High school state golf champ Jalayne Martinez ready to take on region’s top amateurs

Just two months removed from capturing the Class 4A state golf title, Pasco High School alumna Jalayne Martinez will tee it up at the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Women’s Amateur Championship, which begins Tuesday at Suncadia Resort’s Prospector Course in Cle Elum.

Martinez’s cousin Neydeen — another former Pasco standout who now plays for Eastern Washington University — is also competing in the 41-player field comprised mostly of top college talents.

“I definitely ask (Neydeen) for tons of advice on how the student-athlete thing goes, because it can get really stressful at times,” Jalayne Martinez said.

Jalayne Martinez will play for Boise State University in the fall, and said the PNGA Women’s Amateur provides a great opportunity to play against Division-I golfers and prepare for her collegiate career. Washington State’s Bree Wanderscheid, who hails from Goldendale, is one of the golfers Martinez is excited to reunite with.

“I grew up playing golf with Bree Wanderscheid; she’s amazing,” Martinez said. “There’s definitely some really good players out here this week.”

The championship is a five-day event that begins with 36 holes of stroke play, from which the low 32 scores move on to a single-elimination match play tournament, ending in a 36-hole match between the final two players.

Martinez said the complex tournament format is fun to play in, but that adjusting to the nuances of stroke and match play on the fly can be difficult.

“It’s pretty fun because match play is a much different dynamic from what most people think. You don’t worry as much about your score as you do just about beating the other player,” Martinez said. “It’s just weird because if I play bad in stroke play, then I’ll do well in match play, but if I play bad in match play, then I’ll do well in stroke play. But I love the competition; I love going head-to-head.”

Martinez played in the final match of the 2015 PNGA Junior Girls’ Championship at Redhawk Golf Course in Nampa, Idaho, which used a similar format to this week’s Women’s Amateur Championship.

Inclement weather over the weekend in Cle Elum has made the Prospector Course a bit soggy, Martinez said, but that shouldn’t keep the field’s top players from performing their best.

“The players that are most prepared always play the best,” Martinez said. “The way the course is doesn’t matter, it’s just honestly who’s playing the best.”

Jalayne Martinez will tee off at 7:10 a.m. Tuesday, followed by Neydeen Martinez at 7:40. Former Richland High School and University of Idaho standout Kristin Strankman will begin her day at 8:30. Wanderscheid will play in the day’s final group at 9:10 with Kelly Hooper, who beat Jalayne Martinez in the 2015 PNGA Junior Girls Championship.

This story was originally published July 18, 2016 at 7:46 PM with the headline "High school state golf champ Jalayne Martinez ready to take on region’s top amateurs."