The 89th Washington State Men's Amateur Championship is set to take place August 4-6 on the Rope Rider course at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Wash. The championship will consist of 54 holes of stroke play, with the field cut to the low 60 players and ties after 36 holes. The three-day championship is being conducted by the Washington State Golf Association.
First and second round pairings can be found here. Visit www.thewsga.org for daily news, live scores, and more from the Washington State Men's Amateur Championship. Follow the championship on Twitter at the handles @WSGA1922 and @WSGAChampions for live updates and news and use the hashtag #WSGAMensAm.
Two qualifiers were held July 21 to fill the 120-player field which already had 37 exempt players registered. The West Qualifier, held at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton Wash., had 58 of 102 competitors qualify while the East Qualifier, held at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Wash., had 25 of 44 competitors qualify.
Notable names in this year's championship include defending champion Tyler Salsbury of Enumclaw, Wash. who won last year's championship at Wine Valley Golf Club; runner-up in last year's championship, the 2012 and 2013 WSGA Junior Boys' Player of the Year, and the 2013 PNGA Junior Boys' Player of the Year, Frank Garber of Kirkland, Wash.; champion of this year's Seattle Amateur and the PNGA Men's Master-40, Erik Hanson of Kirkland, Wash.; Aaron Whalen of Ephrata, Wash. who tied for medalist honors at the PNGA Men's Amateur, and medaled at the U.S. Amateur Qualifier at Palouse Ridge Golf Club with rounds of 65 and 66; Broc Johnson of Auburn, Wash., who recently finished his senior year at Arizona State and finished runner-up in the U.S. Amateur Qualifier at Palouse Ridge; Chris Babcock of Shoreline, Wash., a senior on the men's golf team at the University of Washington who recently was medalist in the U.S. Amateur Qualifier at Royal Oaks Country Club; Kent Hagen of Covington, Wash., who medaled in this championship's East Qualifier held at Wine Valley; and West Qualifier medalists at Gold Mountain, Keynan Fanslow of Tacoma, Wash. and Seth Nickerson of Olympia, Wash.
Salsbury, an incoming senior at the University of Washington, joined the list of past Washington State Amateur Champions that includes Fred Couples, Alex Prugh, Brock Mackenzie, Kermit Zarley, John Bodenhamer, and PNGA Hall of Famers Al Mengert, Bud Ward, Jack Westland and Harry Givan, among many others.
Suncadia Resort is located on the eastern slope of the Cascade Mountains in Cle Elum, Wash. The resort has three golf courses - Rope Rider, Prospector and Tumble Creek. Designed by the team of Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy, Rope Rider is named in honor of the miners who once balanced themselves on the roped coal cars that maneuvered the mine shafts in the area on which the public course now sits. Rope Rider also hosted the 2013 WSGA Men's and Women's Mid-Amateur Championships.
