Knox, Folsom, Baldridge and Brandes Claim Titles at 15th Washington Champion of Champions

DuPont, Wash. – The 15th Annual Washington Champion of Champions concluded play today at The Home Course in DuPont, Wash. This year’s championship consisted of a full field of 156 champions from around WA Golf territory, competing in four divisions – Women, Senior Women, Men and Senior Men.

Kennedy Knox

Kennedy Knox of Normandy Park won the Women’s title, Leslie Folsom of Tukwila won the Senior Women’s, Mitch Baldridge of Tacoma won the Men’s, and Tom Brandes of Bellevue won the Senior Men’s.

Championship links:

In the Women’s division, Kennedy Knox finished at 5-under par and won the title by two shots over Sarah Lawrence of Snohomish after rounds of 71-68. Knox is currently a Junior on the University of Washington women’s golf team.

In 2021, Knox won the Washington Women’s Amateur and was named the WA Golf Women’s and Junior Girls’ player of the year.

Leslie Folsom

Click here to watch Knox’s post-round interview.

Leslie Folsom clinched her second consecutive Senior Women’s title, and fourth overall, by shooting rounds of 77-75, to earn a two-shot victory over 2015 champion Karen Madison of Spokane Valley.

This win marks Folsom’s sixth championship title in the event overall, she previously won the Women’s division in 2014 and 2015.

Click here to watch Folsom’s post-round interview.

Mitch Baldridge won his first Washington Golf title by firing rounds of 64-68 to coast to a five-shot victory over Spencer Clapp of Renton. Baldridge entered the day with a four-shot lead after an impressive 8-under-par score round one.

Mitch Baldridge

Baldridge finished second in the 2023 championship and he won the 2018 PNGA Men’s Amateur.

Click here to watch Baldridge’s post-round interview.

Tom Brandes secured his fourth consecutive victory in the Senior Men’s division by shooting impressive rounds of 69-70 to finish at 5-under par, six shots ahead of second place challenger Tom Herrick of Olympia.

This marked Brandes’ eighth championship title in this category, having previously won in 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Additionally, he has been named WA Golf’s Senior Men’s Player of the Year twelve times.

Click here to watch Brandes’ post-round interview.

The Champion of Champions is one of 14 championships conducted annually by WA Golf.

Tom Brandes

The championship is hosted annually at The Home Course, which is cooperatively owned and operated by WA Golf and the Pacific Northwest Golf Association.