Upsets Fill the First Round at 112th Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship

There were significant upsets in match play during the Round of 64 at the 112th Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship, being held this week at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore., as two of the top four seeds failed to make it to the next round. The championship, which started with an elite field of 168 amateurs, is conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association.

One of the upsets occurred in the first match to go out this morning, when Kyle Schrader of Olympia, Wash. and the No. 64 and final seed to make it from the qualifying rounds into the match play bracket, defeated the No. 1 seed Joshua Munn of New Zealand, 2 and 1. Schrader will be a junior on the men’s golf team at Western Washington University.

The other upset occurred when Jesse Heinly of Bend, Ore. defeated defending champion Shotaro Ban of San Jose, Calif., 1-up. Heinly and Ban conducted a birdie-fest during their match, combining for eight birdies on the front nine alone. “Yes, we both had it going for a while,” said Heinly, who will be junior at Xavier University in Ohio, and who made it to Sectional qualifying at the 2013 U.S. Open. “But nobody could make any headway. It was a slugfest.” Standing on the 18th tee, a par-5 playing against a strong cross-wind, with the match All Square, Ban pulled his tee shot into the left rough and had to take an unplayable lie. “I didn’t expect to win this match with a bogey (on the last hole),” said Heinly. “But yes, I’ll take it.” Watch Heinly’s interview here.

Two of the top four seeds, all of whom were in a four-way playoff after the two qualifying rounds to determine the overall Medalist, lost in the Round of 64. Along with Munn, Jacob Webb of Issaquah, Wash., the No. 3 seed, lost to No. 62 seed Khaled Attieh of Delta, B.C., 2 and 1.

Tim Tucker won his match today against Brian Mogg of Sammamish, Wash. Tucker, at age 45, is making a run at the young college players in the championship. He had tied for the low score in the two qualifying rounds, only losing the Medalist title in a playoff. He works as a full-time caddie at the resort, and lives just a few miles up the coast in Coos Bay. “I suppose I do have some advantage with local knowledge of the course,” he said. “But, really, on a day like this, with this wind, you just need to forget about par and forget about scoring and play each hole, especially in match play.” Tucker had one of his good friends, Ken McGlynn, caddying for him. McGlynn is also a full-time caddie at the resort. “He’s a great guy, and really helped me a lot,” said Tucker. The caddie tandem has advanced to the Round of 32. Watch Tucker’s interview here.

Other notables to advance to tomorrow’s Round of 32 are Carl Jonson of Bainbridge Island, Wash., the runner-up at last year’s championship; Nick Chianello of Gresham, Ore. the two-time defending Oregon Amateur champion; and Cameron Peck of Olympia, Wash., who won the Washington State Amateur last month and won the 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur.

The two rounds of stroke-play qualifying were held on the Bandon Dunes and Bandon Trails courses at the resort. Match play will also be played alternately on those two courses, with today’s Round of 64 played on the Bandon Dunes course and tomorrow’s Round of 32 and Round of 16 both being held on the Bandon Trails course. The first tee time in the Round of 32 is 6:50 a.m. and the first tee time in the Round of 16 will be 12:30 p.m.

The resort has previously hosted this championship in 2000, and it was won by current PGA Tour player Jeff Quinney. Past champions of the Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship include Tiger Woods, Jeff Quinney, Ben Crane, Jeff Coston, Nick Flanagan, Jim McLean and PNGA Hall of Famers Chandler Egan, Harry Givan, Jack Westland, Bud Ward and George Holland, among others. After winning the 1994 championship, Woods said, “The PNGA Men’s Amateur will always be very special to me since it’s my first men’s amateur victory.” Watch preview here.

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort opened with one course in 1999, the Bandon Dunes course, and has since added three courses – Pacific Dunes, Bandon Trails and Old Macdonald – as well as a 13-hole par-3 course, Bandon Preserve. The resort has developed a worldwide reputation as a golf destination, as well as for hosting regional and national amateur championships. It has hosted the 2006 Curtis Cup, 2007 U.S. Mid-Amateur, 2011 U.S. Amateur Public Links and Women’s Amateur Public Links, and last year hosted the 46th Pacific Coast Amateur.