JONSON SHOOTS 64; SIX SPOTS STILL UP FOR GRABS AS FOURTEEN PLAYERS SHOOT UNDER PAR IN FIRST ROUND OF SECTIONAL QUALIFYING

DuPont, Wash. (Tuesday, August 3, 2010) – Carl Jonson of Bainbridge Island carded an impressive 8-under par 64 to lead a field of 144 players in the first round of the 36-hole U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifying, being played at The Home Course in DuPont, Wash.

Jonson, 17, started his afternoon round by making birdie on the first three holes of play. He added five more birdies to his bogie free round to finish with a comfortable four stroke lead. Jonson recently committed to play for UNLV as he enters his senior year of high school.

Other notable players at the top of the leaderboard include: Eugene Wong (68) of North Vancouver, BC, who is a member of the University of Oregon golf team and was 2010 PAC-10 Co-Player of the Year and 2010 NCAA First-Team All-American. Cory Renfrew (69) of Victoria BC who was runner-up at the 2010 PNGA Men’s Amateur and finished in the top-10 at the 2010 Pacific Coast Amateur last week in Eugene, Ore. Kevin Penner (69) of Sammamish, Wash., who is a member of the UNLV golf team that went to the NCAA Championship. Penner also finished in the top-3 at the 2010 Washington State Amateur Championship.

Fourteen players finished under par in the first round of play, which leaves all six spots up for grabs. The field was cut to the low 30% of the field, which ended up being 49 players. Play will commence tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. from the #1 tee. The field has been paired by first round score, with the leaders teeing off last at 10:10 a.m.

The Home Course is the assisting course for the 110th United States Amateur Championship. It will be hosting the stroke play qualifying rounds on Monday, August 23 and Tuesday, August 24 of the championship. The Home Course is cooperatively owned and operated by the Pacific Northwest and Washington State Golf Associations. In only its third year open to the public, The Home Course has hosted numerous men’s, women’s and junior championships, including the Sahalee Players Championship last month.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

ELLIS, CARRIGAN AND MOORE QUALIFY FOR U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

Pullman, Wash. (Tuesday, August 3, 2010) – Nick Ellis from East Wenatchee, Wash. took medalist honors in today’s 36-hole qualifier after rounds of 68-67 for a total of 9-under par 135 at Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman, Wash.

Ellis, who will be a senior on the WSU golf team this fall, was familiar with the course and used his local knowledge to tally 11 birdies and just two bogeys over both rounds.

Kevin Carrigan, a recent graduate of UT Arlington from Victoria, B.C. continued his strong play this summer, firing rounds of 70-66 for a total of 8-under par 136. Carrigan’s second round 6-under par 66 tied for the best of the day with Chris Williams of Moscow, Idaho and is just one shot off of the competitive course record on the 7206 yard par-72 layout.

Alexander Moore of Richland, Wash. and a junior on the Oregon State University golf team claimed the third and final spot into this month’s U.S Amateur at Chambers Bay but needed a playoff to advance. Moore posted rounds of 69-70 for a 5-under par 139 total, which tied local favorite and UW golfer, Chris Williams after his rounds of 66-73. In the playoff both players made par on the 463-yard opening par-4 and then Williams made a lengthy birdie putt on the 385-yard par-4 second hole to beat Williams par.

Williams will be the first alternate from this site and Keith Martin of Kelowna, B.C. is the second alternate. Martin posted rounds of 69-72 for a 36-hole total of 3-under par 141.

Palouse Ridge Golf Club is a venture of Washington State University and is located at the east end of the WSU campus and is the new home course of the Cougar men’s and women’s Pac-10 golf teams. Palouse Ridge was built to host national collegiate events and it will get its first in 2013 when it serves as one of six NCAA Men’s Regional Championship sites. Palouse Ridge is also slated to host the Pac-10 Women’s Golf Championships in April 2012, and the Pac-10 Men’s Championships in April 2015.

The 110th United States Amateur Championship will be held August 23-29 at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash. The U.S. Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association (USGA). Other championships include the U.S. Open, U.S. Senior Open, the U.S. Women’s Open and nine other amateur championships.

The 2010 U.S. Amateur is the first USGA championship to be conducted at Chambers Bay. The state of Washington has hosted 21 USGA championships prior to this year, including the 1952 U.S. Amateur at Seattle Golf Club (won by Jack Westland). The 2010 U.S. Senior Open was just held at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish. The 2011 U.S. Junior Amateur will be played at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton July 18-23, and Chambers Bay will host the 2015 U.S. Open June 18-21.

As a local representative of the USGA, the Washington State Golf Association (WSGA) typically hosts one U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifier annually in the state of Washington. In 2010, with the assistance of The Home Course and Palouse Ridge Golf Club, the WSGA successfully arranged an increase to the field size to give the maximum opportunity for eligible amateur golfers to qualify in their home state.

The WSGA is the local representative of the United States Golf Association and conducts the sectional qualifiers for the U.S. Amateur Championship. As the USGA’s regional representative in Washington and Northern Idaho, the WSGA conducts numerous USGA national championship qualifiers each year, including for the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Senior Open, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Senior Amateur and more.