DuPont, Wash. – The 11th Washington Golf Association Champion of Champions concluded play today at The Home Course in DuPont, Wash. This year’s field consisted of champions from around the state of Washington and Northern Idaho, competing in four divisions – Men, Senior Men, Women and Senior Women.
Championship links:
Bjorn Bjorke of Port Orchard won the Men’s title, Victoria Fallgren of Spokane won the Women’s, Keith Crimp of Ellensburg won the Senior Men’s and Leslie Folsom of Tukwila won the Senior Women’s.
Click here for complete final scoring for all divisions.
In the Men’s division, Bjorke took the title with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff against Nathan Cogswell of Kent. Bjorke shot rounds of 72-67, with today’s 5-under 67 being the low round of the day in the Men’s division and propelling him to the top of the leaderboard.
“I feel great,” Bjorke said afterward. “I shot 67 and it was pretty easy. I made a bunch of putts, I chipped one in for birdie, and I hit the ball real well.”
In the playoff, Bjorke hit his tee shot into the left rough. “I hit a 3-wood off the tee, I pulled it a little but I hit it good. I was feeling a lot of nerves. But it was a good angle to flag from there, and I hit a good wedge.” Bjorke stuck his second shot to seven feet from the hole and sank the birdie putt for the win.
Today’s win continues a good season for Bjorke, who earlier this summer won the Washington Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship.
This is the second title in this championship for Bjorke, who also won it in 2009. He earned entry into this year’s championship via his top-10 finish on the WA Golf Men’s Mid-Amateur Points List for 2019. Bjorke is the general manager at McCormick Woods Golf Club in Port Orchard, Wash.
Cogswell, a junior on the Seattle University men’s golf team, had been attempting to defend his title, having won this championship last year. Last month, Cogswell won the Northwest Open Invitational, competing against the region’s PGA club professionals.
Click here to watch Bjorke’s post-round interview.
Crimp won the Senior Men’s division, also on the first hole of a playoff, and also with a birdie. Crimp shot rounds of 67-73, and was matched by Craig Larson of Tacoma, who lit fire to the course with a 6-under 66 in today’s second round to vault into a tie with Crimp for the top spot.
Crimp, playing in the last group of the Senior Men’s division, bogeyed the 18th hole to fall into a tie with Larson, leading to the playoff.
“It was a lot of work today,” Crimp said afterward. “It was a tough battle all day. Whenever I made a birdie I’d come back the next hole and make bogey, which sure made it interesting. I had no idea where I stood (on the leaderboard), so I tried to play it safe on that last hole and ended up making one of the ugliest bogeys of all time.”
This is the third title for Crimp in this championship, having also won it in 2013 and 2014. He earned entry into this year’s championship because he is the 2019 Ellensburg Golf and Country Club Men’s Club champion.
Of his win today, Crimp said, “I can’t really say which victory is better than the others. It’s just nice to do it, at my age, and hopefully I can keep it going. I think I’ve got five or six more years in me.”
Larson, the 2019 McCormick Woods Amateur champion, had seven birdies today on his way to the 6-under 66.
Click here to watch Crimp’s post-round interview.
In the Women’s division, Fallgren shot rounds of 68-72 to successfully defend her title in this championship, having also won it last year.
In her round today, she had only seven pars, but her six bogeys were matched by four birdies and also an eagle, which came on the par-5 10th hole.
“I got off to a hot start yesterday (in the first round), shooting 4-under on the front nine,” Fallgren said. “But since then I had to work really hard to shoot what I did. It was super gratifying to shoot what I did today because I got off to a really bad start. It was just a lot of hard work, and nothing felt like it was coming easy. So it’s really gratifying to claw my way back.”
Fallgren has twice been named the WA Golf Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year, in 2017 and 2018. She is the assistant coach of the Gonzaga University women’s golf team.
Click here to watch Fallgren’s post-round interview.
Folsom shot rounds of 76-75 to win the Senior Women’s division. This is the second title in this championship for Folsom, who also won in 2018.
“Yesterday I was in the lead group, and we played mostly in the fog,” she said. “We literally couldn’t see most of the greens. We could see the edge of the bunkers and had an idea where the greens were, and it really taught me to just play for the middle of the greens.”
In today’s round, Folsom wasn’t sure where she stood on the leaderboard. “I thought I’d lost by one shot. I hit it to two feet on 17 (for a birdie) and made a solid par on 18. I found out I’d won by a shot. It’s never over until it’s over. I’m thrilled to win this championship, and thrilled to be here with all the other champions from around the state. These wins are all special.”
Folsom also has twice won the Women’s division in this championship, in 2014 and 2015. She earned entry into this year’s championship by being in the top-5 on the WA Golf Senior Women’s Points List.
Click here to watch Folsom’s post-round interview.
The Champion of Champions is one of 14 championships conducted annually by WA Golf.
The championship is conducted by Washington Golf (WA Golf) and is hosted annually at The Home Course, which is cooperatively owned and operated by WA Golf and the Pacific Northwest Golf Association. The Home Course has been the site of numerous local, regional and national championships, including being the companion course to Chambers Bay for the 2010 U.S. Amateur and the venue for the 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. The Home Course will also be the companion course to Chambers Bay for the 2021 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball.
Founded in 1922, WA Golf is a 501c4 non-profit, amateur golf association governed by men and women volunteers. Serving over 71,000 individual members at more than 550 member golf clubs and 270 golf courses throughout the state of Washington and Northern Idaho, WA Golf works to continually expand the game of golf to people of all backgrounds. WA Golf also serves as a statewide representative of the United States Golf Association and works closely with a number of allied associations within the golf industry for the betterment of the game.
Visit WAgolf.org for more information.