MOLALLA, Ore. (Sept. 26, 2014) – Pat O’Donnell
of Happy Valley
defeated three-time defending champion Scott
Hval of Portland two-
up to win the Men’s Championship at the 31st
Oregon Senior
Amateur, held at Arrowhead Golf Club in Molalla,
Ore.
For O’Donnell, the victory marked his third
Oregon Senior Amateur
win (2008, 2010). Hval’s runner-up finish
marked an end to an
unprecedented run, where he became the first
player ever to win
three-consecutive Oregon Senior Amateur titles
(2011-13).
The match began on a strong note for O’Donnell,
who birdied three of
the first four holes and found himself three-up
through four. After
Hval won the ninth hole, O’Donnell still went into
the back nine two-
up. However, Hval won the first three holes of
the second nine, and
was one-up going into the 13th hole.
O’Donnell knew he had to hang tough after
suddenly finding himself
down with only six holes to play.
“You get a little down,” said O’Donnell. “Because
Scott [Hval] is a
good player, there’s no doubt about that. He can
play.”
“I just kind of hung in there. Still made some
good shots, and the
ship righted. It worked out in my favor.”
After halving holes 13-15, Hval still maintained a
one-up lead going
into the 16th hole. On the 430-yard par-4,
O’Donnell made par while
Hval just missed his five-foot par putt. Going
into the 17th hole tied,
O’Donnell hit his second shot on the green about
12-feet from the
pin. Hval missed his long par putt, and O’Donnell
made an easy four,
leading one-up and heading to the 18th hole.
On the last hole, O’Donnell’s par sealed the win –
his first Oregon
Senior Amateur title since 2010.
