The 2nd Annual WSGA Men’s and Women’s Mid-Amateur Championships concluded today at Loomis Trail Golf Club in Blaine, WA. Stephen Lee of Everett came from 3 shots back today to win the Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship with an even par two-day total of 144. Lee used birdies on holes 2, 4, 10 and 11 to offset a double bogey on #8 and what he thought was the bogey that cost him the championship on No. 17, for a 1-under par 71 today.
“I thought I needed a birdie coming in to win because I knew the leaders were great players behind me, so I hit driver on 17 and put it in the water,” Lee said. “I thought I’d lost it right there, but made par on 18 and got some help from the guys for the win.”
Players experienced a first class test of golf on the par 72, 6,757 yard, demanding layout at Loomis Trail Golf Club. With water in play on every hole on the course and winds picking up in the afternoon, a premium was put on ball striking and precision short game. Lee’s rounds of 73 and 71 put him one shot clear of co-runners up Dan Whitaker of Cle Elum and Sean Packer of Lake Tapps who posted two-day totals of 1-over par 143. First round leader Kevin Stray of Bellingham and Washington State Senior Open Champion Tom Brandes of Bellevue finished in a tie for fourth place.
Defending Champion Lisa Smego of Olympia captured her 2nd WSGA Women’s Mid – Amateur Championship by way of a sudden death playoff. Smego trailed Leslie Folsom of Seattle by a single shot heading into the final hole of the championship where she made bogey to tie after Folsom made a costly double bogey. The pair would post two-day totals of 17-over par 161 and head to the 1st hole for the playoff. Smego would ride her momentum sinking a 3 foot par putt for the victory after Folsom made bogey. Smego mentioned that this win is special to her because she has had multiple back and knee injuries in the past year and didn’t know if she would be able to play, let alone compete for the win.
Two-time defending Pacific Northwest Mid-Amateur Champion, Sandra Turbide of Maple Ridge, B.C. finished in third place at 18-over par 162 and Shawn Farmer of Bellevue finished in fourth place at 19-over par 163.
The field was made up of 72 participants in the Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship and 16 in the Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship. Both championships featured Washington State’s top mid-amateur competitors. To be eligible to compete in the WSGA Mid-Amateur Championships, players must belong to a WSGA Member Club, be 25 years of age or older, and carry a 16.4 or less handicap index for men and 24.4 or less for women.