Ziegler and Barker to Meet in Final at 113th Pacific Northwest Women’s Amateur; Stone and Jacobs to Square Off in Final at 13th Women’s Mid-Am
Aaren Ziegler of Canby, Ore. and Tyler Barker of Caldwell, Idaho will meet in the final match of the 113th Pacific Northwest Women’s Amateur; while Brie Stone of Veneta, Ore. will square off against Amanda Jacobs of Seattle in the 13th Pacific Northwest Women’s Mid-Amateur.
Ziegler and Barker will play a 36-hole final championship match, and will tee off in the morning round at 7:30 a.m. Stone and Jacobs will play an 18-hole final championship match, and will tee off at 7:40 a.m.
Both championships are being held concurrently at Lewiston (Idaho) Golf & Country Club, and are being conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA).
Ziegler and Stone were medalists in the qualifying rounds to determine match play contestants, and both were seeded No. 1 in their respective championships.
Ziegler, who won this championship in 2011 and will be a senior in the fall playing for the University of Wisconsin, continued her march through the match-play bracket today, defeating Kaceelyn Pouttu of Kellogg, Idaho 2 and 1 in this morning’s quarterfinal match. In the afternoon’s semifinal match, she ousted local favorite Amy Hasenoehrl of Lewiston 5 and 4. Yesterday, Hasenoehrl upset Jordan Ferriera, the reigning Washington State Women’s Amateur champion in the Round of 16, and then defeated Seattle University player Alexus Song in this morning’s quarterfinal. Ziegler pounced early in her match against Hasenoehrl, winning the first four holes and building a 6-up lead at the turn.
Barker had tough duty in her semifinal match this afternoon when she squared off against Jennifer Ha of Calgary, Alta. who won this championship last year and was making strides toward a repeat. Ha just finished her junior year at Kent State University, where she was the 2013 Mid-American Conference Golfer of the Year, and is a member of the Canadian National Team. Barker, the reigning IGA Women’s Four-Ball champion (with her sister, Gabrielle), jumped out to an early 2-up lead but the match went back and forth and was All Square after 14 holes. Barker then birdied the par-4 15th, and closed out the match 2 and 1 with a par on No. 17.
First held in 1899, Pacific Northwest Women’s Amateur Championship is one of the oldest amateur golf championships in the world. Past champions include Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Famers who made up the Golden Age of female golfers in the Northwest such as Joanne Gunderson Carner, Jo Ann Washam, Pat Lesser Harbottle, Edean Ihlanfeldt, Violet Pooly Sweeney, Marcia Fisher, Betty Jean Hulteng, among others. Past champions also include many who would later go on to the LPGA Tour, such as Jimin Kang, Peggy Conley, Ruth Jessen and Shirley Englehorn.
In the Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, Stone continued to roll through her matches, defeating Georgia Hutchinson of Sun Valley, Idaho 8 and 7 in this morning’s quarterfinal match, and then dispatching Molly Edmunds of Portland, Ore. 5 and 4 in the afternoon’s semifinal.
Jacobs is making her bid to finish the job this year after finishing runner-up in last year’s championship. But it was a long day for her today. In the morning’s quarterfinal match, it took 21 holes to finally defeat Dr. Julie Williams of Bonners Ferry, Idaho. In the afternoon’s semifinal match she faced two-time defending WSGA Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year Leslie Folsom of Tukwila, Wash., and their match was All Square after 15 holes before Jacobs closed it out 2 and 1 by making pars on holes 16 and 17.