Reid Hatley of Hayden Lake, Idaho shot rounds of 64-68 to win the 7th Washington State Men's Mid-Amateur Championship, held at Gamble Sands in Brewster, Wash. The championship was conducted by the Washington State Golf Association (WSGA).
Finishing second, three shots behind Hatley, was Cory Mehl of Seattle. Mehl and Hatley were paired together in today's final group. After opening today's play with birdies on the first three holes, Hatley seemed to have the championship well in hand, sitting a comfortable seven strokes ahead of Mehl. But in the middle of the round, Mehl birdied six of nine holes, and standing on the 17th tee Hatley's lead had dwindled to two. Both players then bogeyed the par-4 17th, and Hatley sealed the victory by hitting a 3-wood on his second shot to 15 feet on the par-5 18th, and two-putted for birdie.
"This feels pretty good," Hatley said afterward. "I've come close to winning one of these the past few years, so I finally got this win under my belt. I got off to a hot start this year. I just tried to play my game, I didn't look at anybody else's scores until the 18th tee today. Yesterday was a lot easier than today; the wind picked up today, and the hole locations made it difficult to get it close. It took a little bit of course knowledge today, and I tried to put my ball in good spots on the greens. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't."
For hole-by-hole final results, click here.
Reid finished third in last year's championship, and second in 2014. He was named the 2015 WSGA Men's Mid-Amateur Player of the Year. Earlier this summer, Hatley was the qualifying co-medalist for the U.S. Mid-Amateur, the second year in a row he has qualified for that national championship, and also qualified for the 2016 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. In high school, Hatley had been a two-time Greater Spokane League champion playing for Ferris High School, and won the 1998 Pacific Northwest Junior Boy's Amateur, before earning a golf scholarship to the University of Arizona.
Mehl is a 2008 graduate of O'Dea High School in Seattle, where he was named his golf team's MVP in 2005 and 2006, and was part of the school's state championship year in 2008. He played college golf at Santa Clara University. He was the qualifying co-medalist for the 2015 U.S. Mid-Amateur.
Finishing third was Erik Hanson of Kirkland, Wash. Hanson had finished second in last year's championship. Mike Haack of Bellevue, Wash. finished fourth. Haack was the 2013 and 2014 WSGA Men's Mid-Amateur Player of the Year, and won this championship in 2010.
To stay connected on social media, follow @WSGAChampions on Twitter and use the hashtag #WSGAMensMidAm.
Gamble Sands, a links-like layout that opened in 2014, was designed by renowned architect David McLay Kidd, who also designed other Northwest mainstays such as Tetherow in Bend, Ore. and the Bandon Dunes course at Bandon Dunes Resort.
