & 3 triumph, and a Round of 16 match with Cameron Langham (Spokane).
Langham jumped out to a 2-up lead over Smith in the first two holes, but the match belonged to Smith after that. The defending champ won the next two holes and three more on the front side, as well as the 10 and 13th on the back, to take a 5 & 4 win.
In addition to his win in this championship a year ago, Smith won the 2026 Idaho Men’s Amateur last month. He is a former PGA Tour pro who has regained amateur status and is No. 251 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).
Reid Hatley (Hayden Lake, Idaho), winner of the 2026 Washington Men’s Mid-Amateur last week, also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6 & 4 win over Brooks Lancaster (Kaleden, B.C.) followed by a 3 & 2 win over Larry Redfield (Soap Lake, Wash.).
Others to advance include Kris Martonik (Kennewick, Wash.), Sean Packer (Normandy Park, Wash.), Jack Meehan (Woodinville, Wash.) and Michael Wog II (Walla Walla).
Quarterfinal pairings can be found here.
To be eligible for the PNGA Men’s Master-40, players must have been 40 years of age or older by August 3, 2026. They also must have had an up-to-date USGA Handicap Index or Golf Canada Handicap Factor not exceeding 8.4 at the time of entry and be a member in good standing of a PNGA Member Association.
The Pacific Northwest Men’s Master-40 Amateur is one of 11 major, regional, amateur championships for men, women, juniors, and seniors conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.
About Wine Valley
Wine Valley Golf Club was designed by Northwest architect Dan Hixson and opened in 2009. The long, treeless course sits some seven miles west of Walla Walla, among the rolling waves of pure Eastern Washington prairie. Built on land that once was wheat and alfalfa fields, Wine Valley is one of the state’s most expansive courses, measuring a little more than 7,600 yards at its longest. It has been an ideal location for Northwest championship golf, having hosted the PNGA Men’s Amateur three times, the Washington Men’s Amateur twice, and the Northwest Open Invitational a total of 12 times, among an assortment of other events.
