Four From BC To Compete In 118th PNGA Men’s Amateur Championship
Lakewood, Wash. – The Tacoma Country and Golf Club in Lakewood, Wash. is set to host a full field of 168 of the most talented male amateur golfers in the Pacific Northwest and beyond on July 8-13 for the 118th Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship, conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA). Tacoma was the site of the first Pacific Northwest Amateur Championship, held in 1899.
In the field from British Columbia are Richmond's Chris Crisologo, the 2018 BC Amateur Champion, and his younger brother Michael, who earlier this year picked up a win in the Future Links, Driven By Acura, Pacific Championship. Also competing from BC is 2016 BC Juvenile Boys Champion Khan Lee of Langley and Port Alberni resident Spencer Rhodes.
Other Canadians in the field are Quebec's Laurent Desmarchais and Alberta's Kai Iguchi.
The championship begins with 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying held on July 8-9, followed by a cut to the low 64 players who will advance to single-elimination match play.
The stroke-play qualifying rounds will be held at Tacoma Country and Golf Club and also at Chambers Bay, which is the assisting course for the championship. Each player will play one qualifying round on each course. Once the match-play bracket is determined, all matches will be held at Tacoma Country and Golf Club.
The Round of 64 will be held Wednesday, July 10, followed by the Rounds of 32 and 16 on Thursday, and quarterfinals and semifinals on Friday, with the championship match on Saturday, July 13. Each match will be contested over 18 holes, with the exception of the final match, which will be played over 36 holes.
To stay connected on social media, follow @PNGALIVE on Twitter and use the hashtag #PNGAMensAm. Admission to watch the championship is free, and gallery is encouraged to walk the fairways to follow the matches.
Click here for complete information about this year’s championship, including tee times and pairings. Click HERE to follow along with live scoring.
One of the oldest amateur golf championships in the world, players will compete for the Macan Cup, which is named after legendary golf course designer A.V. Macan, a member of the Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame and winner of this championship in 1913.
Past champions include names such as Tiger Woods, Jeff Quinney, Ben Crane, Jeff Coston, Nick Flanagan, Jim McLean and Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Famers Chandler Egan, Harry Givan, Jack Westland, Bud Ward and George Holland, among many others.
Some of the players to watch for in this year’s championship:
- Joe Highsmith of Lakewood, Wash. will be competing on his home course of Tacoma C&GC. Last week he won the prestigious Sahalee Players Championship. In 2017 he won the Washington State Amateur, and was named the 2017 PNGA Junior Boys’ Player of the Year. He just finished his freshman year at Pepperdine University, and was recently named the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year.
- Nick Schaan of Bend, Ore. is a design partner with golf architect David McLay Kidd. Schaan worked with John Harbottle III in renovating Tacoma C&GC, and also was the construction superintendent in building Chambers Bay.
- Former University of Arizona golfer Reid Hatley of Hayden Lake, Idaho, was the PNGA Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year for four consecutive years (2015-18). Last month he won the Oregon Open Invitational, competing against the region’s PGA Professionals.
- RJ Manke of Lakewood, Wash. won the Mexican Amateur last month, and last year won the 2018 Washington State Amateur.
- Chris Crisologo of Richmond, B.C. is a member of the Canadian National Team, and was named the 2018 PNGA Player of the Year.
- Josh Gliege of Meridian, Idaho was named the 2015 PNGA Junior Boys’ Player of the Year.
- Drew Warford of Snoqualmie, Wash. is a two-time winner of the PNGA Junior Boys’ Amateur.
- The youngest competitor in the field is Ethan Evans of Mercer Island, Wash., at 15 years, five months. In May, Evans won the 2019 3A High School Boys’ individual title.
- The oldest competitor is Jim McNelis of Gig Harbor, Wash., at 62 years, 11 months. McNelis was the qualifying medalist in the 2018 U.S. Senior Amateur Sectional qualifier held at Tacoma C&GC.
Click here for a complete list of this year’s competitors.
The Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship is one of 15 major, regional, amateur championships for men, women, juniors, and seniors conducted annually by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.
Founded in 1894, Tacoma Country and Golf Club is the oldest golf club in the U.S. west of the Mississippi, and an original founding club of the PNGA. Originally designed in its current location by the great Canadian architect Stanley Thompson, the club has been the site of numerous national championships, including the 1961 U.S. Women’s Amateur, 1984 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, 1994 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and the 2007 U.S. Junior Girls’. In 2017 it was the site of a U.S. Open Sectional qualifier. It has hosted the Washington Open three times (1932, 1997, 1998), and the Northwest Open seven times (1910, 1915, 1925, 1931, 1966, 1979, 1985). It was the site of the first PNGA Championship (1899), and in 2016 hosted the Washington State Amateur.
Chambers Bay has hosted the 2010 U.S. Amateur and 2015 U.S. Open, as well as the 2013 Washington State Amateur and 2017 Pacific Coast Amateur. It will be the site of the 2021 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball.
The PNGA was founded on February 4, 1899. It is a 501c3 charitable, international, amateur golf association dedicated to preserving the true spirit of golf by supporting its allied associations, conducting quality championships, and promoting activities beneficial to golfers in the Pacific Northwest. For more than a century, the Association has been a pioneer in developing competitions and services and its mission has grown and evolved. Today, the PNGA remains committed to being a truly regional organization providing benefits and services to its members and member clubs throughout the Northwest.