On Friday, Zach Wanderscheid of Goldendale capped his remarkable season of golf with a 1-up victory at the 55th Pacific Northwest Golf Association Junior Boys Amateur in Moscow, Idaho.
He edged James Feutz of University Place by rolling in a 5-footer on the 36th hole after Feutz's 20-foot chip for birdie caromed off the back of the cup. And now, Wanderscheid joins Fred Couples, Alex Prugh and Andrew Yun as past PNGA Junior Boys champions.
Wanderscheid, a senior-to-be at Goldendale High School, earned the top seed into the match play portion as medalist of the stroke play qualifying at the University of Idaho course.
Earlier this summer, he was co-medalist at the U.S. Open local qualifier in Dupont (69), medalist at the U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier in Spokane, won the sectional qualifier at Canyon Lakes for the World Junior Championships and tied for second at the Washington Junior Golf Association state tournament.
He began his season by winning the boys 1A state championship at Columbia Point in Richland, which helped him win the Yakima Valley Sports Award for boys golf.
My big question is how Wanderscheid manages to compete at such a high level by living/practicing in Goldendale?
I will admit that I've never played at Goldendale Country Club and I know nothing about it other than what I read on the Web. The 9-hole course covers 2,850 yards, was built in 1923 — that would make it among the oldest in Eastern Washington. I also found it interesting that Goldendale CC appears to be managed by Jodi Bellamy, who has coached Goldendale High volleyball to six consecutive league titles.