Several WA Golf players are set to compete at the 120th U.S. Amateur Championship, taking place next week, August 10-16, at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore.
Click here for complete information on the championship, including results, tee times and a list of players.
Meet the competitors:
Joe Highsmith (Lakewood)
This marks the third consecutive year that Joe Highsmith will be competing in the U.S. Amateur. Now a rising junior on the Pepperdine University men’s golf team, Highsmith won the 2019 Sahalee Players Championship and in 2017 he became the youngest player (age 17) to win the Washington Men’s Amateur. He was named the 2019 WA Golf Men’s Player of the Year.
Jake Koppenberg (Bellingham)
Jake Koppenberg will be making his fifth appearance at the U.S. Amateur, having previously played in 2008, 2015, 2017-18. The 33-year-old Koppenberg advanced to the quarterfinals at last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship before falling to eventual champion Lukas Michel after 20 holes. He is a former NCAA D-II All-American and serves as volunteer assistant coach for the men’s golf team at Western Washington University, his alma mater.
RJ Manke (Lakewood)
This is the second straight appearance in the U.S. Amateur for RJ Manke, who advanced to the Round of 64 in last year’s championship. He is a rising senior on the Pepperdine University men’s golf team and won the 2018 Washington Men’s Amateur. Last year Manke served as player representative for Washington at the Mexican International Amateur and won the championship by nine shots.
Ian Siebers (Bellevue)
18-year-old Ian Siebers will be making his second appearance in the U.S. Amateur. He has twice been named the WA Golf Junior Boys’ Player of the Year (2018 and 2019). Last year Siebers won the individual title at the Junior America’s Cup and was one of 12 players selected for the U.S. Junior Presidents Cup team.
Reid Hatley (Hayden Lake, Idaho)
Reigning Washington Men’s Amateur champion Reid Hatley will be making his fourth appearance in the U.S. Amateur, after previously playing in 2001-02 and 2017. The 39-year-old Hatley has twice won the Washington Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship (2016 and 2018) and has been named the WA Golf Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year each of the past five years.
