Hatley headlines strong Northwest showing at U.S. Mid-Amateur

The field of 264 golfers is set for the upcoming U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, taking place September 22-27, 2018 at Charlotte Country Club and Carolina Golf Club in Charlotte, N.C.

A view of the 491-yard, par-4 fourth hole at Charlotte (N.C.) Country Club. (USGA/Chris Keane)

The WSGA is well represented with four golfers from Washington joined by reigning WSGA Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year Reid Hatley (Hayden Lake, Idaho) in the field at this year’s national championship.

Click here for complete coverage of the 38th U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.

Meet the competitors:

Jacob Koppenberg

Jacob Koppenberg (Bellingham, Wash.)

Koppenberg, who works in business development, is a former collegiate standout on the Western Washington University Men’s Golf Team and currently volunteers as an assistant coach with the team. Last month, Koppenberg finished runner-up to Reid Hatley at the WSGA Men’s Mid-Amateur. Earlier this summer he earned medalist honors in qualifying for his fourth U.S. Amateur Championship and made it to the quarterfinals of the PNGA Men’s Amateur.

Jacob Rohde (Everett, Wash.)

For Rohde, this is the fourth consecutive year he has qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur. Rohde, 40, attended the Golf Academy of America in Phoenix, then worked as a PGA club professional from 1998-2007 before going to school, graduating in 2011 from Washington State University with a degree in landscape architecture and horticultural science. Regaining his amateur status, he has since won the 2016 Riverbend Amateur and 2018 Snohomish County Amateur.

Mark Strickland (Everett, Wash.)

This is the first time Strickland has qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur. Strickland played golf at Western Washington University, graduating in 2014. He was medalist at the 2014 U.S. Amateur qualifier and was medalist at a 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball qualifier.

Reid Hatley

Reid Hatley (Hayden Lake, Idaho)

This marks the third U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship appearance for Hatley having previously played in 2015 and 2016. Earlier this month, he won the Pacific Northwest Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship after winning the Washington State Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship the week prior. Hatley has been named the WSGA Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year the past three years (2015-17).

Michael Johansen (Vancouver, Wash.)

Johansen earned co-medalist honors to clinch one of four spots in the championship from of a qualifier at Oswego Lake Country Club in Lake Oswego, Ore. Johansen won the 2012 Oregon Men’s Stroke Play Championship and competed collegiately for the University of Portland.