Brandes Wins His 3rd PNGA Senior Men's Amateur; Kubisa Wins Super Senior; Lundy & Lindbjerg Of B.C. Take Runner-up Spots
Tom Brandes (L), Winner Of The 2016 PNGA Senior Men’s Amateur, And Tom Kubisa, Winner Of The 2016 PNGA Super Senior Men’s Amateur - Image Courtesy PNGA
Pemberton, B.C. - Tom Brandes of Bellevue, Wash. pulled away from the field in the final round to win the 52nd Pacific Northwest Senior Men's Amateur, while Tom Kubisa of Bremerton, Wash. shot rounds of 73-71-73 to earn a victory in the 7th Pacific Northwest Super Senior Men's Amateur.
Lance Lundy was the top finisher from B.C. in the Senior Amateur in 3rd place followed by Mission's Jim Shaw in 4th. In the Super Seniors Gudmund Lindbjerg from Port Moody finished as the runner-up to Kubisa, 4 shots back.
The two championships were held concurrently at Big Sky Golf Club in Pemberton, B.C., and were conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA). The Senior Men's Amateur includes men 55 years of age or older while the Super Senior Men's Amateur includes men age 65 years or older.
For Brandes, this is the third title in this championship, having also won in 2012 and 2013. Brandes has been named the PNGA Senior Men's Player of the Year the past five years, and is already off to a good season this year, earlier winning the 2016 WSGA Champion of Champions Senior Men's title.
With a 1-over par 73 in today's final round, Brandes finished six shots ahead of the second-place Lundy of Pemberton, B.C. who was playing on his home course. "This is a great golf course," Brandes said. "It really makes you golf your ball. I didn't hear any complaints from any of the players about the condition or the layout. It's just a really good test of golf."
When asked how he is able to maintain his quality of play, Brandes replied, "I'm staying healthy, and just able to keep hitting them where I'm looking." The turning point came when Brandes birdied the long par-4 14th hole, while Gene Cook double-bogeyed the hole. Cook would end up tied for second with Lundy, six shots back of Brandes.
On a tough golf course, Kubisa played three solid rounds to eventually separate himself from the field for the four-shot victory in the Super Senior Amateur. "It actually played fairly easy for me," Kubisa said. "I just kept it in play and made five or six long putts. I played here before so I guess I had a little course knowledge, and water comes into play everywhere here, so I just played for the middle of the fairway all the time."
52nd Pacific Northwest Senior Men's Amateur
Big Sky Golf Club, Pemberton, B.C.
6603 yards, par 72
1. Tom Brandes, Bellevue, Wash. - 70-72-73--215
T2. Gene Cook, Woodinville, Wash. - 70-73-78--221
T2. Lance Lundy, Pemberton, BC - 72-73-76--221
T4. Jim Shaw, Mission, BC - 74-73-76--223
T4. Tom Prevost, McMinnville, Ore. - 73-75-75--223
7th Pacific Northwest Super Senior Men's Amateur
Big Sky Golf Club, Pemberton, B.C.
6157 yards, par 72
1. Tom Kubisa, Bremerton, Wash. - 73-71-73--217
2. Gudmund Lindbjerg, Port Moody, BC - 72-71-78--221
3. Chris Maletis, Portland, Ore. - 75-75-74--224
4. Rick Weihe, Bellingham, Wash. - 69-75-82--226
5. John Sandberg, McMinnville, Ore. - 76-76-77--229
Bold denotes BC player
Click HERE to see final leaderboard