Carl Yuan
(Washington Athletics Photo)
WALLA WALLA, WA (July 22, 2016) -- Andrew Whalen of
Ephrata, Wash. and Carl Yuan of Lake Mary, Fla. will
meet in the final match of the 115th Pacific Northwest
Men's Amateur Championship. The two players will tee
off in their 36-hole match at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow, July
23, at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Wash.
Whalen defeated Pete Griffith of Westlake Village,
Calif., 1-up, in this afternoon's semifinal match. Whalen
never trailed in the match, and stood on the tee of the
par-3 14th hole with a 3-up lead. Griffith then dropped
two birdies in a row to win the next two holes, cutting
into Whalen's lead. The two players traded pars for the
last three holes, and Whalen held on for the 1-up win.
Whalen first entered the golf scene in 2011 when,
as an unheralded player, he made it to the quarterfinal
match of the 2011 U.S. Junior Amateur, being held that
year at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash. In
that quarterfinal match, he fell to the championship's
eventual winner, a young Jordan Spieth.
Whalen, the No. 16 seed, had defeated No. 1 seed
James Grierson in the Round of 16. Whalen qualified for
and played in the 2016 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, and last
week held the first round lead of the Rosauers Open
Invitational, a professional tournament held in Spokane,
Wash. Now a senior at Northwestern University, he
made it to the Round of 16 in the 2012 PNGA Men's
Amateur.
In this afternoon's other semifinal match, Yuan
came from behind for a 1-up victory over Drew
McCullough of Richland, Wash. Yuan won three of the
last five holes of the match. McCullough, who earlier
this month won the Seattle Amateur and will be a junior
at the University of Wyoming in the fall, had made a
costly bogey on the par-4 17th which gave Yuan the
lead, and when the two traded pars on the 18th, the
match went to Yuan.
Yuan, who earned the No. 2 seed in the
championship's stroke-play qualifying rounds, will be a
sophomore in the fall at the University of Washington.
Earlier this summer, he had qualified into the Sectional
stage for the 2016 U.S. Open.
The championship began with a full field of 168
players, 64 of whom advanced to the single-elimination
match-play bracket after two rounds of stroke-play
qualifying. Each match was then contested over 18
holes. However, tomorrow's final match will be played
over 36 holes.
One of the oldest amateur golf championships in
the world, Whalen and Yuan will be competing for the
Macan Cup, which is named after legendary golf course
designer A.V. Macan, a member of the Pacific Northwest
Golf Hall of Fame and winner of this championship in
1913.
Past champions include Tiger Woods, Jeff Quinney,
Ben Crane, Jeff Coston, Nick Flanagan, Jim McLean and
Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Famers Chandler Egan,
Harry Givan, Jack Westland, Bud Ward and George
Holland, among many others.
The Pacific Northwest Men's Amateur Championship
is one of 15 major, regional, amateur championships for
men, women, juniors, and seniors conducted annually
by the PNGA throughout the Northwest.
Wine Valley previously hosted the Pacific Northwest
Men's Amateur Championship in 2012, and also was the
site of the 2013 Pacific Northwest Women's Amateur.
ABOUT THE
PNGA Amateur
First held in 1899, the Pacific Northwest Men’s
Amateur
is one of the country’s longest running amateur
championships. Held annually at world-class courses
throughout the Pacific Northwest, this championship
is
played in the same format as the U.S. Amateur and
features an impressive list of past champions that
include; Nick Flanagan, Ben Crane, Jeff Quinney, Bill
Sander, and Tiger Woods. Eligibility is open to
members
of the Pacific Northwest Golf Association and top
amateurs throughout the world invited via
Presidential
Invitation. Each year’s champion earns a hosted
exemption in to the Pacific Coast Amateur and
Sahalee
Players Championship.
The Championship will be conducted in two stages:
Stroke Play – All players must complete the 36-hole
stroke play qualifying in order to determine the 64
players who will advance to match play. In the event
of a tie for the final qualifying spot(s), a sudden-
death playoff will be used to determine the qualifiers.
In the event of a tie for the Qualifying Medalist, a
sudden-death playoff will commence.
Match Play – The General Numerical Draw will be in
effect. Single elimination match play. 36-hole
Championship Final Match. All other matches are 18
holes.
View Complete Tournament Information