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Top Seed Advances at 59th Pacific Northwest Junior Boys’ Amateur

Federal Way, Wash. – Frank Garber of Kirkland, Wash., the No. 1 seed going into match play, made his way through today’s Rounds of 32 and 16 to make it to tomorrow’s Quarterfinal match in the 59th Pacific Northwest Junior Boys’ Amateur Championship, being held at the Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa in Victoria, B.C.

Bear Mountain Resort, first tee on the Valley Course
Bear Mountain Resort, first tee on the Valley Course

Garber, the reigning WSGA Junior Boys’ Player of the Year, easily made it through the Round of 32, defeating Nolan Backman of Tumwater, Wash. 4 and 3. In this afternoon’s Round of 16, Garber was able to get by Jaesung Choi of Surrey, B.C., 1 up. Choi had squared the match with a birdie on the par-4 17th hole, but Garber won the 18th hole, and the match, with a par. Garber did not advance further than the Round of 16 in last year’s championship. He will face Hunter Ostrom of Eagle, Idaho in tomorrow morning’s Quarterfinal.

Kevin Vigna, the defending champion from Coquitlam, B.C., has also made it to tomorrow’s Quarterfinals, having defeated Alan Jack Ewart of Coquitlam, B.C. 2 up in the Round of 32, and then easily handling Drew McCullough of Richland, Wash. in the Round of 16, 5 and 4. In tomorrow’s Quarterfinal match, Vigna will face Zach Evens of Mercer Island, Wash. Last week Vigna took individual medalist honors at the 45th Hogan Cup Team Matches, held at Portland’s Riverside Golf and Country Club, in leading Team BC to the title in the team match competition.

In other matches tomorrow, Aubrey MacKenzie of Poulsbo, Wash. will face Joe Fryer of Mukilteo, Wash.; and Logan Yanick of Courtenay, B.C. will square off against Eugene Wackerbarth of Bellevue, Wash.

The championship’s Quarterfinal and Semifinal matches, both consisting of 18 holes, will be held tomorrow. The first match in the Quarterfinals will tee off at 7:30 a.m., and the first tee time in the Semifinal match is 12:00 p.m. The Final match will be held on Friday, and will be contested over 36 holes. All matches are being played on the resort’s Valley course.

This championship is being conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA). This is one of 16 regional championships conducted annually by the PNGA.

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.”

Both courses at The Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa – the Valley and the Mountain – were designed by Nicklaus Design.