Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Wash. is the venue this week for the 62nd Washington State Men’s Best-Ball and 25th Senior Men’s Best-Ball. The two championships are being held concurrently on May 17-18, and are conducted by the Washington State Golf Association (WSGA).
The 36-hole championships are being competed over two days with starting times off the No. 1 and No. 10 tees. The two championships will see a combined field of 95 two-man teams competing in a four-ball stroke play format.
Click here for the Men’s and here for the Senior Men’s, for daily updates on scoring, starting times, and more. Follow WSGA Championships on Twitter for live updates at @WSGAChampions, and use the hashtag #WSGAMensBB to stay connected.
Last year’s champions in both events are back in 2018 to defend their titles. In the Men’s championship, Aaron Whalen of Ephrata, Wash. and Cameron Whittle of Moses Lake, Wash. again pose a formidable threat to this year’s field. Whalen is a former 2A high school individual champion who has earned his way into major events such as the 2015 U.S. Amateur, while Whittle is a past member of the Whitworth University men’s golf team.
In the senior championship, Bob Bracht of Seattle and Roger Thorn of Kirkland, Wash. will be trying for their second consecutive title.
The Washington State Men’s Best-Ball Championship was previously known as the Inglewood Best-Ball from 1956 until 1993, when in 1994 the WSGA began to run the event and introduced the Senior Men’s Best-Ball.
Other notable names in the Men’s championship are 2014 and 2015 champions Tyler Matthews and Matt Steele, both of Bellevue, Wash.
In the Senior Men’s championship, notables include Mike Hickock of Moses Lake, Wash. and Chris DeGrazia of Lynnwood, Wash., who won the senior title in 2013 and 2015.
The Men’s and Senior Men’s Best-Ball are two of 15 championships conducted annually by the WSGA.
Founded in 1922, the WSGA is a 501c4 non-profit, amateur golf association governed by men and women volunteers. Serving nearly 70,000 individual members at more than 550 member golf clubs and 270 golf courses throughout the state of Washington and Northern Idaho, the WSGA works to continually expand the game of golf to people of all backgrounds.
The WSGA also serves as a statewide representative of the United States Golf Association (USGA) and works closely with a number of allied associations within the golf industry for the betterment of the game.
