Pacific Northwest Men's Amateur: Back nine comeback nets Joshua Koo the win

July 23, 2023 | by Pacific Northwest Golf Association

Joshua Koo (Pacific Northwest Golf Association Photo)

Koo was 3-down after 27 holes but won four of the next six to turn the tides completely.

Joshua Koo of Cerritos, Calif. defeated Ben Borgida of Shoreline, Wash. 1-up in the 36-hole final match to win the 121st Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship, held this week at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.

Borgida had built a commanding 4-up lead after the morning 18, and still held a 3-up lead after 27 holes. But Koo won four of the next six holes, and grabbed his first lead of the match on the 33rd hole, when Borgida couldn’t save par after missing the green on the par-3.

On the 36th hole, a 541-yard par-5, Koo hit a 242-yard 3-iron for his second shot, with the ball stopping 10 feet from the hole. His two-putt birdie clinched the match.

“In the afternoon round I felt the momentum was starting to shift,” Koo says. “Ben was starting to struggle off the tee, and I was hitting greens consistently and getting the ball close to the hole.”

A RARE DOUBLE:
Joshua Koo's sister Jasmine won the Women's Western Amateur on the same day.

But Koo missed a 3-foot birdie putt on the seventh hole of the afternoon round which would have won the hole, lost the eighth hole, then missed a 4-footer on the ninth which would have won that hole.

“I just had to keep my head down and trust the momentum would stay in my favor,” he said

When Borgida hooked his tee shot up into the sand dunes on No. 10 in the afternoon round, that was the opening that Koo had been waiting for. Koo won No. 10, won No. 11, missed a 6-foot eagle putt on No. 12 which would have won that hole, halved No. 13, then won Nos. 14 and 15, all leading up to his meteoric second shot on the 36th hole of the day to clinch the championship.

Koo, the No. 12 seed in this championship, had competed in the U.S. Junior Amateur last year, but that was his only previous match-play experience. He competed one year on the University of Washington men’s golf team, making the squad in most of the Huskies’ tournaments, but is transferring to play for Pepperdine University in the fall.

Borgida’s goal this week was to make it to match play, and he easily accomplished that by earning the No. 2 seed in this championship.

“From then on I felt I was playing with house money,” he said. “I played in this championship last year (when it was held at Gold Mountain in Bremerton, Wash.), but didn’t make it to match play, so this entire week was a great bonus. It’s been a super great experience.”

Borgida is a rising sophomore on the Washington State University men’s golf team.

Results: PNGA Amateur

Place	Player	Location	Pts
Win	Joshua Koo	Cerritos, CA	400
Runner-up	Ben Borgida	Shoreline, WA	300
Semifinals	Ethan Chung	Eastvale, CA	200
Semifinals	Jack Cantlay	Los Alamitos, CA	200
Quarterfinals	Aiden Krafft	Albuquerque, NM	100

View full results for PNGA Amateur

About the PNGA Amateur

Pacific Northwest Men's Amateur: Back nine comeback nets Joshua Koo the win

First held in 1899, the Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur is one of the country’s longest running amateur championships. Held annually at world-class courses throughout the Pacific Northwest, this championship is played in the same format as the U.S. A...