113th Pacific Northwest Men's Amateur Goes to Beale

It took 38 holes, but James Beale of Auckland, New Zealand, won the 113th Pacific Northwest Men's Amateur, defeating Cole Madey of West Linn, Ore., at Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Pullman, Wash.

Beale, who finished fourth at last week's Sahalee Players Championship, capped off the three-tournament "Western Swing" with a title-clinching par in the 36-hole Pacific Northwest Men's championship match.

Madey was the first to take a lead when he rolled in a birdie on No. 3, but Beale leveled the match on the fifth. Beale had opportunities to separate himself early, but couldn't move ahead. On No. 9, after both players found the lateral water hazard off the tee, Beale made a lengthy bogey putt to square the match. Madey answered, however, making birdie to win the 10th and regain a 1-up lead.

Beale birdied the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th to take a 2-up lead into the break. Madey started the second 18 strong, making two quick birdies to square the match, which from that point forward would not vary more than 2-up for either player. The tense back-and-forth affair dragged on, and both players showed fatigue towards the middle of the second 18.

then won the 25th to go 2-up when Madey didn't take advantage of a monster drive that stopped within 10 yards of the green on the downhill, 425-yard par-4. Beale found the rough with his drive, but stuffed it to eight feet and made the putt.

Beale kept a 2-up advantage all the way to the 30th hole of the match. ButMadey delivered a must-have birdie on the par-3 31st hole to get back within one. On the 367-yard par-4 15th (the 33rd hole of the match), Madey drove the green with the help of a greenside embankment, while Beale found the front bunker. Madey brought the match level with a two-putt birdie when Beale couldn't convert his up-and-down.

When Madey went dormie to the par-5 18th, Beale's back was against the wall. Both players found the fairway on 18, but Madey's approach veered left, leaving him a difficult pitch. Beale fired his approach pin-high, just off the collar, and used a wedge to get up and down for birdie. Madey left himself a long, downhill putt to halve the hole, but raced it by.

Beale had squared the match after 36 holes, forcing a sudden-death playoff.

On the first extra hole, No. 1, both players found the fairway off the tee. Madey played first, leaving his approach long, but on the green with a downhill lag to follow. Beale made the same mistake in his match a day prior in the quarterfinal against Conner Kumpula. Just like that Thursday match, though, Beale got up and down out of the bunker to extend the match further.

On the second playoff hole, Beale found the fairway with a metal wood, while Madey hit into the fescue right of the green. Madey's pitch flew over the green, leaving him with a testy downhill chip to a back pin location.

Beale placed his second just off the green behind the hole, and putted to within tap-in distance.

Madey flubbed his first pitch, and now needed to make the next one from nearly an identical position to force another hole. Madey's caddie, his brother Clayton, slowed Cole down, and the two spent a long time trying to work-out how best to sink the shot. Madey made an excellent play, but the ball seared the edge of the cup to give Beale a well-earned title in Northwest golf's biggest amateur tournament.

The above report is courtesy of the PNGA. For more information and live scoring, visit www.thepnga.org.

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