Charlie Kern advances to Quarterfinals (W&M)

The championship is being held at Sunriver (Ore.) Resort, and is conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA).

Today’s Rounds of 32 and 16 were held on the resort’s Woodlands course. Tomorrow’s quarterfinal and semifinal matches will be held on the resort’s Meadows course, with the first tee time of the quarterfinal matches being 7:30 am. Each match is being contested over 18 holes, with the final match, to be held Sunday, July 12, being played over 36 holes, 18 on each of the two courses.

Kern, who just graduated from William & Mary in Virginia where he played on the men’s golf team, had made it to the quarterfinals of last year’s championship, and last week finished T-7 at the Sahalee Players Championship, the first leg of the Western Swing. In the Round of 32 this morning he defeated Brian Hyun Jung of Corvallis, Ore., 5 and 4; followed by his 6 and 5 win in the Round of 16 over Joe Harvie of Orting, Wash.

“The putter is working real well,” Kern said. “I’m not really missing anything inside of 10 feet and in match play that can really wear down an opponent. And I’ve been able to get off to a good start on the front nine, jumping out to big leads right away, so that makes it easy because you just have to make pars from then on.” Kern had won yesterday’s Round of 64 match against Alex Wrenn, 5 and 4.

Other notables to advance to tomorrow’s quarterfinals are Shintaro Ban of San Jose, Calif., a freshman at UNLV whose older brother, Shotaro, won this championship in 2012, and who handily defeated Sam Warkentin, the 2014 PNGA Junior Boys Amateur champion, in the Round of 32; Dylan Wu of Medford, Ore., a two-time Oregon OSAA Class 3A High School champion, a two-time AJGA Open champion, and now a freshman on the Northwestern University men’s golf team; and Ben Wanichek of Eugene, Ore., where he was a two-time Southwest Conference Player of the Year and four-time All-Conference honoree while at Sheldon High School, and will play for the University of Richmond (Va.) in the fall.

Today’s marathon match was played by Sulman Raza, a junior at the University of Oregon, and Justin Kadin of Corvallis, Ore. who battled it out for 26 holes before Kadin won it with a par on the eighth extra hole. Kadin had been 3-up with five to play, but Raza rallied and caught Kadin at the 16th hole. The two traded pars the rest of the way. Kadin played for the University of Idaho a few years ago, and now works as a caddie at Tetherow Golf Club in Bend, Ore. Last year he qualified for the U.S. Amateur Public Links. Of his Round of 16 match with Raza, Kadin said, “I know I was playing solid golf. It wasn’t like I gave it to (Raza) to get back in the match; he hit some great shots, and anything is possible in match play. We were both just grinding it out from then on.”

The Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur is one of the oldest amateur golf championships in the world. Past champions include names such as 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.

Players will compete 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.

The PNGA was founded on February 4, 1899. It is a 501c3 charitable, international, amateur golf association dedicated to preserving the true spirit of golf by supporting its allied associations, conducting quality championships, and promoting activities beneficial to golfers in the Pacific Northwest. For more than a century, the Association has been a pioneer in developing competitions and services and its mission has grown and evolved. Today, the PNGA remains committed to being a truly regional organization providing benefits and services to its members and member clubs throughout the Northwest.

114th Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur

Sunriver (Ore.) Resort – Woodlands Course

Round of 16

Charles Kern, Mercer Island, Wash. (1) def. Joseph Harvie, Orting, Wash. (49), 6 and 5Ben Wanichek, Eugene, Ore. (41) def. Sean Packer, Seattle, Wash. (57), 3 and 1Tom Swanson, Missoula, Mont. (4) def. Nicholas Nolan, Bellingham, Wash. (13), 1 upAnthony Quayle, Gold Coast, AUS (5) def. Justin Wiles, Klamath Falls, Ore. (21), 1 upJustin Kadin, Corvallis, Ore. (15) def. Sulman Raza, Eugene, Ore. (34), 26 holesShintaro Ban, San Jose, Calif. (10) def. Reid Hatley, Hayden Lake, Idaho (39), 1 upGrady Meyer, West Fargo, N.D. (35) def. Simon Viitakangas, Australia (14), 1 upDylan Wu, Medford, Ore. (11) def. Pete Griffith, Westlake Village, Calif. (38), 8 and 6

Round of 32

Charles Kern, Mercer Island, Wash. (1) def. Brian Hyun Jung, Corvallis, Ore. (32), 5 and 4Joseph Harvie, Orting, Wash. (49) def. Derek Bayley, Rathdrum, Idaho (17), 19 holesSean Packer, Seattle, Wash. (57) def. Ben Albin, Santa Fe, N.M. (40), 2 and 1Ben Wanichek, Eugene, Ore. (41) def. Alistair Docherty, Vancouver, Wash. (56), 4 and 3Tom Swanson, Missoula, Mont. (4) def. Rudi Pino, Vancouver, Wash. (29), 1 upNicholas Nolan, Bellingham, Wash. (13) def. Tyler Carlson, Clarkston, Wash. (20), 1 upAnthony Quayle, Gold Coast, AUS (5) def. Lee Gearhart, Roseville, Calif. (37), 5 and 4Justin Wiles, Klamath Falls, Ore. (21) def. Ray Richards, Tualatin, Ore. (53), 3 and 2Sulman Raza, Eugene, Ore. (34) def. Aaron Whalen, Ephrata, Wash. (2), 3 and 2Justin Kadin, Corvallis, Ore. (15) def. Cole Madey, West Linn, Ore. (18), 1 upReid Hatley, Hayden Lake, Idaho (39) def. Tyler Collier, Chico, Calif. (7), 2 and 1Shintaro Ban, San Jose, Calif. (10) def. Sam Warkentin, Bainbridge Island, Wash. (23), 5 and 4Grady Meyer, West Fargo, N.D. (35) def. Jack Persons, San Francisco, Calif. (3), 19 holesSimon Viitakangas, Australia (14) def. Tyler Salsbury, Enumclaw, Wash. (19), 3 and 2Pete Griffith, Westlake Village, Calif. (38) def. Jesse Heinly, Bend, Ore. (6), 2 upDylan Wu, Medford, Ore. (11) def. Kevin Murphy, Rogue River, Ore. (43), 2 up