Sulman Raza escapes playoff to win Oregon Stroke Play
2015 Oregon Stroke Play champion Sulman Raza
(Oregon Golf Association photo)
CANBY, Ore. — After two days of outstanding play, beautiful weather, great course conditions and fierce competition at the 63rd playing of the Oregon Stroke Play Championship at Willamette Valley Country Club in Canby, Ore., University of Oregon golfer Sulman Raza emerged victorious.
It took Sulman Raza (Eugene, Ore.) four holes in a sudden-death playoff with Justin Wiles (Klamath Falls, Ore.) to earn the title after both players finished with rounds of two-under par 70 in the final round after Wiles made birdie on his final hole to match Raza.
Both players made par on the first three holes, but after Wiles’s greenside bunker approach left him with a lengthy putt, Raza’s par earned him the title in the Open Division.
“The first couple of rounds I felt like I was playing solid, I just couldn’t get anything to go, couldn’t get any putts to drop,” Raza said. “I was able to roll some putts in today, I just stayed patient and knew they were gonna fall at some point.”
Wiles earned runner-up honors and Tye Gabriel (Portland, Ore.) finished just one stroke off the playoff number to finish in third.
In the Master-40 Division, Jim Dunlap (Beaverton, Ore) fired a final-round 72 to earn the Division title. His round included four birdies, two bogeys and a double on the par-three third hole.
“I hit the ball well and kinda got derailed yesterday,” Dunlap said of his play yesterday. “I took five weeks off in the middle of the summer, which is nice. I usually don’t take a break in the summer, so it’s a nice break and a reset for the rest of the summer.”
Terry Paresi (Oregon City, Ore.) and Tom Greller (Newberg, Ore.) both finished two back to earn co-runner up honors.
Coming into the day with a 5-shot lead, Pat O’Donnell (Happy Valley, Ore.) cruised to an easy six shot win in the Senior Division. His only miscue on the day came on the par-four ninth hole where he nearly hit his tee shot out-of-bounds on route to a double-bogey on the hole. O’Donnell finished at even-par for the championship.
“First couple of rounds were pretty good, hit some putts, just kept the ball in play,” O’Donnell said. “Coming out with a five-shot lead ... just make good swings and keep it in play, good performance I think.”
Jay Fredrickson (Hillsboro, Ore.) finished at +6 to finish as Runner-Up with Scott Hval (Portland, Ore.) just one stroke back in third.
Willamette Valley Country Club, located just south of Portland in Canby, Ore is a beautiful tree-lined traditional Northwest style golf course. The course played to a yardage of 6989 with a course rating and slope of 73.7/130 for the Open and Master-40 Division and 6,651 yards with a course rating and slope of 72.4/125 for the Senior Division.
View results for Oregon Stroke Play
ABOUT THE Oregon Stroke Play
Entries are open to amateur golfers with USGA
Handicap Indexes™
of 5.0 and less for the Men’s and Master 40
Divisions, and Seniors with
Handicap Indexes of 10.0 or less and are members
in good standing
of an OGA Member Club. All Contestants must be at
least 13 years
of age. Master 40s must be 40 years of age and
seniors must be 50 years of age or older.
54-hole stroke play competition with a cut to the low
half of the
field and ties in each division after two rounds of
play.
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