Medalist Upset at 113th Pacific Northwest Men's Amateur Championship


No. 1 seed Dale Brandt-Richards of Sydney, Australia, was defeated by Tye Gabriel of Portland 2 and 1 in the opening round of match play in the Pacific Northwest Men's Amateur at Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman, Wash.

Gabriel finished stroke-play qualifying right on the cut of 5-over 145. He made it through four playoff holes to claim the 64th and final seed in match play.

"I couldn't make any putts; I putted pretty badly in the stroke play," Gabriel said of his Monday round. "But, in the playoff I made a couple putts that got me some momentum, and I feel that those putts really gave me some confidence. That was the difference between the stoke play and today, just my putting."

His putting was crucial in the Tuesday bout with Brandt-Richards, who had carded only a single bogey in 36-hole qualifying rounds. In their match, Gabriel made five birdies to Brandt-Richards' three, including a 30-foot bomb on the 17th hole to secure the victory.

Gabriel knew who he'd be facing in match play but felt up to the task. "I honestly wasn't too concerned with it, because I had been hitting the ball really well," he said. "This course sets up well for me, and I knew if I could just get to match play, that anything could happen. So I actually went in pretty confident, because I finally made some putts in the playoff."

Frank Garber of Kirkland, Wash., who carded the low round of the championship, a 7-under par 63 in the second round of qualifying, was taken to extra holes by playoff qualifier Dillon Jahns of Othello, Wash. Garber, the No. 3 seed and 2013 Pacific Northwest Junior Boys' Player of the Year, birdied the 19th hole to stave off the upset bid by Jahns.

Brothers Andrew and Aaron Whalen of Ephrata, Wash., both made it to the Round of 32. The chance to meet each another could happen in the quarterfinals if they both advance.

A second potential family reunion could occur in the Round of 16 between Clayton and Cole Madey of West Linn, Ore. Clayton, the No. 52 seed, upset Kennewick, Wash., native Nicholaus Mandell 5 and 4.

A total of five matches went to extra holes Tuesday, all but one of which ended on the first playoff hole. The final match of the day, between Californians Matt Seramin of San Geronimo and Jordan Weir of El Dorado Hills, went 20 holes and ended when Weir made birdie.

Wednesday's Round of 32 starts at 7:30 a.m., and the first tee time in the quarterfinals is at 12:30 p.m.

Past champions of the Pacific Northwest Men's Amateur Championship include Tiger Woods, Jeff Quinney, Ben Crane, Jeff Coston, Nick Flanagan, Jim McLean and PNGA Hall of Famers Chandler Egan, Harry Givan, Jack Westland, Bud Ward and George Holland, among others. After winning the 1994 championship, Woods said, "The PNGA Men's Amateur will always be very special to me since it's my first men's amateur victory."

The above report is courtesy of the PNGA. For a complete match play bracket, tee times and live scoring, visit www.thepnga.org.