AURORA, ORE. ­­– The best-of-the-best among OGA competitors around Oregon and SW Washington will meet this weekend for the year’s first OGA Championship: The 72nd OGA Tournament of Champions, held April 23-24, 2016 at Langdon Farms Golf Club in Aurora, Ore. 

New this year to the Tournament of Champions is the formation of a Senior Men’s Division, which invites those who won their respective senior men’s club championship in 2014 and 2015 to compete. Additionally, the Tournament of Champions invites the 2014 and 2015 men’s and women’s gross club champions from OGA member clubs as well as players who won an OGA Championship in 2015 to compete for this champion-of-champion’s title.

In the men’s division, a new champion will be honored in 2016, as last year’s winner, Riley Elmes, is not in the field, as he is finishing up his freshman year at Loyola Marymount University. Last year’s runner-up, Arthur Kim (Tigard, Ore.), will look to move up to the top spot in 2016, as will Jeff Glodt (Salem, Ore.) and Matt Hartley (Vancouver, Wash.) who finished T-3 and fifth last year, respectively.

Also competing in the men’s field this year is Jesse Heinly (Bend, Ore.), who advanced to 2015 U.S. Open sectional qualifying and was top five in Oregon Amateur stroke play qualifying in 2015; Jim Dunlap (Beaverton, Ore.), who qualified for last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship and U.S. Four-Ball Championship, and finished T-2 at the 2015 Oregon Mid-Am Championship; Jack Dukeminier (Portland, Ore.), 2011 Oregon Amateur Champion, and Austin Landis (Milwaukie, Ore.), runner-up in the 2014 Oregon Amateur Championship.

As with the men’s side, the women will be crowning a new champion this year, with defending champion A Ram Choi turning professional. A talented group of golfers will be looking to take advantage, including Brie Stone (Veneta, Ore.), who will be looking for her third Tournament of Champions title, and first since 2012. Stone earned a pair of second place finishes last year at the Oregon Women’s Stroke Play Championship and the Oregon Women’s Mid-Am Championship, as well as finished third in the 2015 Tournament of Champions.

Kate Harper (Portland, Ore.) will be looking to continue off a highly-impressive 2015 campaign this weekend. Harper won last year’sOregon Mid-Amateur Championship, and also finished T-6 individually at the USGA Women’s State Team Championship, where she represented Oregon with Stone and Rosie Cook (Bend, Ore.), also in this weekend’s field. Leilani Norman (Eugene, Ore.), the 2015 Oregon Senior Women’s Amateur champion, and Loree McKay (Hillsboro, Ore.), semifinalist at last year’s Oregon Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, are also competing.

In the newly created Senior Men’s Division, Pat O’Donnell (Happy Valley, Ore.) will lead the pack. O’Donnell won both the Oregon Senior Amateur and Oregon Senior Men’s Stroke Play Championship in 2015, and is coming off a win in the Four-Ball competition at this week’s PNW Senior Players’ Championship. Mike Kloenne (West Linn, Ore.) will be looking to continue his momentum from 2015, where he finished as a semifinalist at the Oregon Senior Amateur and earned third place at both the PNGA Senior Amateur and Mid-Amateur Championships. Also competing are Jay Fredrickson (Hillsboro, Ore.), second place at last year’s Oregon Senior Stroke Play Championship, and Tom Prevost (McMinnville, Ore.), who qualified for the 2015 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship.

Langdon Farms Golf Club is home to 18 holes of stunning golf designed by John Fought and Robert Cupp. Langdon Farms Golf Club opened to rave reviews in 1995 and immediately became a favorite in the Portland area. The par-71 course will play to 6,720 yards for the men, 6,252 for the senior men and 5,538 for the women. 

Tee times begin at 7:10 a.m. on Saturday.

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