“I just wanted to put together a good round for my teammates,” said Cantlay. “Oregon played great and they played better as a team, said SoCal team captain Daniel Myrdahl If it wasn’t for a bogey on the 389-yard par-4 finishing hole, while good enough to earn the medalist honors, Cantlay would have tied the 36-hole Hogan Cup record of 7-under par 137 set by fellow Southern Californian, Alex Shi Yup Kim of Fullerton, Calif.

Instead, he had to settle for a tie for the second best score in Hogan Cup history, a score that was also 7-shots better than that set by medalist Tiger Woods in 1990. The score also beat his own personal best of 67 that he scored at Mission Hills in Palm Springs, Calif. This summer has been exceptionally strong for Cantlay, especially in the Northwest. A little more than two weeks ago, Cantlay took medalist honors at the 36th Boys Junior Americas Cup when it was held just a few minutes north at Royal Oaks Country Club in Vancouver, Wash. “This course is less demanding than [Royal Oaks],” said Cantlay. “The greens here make it much more scoreable.”

Also making the course scoreable was that Cantlay was hitting his approaches close to the hole all day. “I had two to three tap in birdies,” he noted. In the team competition, the two Oregon teams topped the leaderboard with Oregon I taking top honors by 2-strokes over the Oregon II team.

Led by OSAA 4A Champion Nick Sherwood of Albany, Ore. with a 2-under par 71-71—142, who never stopped smiling the entire tournament.

“A few of us got some redemption from Royal Oaks a couple weeks ago,” he said.

“They hung in there, and I am really proud of them," said Oregon I team captain Steve Hagen. "I told them yesterday that they needed to stay positive and it would all come together.” “This is awesome,” said Scott Baines, captain of the Oregon II team. Baines hosted the Arizona team in his home, so his Oregon II team never had any special meetings to plan strategy. “The boys just hung in there and really played for each other." “I’ve never seen anyone more fired up than Bobby,” said Baines of Bobby Monaco of Eugene, Ore. who was just 1-stroke off the pace set by Cantlay and who posted the third best 36-hole total in Hogan Cup history.

Being selected to compete in Hogan Cup matches is an honor that has been bestowed to few individuals, and the excellence of past participants is indicative of the quality of the small, select field. Hogan Cup alumni include PGA Tour players such as Fred Couples, Scott Simpson, Robert Gamez, Kirk Triplett, Peter Jacobsen and Tiger Woods, the individual champion in 1990.

The event began in 1969 in commemoration of the vast achievements and contributions to the sport by Eddie Hogan, their long-time head golf professional who served the club from 1939 until his tragic drowning death in 1968. Hogan, an Oregon Amateur champion and PNGA Amateur Champion, was credited for transforming the role of the golf professional, developing what is now considered the standard for the green grass pro shop. Hogan was also dedicated in helping the Oregon Golf Association develop its widely-recognized junior golf program.

--Courtesy OGA