A number of local players are set to tee it up in teams of two at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship, taking place May 22-26 at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.
The Home Course in DuPont, Wash. will serve as the stroke play co-host.
Click here for full information on the championship.
Meet the local teams:
Ethan Evans (Mercer Island) & Max Herendeen (Bellevue)
Evans and Herendeen shot a 9-under 63 to earn medalist honors at Wine Valley Country Club, in Walla Walla, Wash. Evans, a junior at Mercer Island High School, won the 3A state title and reached the Round of 16 in the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Junior in 2019. He captured the 2020 Washington Junior Golf Association Championship by three strokes. Herendeen, a sophomore at Bishop Blanchet High School, was the 2019-20 conference player of the year. He tied for ninth in last year’s Washington State Amateur at Chambers Bay. Herendeen also won two Washington Junior Golf Associations titles (2016, 2018).
Ethan Casto (Snohomish) & Cody Oakes (Arlington)
Casto and Oaks are each playing in their first U.S. Amateur Four-Ball and have ties to Western Washington University. Casto was the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2019-20 and a three-time all-conference selection. Oakes is a redshirt sophomore on the current Vikings team. He played in two tournaments in last year’s COVID-shortened season. He was a three-time all-league performer at Arlington High School.
Brandon Peterson (Ocean Shores) & John Sand (Hoquiam)
Peterson and Sand survived a nine-hole playoff with Reid Hatley and Jacob Koppenberg to earn medalist honors in qualifying at The Home Course in DuPont, Wash., the stroke-play co-host for this championship. Both sides shot 11-under 61. Sand, a senior at the University of Denver, was the runner-up to Hatley in the 2019 Washington State Amateur and tied for ninth in 2020. He was the 2017 Class 1A state runner-up and a four-time all-league selection at Hoquiam High. Peterson is a sheriff’s deputy for Grays Harbor County, about 70 miles from Chambers Bay. This is his first USGA championship. He is a former assistant professional at Grays Harbor Country Club.
Reid Hatley (Hayden Lake, Idaho) & Jacob Koppenberg (Bellingham)
Hatley, the owner of a golf course accessories company, played in the 2016 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball with partner Nate Hair. A veteran of 12 USGA events, Hatley won the 2019 Washington State Amateur in a playoff. Koppenberg, who has been a volunteer assistant golf coach at his alma mater Western Washington University, advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Mid-Amateur and was a PNGA Amateur semifinalist in 2019. He was a two-time NCAA Division II All-American and two-time Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year. He works in business development for a communication services company.
Sean Kato (Redmond) & Jackson Lake (Clovis, Calif.)
Kato and Lake are teammates on the Oregon State University team. They shot 63 to share medalist honors in the Oswego Lake Country Club qualifier on Oct. 19. Kato claimed last year’s Washington State Amateur at Chambers Bay. In 2017, he won Washington State Golf Association Junior and led Redmond High to the 4A state title. He also reached the quarterfinals of the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Amateur in 2019. Lake advanced to match play with partner Aidan Tran in the 2019 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. Lake tied for 32nd in the 2021 Pac-12 Conference Championship.
Brian Humphreys (Washougal) & Joe Neuheisel (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
Humphreys and Neuheisel are teammates and fifth-year seniors on Boise State University’s 2020-21 roster. Humphreys earned All-Mountain West Conference honors in 2017 when he won the MWC individual title and was the conference’s top freshman. Humphreys was the runner-up to Sean Kato in last year’s Washington State Amateur at Chambers Bay. At Camas High, he claimed the 2013 WIAA 4A state championship. Neuheisel, who has advanced to Final Qualifying for the 2021 U.S. Open, tied for 11th in this year’s MWC Championship. He transferred after two years at UCLA, where he did not play on the golf team.. His father, Rick, was the head football coach at Colorado, Washington and UCLA and was the 1984 Rose Bowl MVP as a quarterback for UCLA. He is currently a college football analyst for CBS.
Alvin Kwak (Mukilteo) & Nathan Han (Somers, N.Y.)
Kwak and Han are teammates on the Columbia University (N.Y.) golf team. They combined for a 65 to share medalist honors in qualifying at Connecticut National Golf Club on Apr. 27. Kwak played four years of varsity golf for Kamiak High School before moving onto Columbia University. This marks the third USGA championship he will have played in (U.S. Junior 2015, 2017, 2019).
