Tom Brandes (PNGA photo)
Plenty of golf was played this past weekend in the state of Oregon. With the 111th Oregon Amateur, the Amateur Golf two-man links at Bandon Dunes, and the 45th Pacific Northwest Golf Association Men’s Master-40 Amateur.
The five-day event culminated with an 18-hole championship match between Tom Brandes of Bellevue, Washington, and Tacoma, Washington’s Dana Christianson.
Brandes, the one-seed, earned medalist honors following the 36-hole qualifier. Working his way towards the championship match, Brandes went 7 & 6, 2 & 1, and 6 & 4 en route to facing off against Christianson.
All square at the turn, Brandes began to strike.
Winning holes No. 9 and 10, Brandes took a 1 up lead before taking command of the match with wins on holes 12, 13, and 14 to take a 4 up lead with five to play. Christianson, needing a win on No. 15 to extend the match, failed to do so, giving Brandes the championship.
“I want to give a shout-out to Dana,” Brandes told the PNGA. “A real gentleman. I’ve known him for many years, but we’ve never been paired together. He played really, really solid. I was kind of watching his game, and I thought I’d better bring my ‘A’ game.”
The event was Brandes’ first tournament back from the COVID-19 forced play stoppage, leaving him impressed with his game.
“I had no expectations because I hadn’t played in anything since last fall,” Brandes said. “So, yeah, I hit it real well, and came out on top.”
Twice a runner-up at the event, the 2015 PNGA Hall of Fame inductee and seven-time senior player of the year is relieved with the win, saying that “Match play is a different animal,” and that “It’s good to finally not be the runner-up.”
View results for PNGA Master-40 Amateur
ABOUT THE PNGA Master-40 Amateur
36-hole stroke play qualifier, single-
elimination
match play in flights of 8 (32-player
Championship Flight). Must be at least 40 years of age,
and a member
of a
PNGA member club.
View Complete Tournament Information