93rd Washington State Men’s Amateur Championship to be held at Palouse Ridge

Pullman, Wash. – The 93rd Washington State Men’s Amateur Championship is set to take place August 6-8 at Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman, Wash. The championship will consist of 54 holes of stroke play, with the field cut to the low 60 players and ties after 36 holes. The three-day championship is being conducted by the Washington State Golf Association (WSGA).

Palouse Ridge Golf Club - Pullman, WA
Palouse Ridge Golf Club – Pullman, WA (Photo by Rob Perry)

The first tee time for the first round is 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, August 6. First and second round pairings and tee times can be found here.

 

Click here for full details on the championship.

 

To follow along with live scoring, visit www.thewsga.org. Follow the championship on Twitter at @WSGAChampions for live updates and news and use the hashtag #WSGAMensAm.

 

The state’s premier men’s amateur championship, which is a counting event toward the World Amateur Golf Ranking, traditionally attracts the region’s finest players.

 

This year’s championship received nearly 300 entries from those vying for a spot in the field of 120 who will compete in the championship proper. There were 29 players who had earned exemption into the championship based on criteria previously set forth, and four 18-hole qualifiers were held around the state – at The Home Course in DuPont, Gold Mountain (Olympic) in Bremerton, the University of Idaho GC in Moscow, and Wine Valley GC in Walla Walla – to fill out the remainder of the final field of 120.

 

Last year, RJ Manke of Lakewood, Wash. won the championship, held at Gamble Sands in Brewster, Wash. Manke is a sophomore on the men’s golf team at Pepperdine University. Earlier this summer he won the Mexican Amateur.

 

Some of the notable names in this year’s strong field include:

 

Reid Hatley (Hayden Lake, Idaho) – the WSGA Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year the past four years, who earlier this summer won the Oregon Open Invitational, playing against the region’s PGA professionals.

Chase Carlson (Tacoma) – won the 2016 Washington State Amateur.

Cody Roth (Bellingham) – just graduated from Western Washington University, where he played four years on the men’s golf team. Last week won the Washington State Parent-Child Championship (with his father, Craig; their fourth title in the event).

Drew Warford (Snoqualmie) – two-time winner of the Pacific Northwest Junior Boys’ Amateur, and two-time 4A High School individual state champion, will play his freshman year in the fall for the University of Washington men’s golf team.

Ryan Maine (Spokane) – junior on the Washington State University men’s golf team, will be competing on his home course of Palouse Ridge.

Danny Tiscareno (Seattle) and Alvin Kwak (Mukilteo) – were co-medalists last month at a U.S. Junior sectional qualifier.

Jacob Koppenberg (Bellingham) – an assistant coach for the men’s golf team at Western Washington University, has qualified for four U.S. Amateurs, and last month was a semifinalist in the Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur.

Blake Kukula (Ocean Park) – in the spring he won his third consecutive 1B/2B High School individual state championship. Next year, as a senior he’ll be trying for four in a row.

Colt Sherrell (Maple Valley) – recently named Freshman of the Year in the Big Sky Conference while playing for the University of Idaho men’s golf team. In 2018 was named Washington Junior Golf Association Player of the Year.

 

Past champions of the Washington State Amateur include Fred Couples, Alex Prugh, Brock Mackenzie, Chris Williams, Kermit Zarley, John Bodenhamer, and Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Famers Al Mengert, Bud Ward, Jack Westland and Harry Givan, among many others.

 

Opened in 2008 and designed by John Harbottle III, Palouse Ridge has already been the site of numerous state, regional and national championships. It has hosted many USGA qualifiers, and previously hosted the Washington State Amateur in 2009. As the home course for the Washington State University men’s and women’s golf teams, it also hosts numerous collegiate events, including the 2012 Pac-12 Women’s Championship, 2015 Pac-12 Men’s Championship, and the NCAA West Regionals (2013, 2019).

 

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.