Oregon Grabs Lead At PNGA Cup; B.C. In Third Place Heading Into Friday’s 12 Singles Matches
Craig Doell (L) And Partner Lance Lundy (R) Were Looking Out For Each Other During The Opening Day Of The PNGA Cup Matches At Richmond CC - Image Credit Bryan Outram
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
Craig Doell and Lance Lundy had a nice opening day at the PNGA Cup, but were left lamenting the half-point that slipped away. After winning their morning four-ball match 5&3 over Jim Dunlap and Tom Greller of the Oregon Golf Association, Doell and Lundy had a one-up lead heading to the 18th tee of their afternoon alternate-shot match against Erik Hanson and Scott Johnson of the Washington State Golf Association.
They had to settle for a halve in their match when Doell’s tee shot found a greenside bunker on Richmond Country Club’s par 3 ninth hole (their final hole) and Lundy’s bunker shot rolled about 30 feet past the pin.
“We played as well as we could today and we had the lead for most of the game,” said Doell, a longtime Victoria Golf Club member. “It is kind of disappointing not winning the full point when you were up all day. We played well, we combined nicely and certainly had a lot of good chances out there and we played some good golf.”
Doell and Lundy collected 1.5 of British Columbia Golf’s 5.5 points on the the opening day of the 11th playing of the PNGA Cup, a Ryder Cup-style competition featuring 12-player teams from the B.C., Washington, Oregon and Idaho golf associations.
Heading into Friday’s 12 singles matches, Oregon has the lead with 7.5 points, followed by Washington with 6.5, B.C. with 5.5 and Idaho with 4.5. In other words, Friday’s singles matches will decide the outcome of the event.
“I just tried to hit too hard an eight-iron and probably should have hit a smooth seven like I did this morning,” Doell said of his tee shot on the final hole. “The club got stuck behind me and I just shoved it out left.”
With Hanson and Johnson safely on the back fringe, Lundy was left with a tricky bunker shot to a tight pin. “I had a little bit of a downhill lie to a short pin and what I did not want to do is leave it in the front of the bunker,” said Lundy, a Pemberton resident. “I had to give him a chance, but I just hit it a little too far.”
B.C. had a tough afternoon. Its only win in the alternate shot format came from Adam Kernan of Kamloops and Greg Bismeyer of Pitt Meadows. They beat the Idaho duo of Kenny Walker and Tanner Priest 5&4. “Greg and I played well,” said Kernan. “There was a lot of getting it up and down and it was tough out there. It was windy.”
Kernan, a PNGA Cup rookie, had an interesting first day. He learned at breakfast Thursday morning that his partner, Patrick Weeks of Vancouver, was ill and couldn’t play.
image credit bryan outram
After A Morning Win In The Four-Ball Pairings It Looked Like The Duo Of Jackie Little (L) And Christina Proteau (R) Were Going To Cruise Through The Day, But The Afternoon Wasn't Quite As Productive For The Port Alberni Pair
Bismeyer was called in to replace Weeks, but was committed to drive a school bus Thursday morning before he could head to the course. He joined Kernan on the 11th hole of their morning match, which they lost 4&3 to Sean Packer and Jake Koppenberg of Washington.
“I found out heading to breakfast that I’d be playing on my own this morning,” Kernan said. “I thought they were just messing with me. I just said, ‘yeah, yeah, whatever’. . .It was a little shocking. I hope Patrick is okay and feeling better.”
Victoria’s Kevin Carrigan and Brent Wilson of Cobble Hill felt like they let their afternoon match slip through their fingers. They had an early three-up lead on Steve Harnett and Jesse Hibler of Idaho before falling 2&1. “I thought we were on cruise control, but the wheels fell off,” Carrigan said. “They played good on the back and we didn’t,” added Wilson.
Each PNGA Cup team includes four mid-amateur men of 25 years of age or older, two men of 40 years or older, two senior men of 55 years or older, two mid-amateur women of 25 years or older and two senior women of 50 years or older.
Oregon led after the morning four-ball matches, collecting five of the 12 available points. British Columbia was second with 3.5 points, followed by Washington with two points and Idaho with 1.5. B.C. collected a half-point when Victoria’s Alison Murdoch and Holly Horwood of Vancouver battled back from 4-down to finish all square with Idaho’s Karen Darrington and Kristin Fenwick. “We played pretty well on the back nine,” Horwood said with a smile.
The Port Alberni pair of Jackie Little and Christina Proteau beat Abby Black and Karen Markle of Idaho 2&1. B.C.’s other morning points came from Doell and Lundy and Carrigan and Wilson, who registered a one-up win over Reid Hatley and Erik Heggelund of Washington.
The singles matches begin at 7:30 a.m. Friday.
The PNGA Cup is the first event of the 2016 Pacific Northwest Golf Association championship schedule. The players love it. “It’s lots of fun,” said Lundy, who is playing in his third PNGA Cup. “We meet great people every year, always go to good venues and have a great time. We love it.”
B.C. has won three of the 10 PNGA Cups. Washington won last year’s event, which was played at Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Portland.
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