Warkentin, Gliege Continue Runs into PNGA Junior Boys’ Quarterfinals
Co-Medalists Sam Warkentin of Bainbridge Island, Wash., and Joshua Gliege of Eagle, Idaho continued their runs in the 61st Pacific Northwest Junior Boys’ Amateur Championship today at Wildhorse Resort in Pendleton, Ore.
The 32 Championship Flight players participated in Round of 32 and Round of 16 action today, with eight players advancing to tomorrow’s Quarterfinal and Semifinal rounds.
Warkentin, the 2014 champion of this event defeated Andrew Spalti of Vancouver, B.C. 5 and 4. Spalti entered the Championship Flight as the last seed after qualifying in a five-for-one playoff Tuesday evening.
Warkentin will face Spencer Tibbits of Vancouver, Wash., in the Quarterfinals tomorrow. Tibbits played some excellent golf on Wednesday, defeating Connor Johnstone of Caldwell, Idaho 3 and 1, and then going on to beat Ryan Maine of Spokane, Wash., 6 and 4 in a match that included seven birdies and an eagle in just 14 holes.
Roy Kang of North Vancouver, B.C. advanced to the Quarterfinals and will face Boise, Idaho’s Brody Bonfilio.
Kang took down Samuel Gray of Seattle, Wash. 7 and 5 in this morning’s Round of 32, and went on to defeat Bryce Wortman of Klamath Falls, Ore. 5 and 4 in the Round of 16. Kang made birdies on holes 9, 12, and 13 and made eagle on hole 11 to finish and advance to the Quarterfinals.
Bonfilio beat Gabriel Barnes of Olympia, Wash. in 18 holes, and never held a lead in the match until he made par on the final hole to close out the match.
No. 2 overall seed and Co-Medalist Joshua Gliege of Eagle, Idaho cruised into the Quarterfinals with a 3 and 2 win over Connor Golembeski of Redmond, Wash. and a 7 and 5 win over Ellensburg, Wash.’s Travis Kay. Gliege carded five birdies and not a single bogey in his Round of 16 match. Gliege will face Jack Plaster of Spokane, Wash.
The final Quarterfinal match will be played between Sam Tidd of Meridian, Idaho and Nicholas Nolan of Bellingham, Wash. Nolan took a come-from-behind victory over Gabe Lysen of Kirkland, Wash. Nolan was 2 down at the turn, and 1 down through 14 holes until he won holes 15 and 16 with pars, and made birdie on the 18th to advance.
Quarterfinal and Semifinal matches in the Championship Flight will be held tomorrow, August 13, 2015 at Wildhorse Resort.
The Championship Match will be held on Friday, August 14th and will be played over 36 holes.
The rich history of the PNGA Junior Boys’ Amateur Championship has included past champions World Golf Hall of Fame member Fred Couples, Web.com Tour player Alex Prugh, and Andrew Yun, who earlier this summer won the prestigious Sahalee Players Championship. When asked for his advice to junior golfers, Couples once said, “To any youngster, I would say hang in there. You are playing the toughest sport there is. The highs and lows of golf are so great because it is an individual sport. Let the good times roll with the bad times.”
Follow along on www.thepnga.org for updates and news following each round, and use the hashtag #PNGAJrBoysAm to participate on Twitter.
