Temperatures soared and so did Mogg at the Washington Am

BREWSTER, WA (August 9, 2018) – Brian Mogg of Issaquah, Wash., fired a 5-under-par 65 in today’s second round of the 92nd Washington State Amateur to break through a logjam at the top of the leaderboard, and will take a 2-shot lead over four players heading into tomorrow’s final round.

The three-day 54-hole championship is being held this week at the par-70 Gamble Sands course in Brewster, Wash., and is conducted by the Washington State Golf Association (WSGA).

After shooting 6-under 64 in yesterday’s first round, Mogg had started the day tied for the lead with Michael Butler of Bellingham, Wash. and Michael Almonte of Fircrest, Wash. Both Almonte and Butler shot 3-under 67s in today’s second round, and sit two shots back of Mogg. Also tied for second are Ryan Maine of Spokane and RJ Manke of Lakewood, Wash.

There are 18 players within six shots of the lead, heading into tomorrow’s final round.

Playing in one of today’s final groups in the heat of the afternoon, Mogg again got his round off to a hot start, with birdies on his first three holes, and then bookended it with birdies on holes 15, 16 and 17.

“Yes, it definitely was toasty out there today,” Mogg said afterward, about the playing conditions. “Very different, but I had one of my best friends on my bag today, Dakota (who played football for Washington State University), so we had a good time out there.”

About the warm weather, Mogg said the ball was going further than normal. “Yes, the heat really made a difference in club selection. I hit some shots that ended up 20-30 yards further than normal, so we were trying to take that into account all day.”

Mogg is a recent graduate of Washington State University where he starred four years on the men’s golf team, and his stellar play in 2018 has so far got him invitations to play in the Sahalee Players Championship and Pacific Coast Amateur earlier this summer, and last month made it to the Round of 32 in the PNGA Men’s Amateur.



After today’s second round, the 120-player field has been cut to the low 60 scores and ties for tomorrow’s final round. The first tee time tomorrow is 7:00 a.m., with the leaders teeing off at 10:10 a.m.

Temperatures at Gamble Sands reached 104 degrees today, and tomorrow is forecasted to reach 108 degrees.

The course normally plays to a par 72, but for this championship the fifth and 18 holes are being played as par 4s, rather than par 5s, with the fifth hole is playing as a 517-yard par 4, and the 18th hole as a 536-yard par 4.