WALLA WALLA — Carl Jonson of Bainbridge Island, Wash., set a course record with a 9-under-par 63 to tie Tanner Higham of Shelley, Idaho, for medalist honors at 8-under-par 136 in the 111th Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship played at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Wash. After two severe weather delays forced the suspension of play on Monday, half the field finished their first round on Tuesday. Higham is a junior on the Utah State men’s golf team, while Jonson is a sophomore on the UNLV men’s golf team. Higham and Jonson were scheduled to faceoff in a playoff Wednesday morning to determine the No. 1 seed in the 64-man match play bracket.
Wednesday's matches included Gregg LaVoie of Kennewick vs. Taylor Schmidt, Boise, Idaho; Richland's Cole Lorenzo vs. Gaston De La Torre of Brush Prairie; Walla Walla's Ryan Baumgart vs. Mason Casper of Mapleton, Utah; Tyler Daniels of Walla Walla vs. Scott Rubzin of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and Hunter Thompson of Richland vs. Jacob Webb, Issaquah.
The Pacific Northwest Men's Amateur Championship's history includes past champions such as Bill Sander, Tiger Woods, Jeff Quinney, Ryan Moore, and Nick Flanagan, all of whom went on to win a U.S. Amateur title in the same summer.
After winning the 1994 Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur title, Woods said, “The PNGA Men’s Amateur will always be very special to me since it’s my first men’s amateur victory.”
The Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship is one of 16 major, regional, amateur championships for men, women, juniors, and seniors conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.
