CRESWELL, ORE. – More than 60 of the best senior golfers in Oregon and SW Washington are gearing up for the 32nd Oregon Senior Amateur Championship, held August 24-27 at Emerald Valley Golf and Resort in Creswell, Ore.

Monday will include 18-hole qualifying for both the Men’s and Women’s Divisions. Match play will begin on Tuesday for both divisions, with the Women’s final commencing on Wednesday, August 26th, and the Men’s final taking place the morning of Thursday, August 27th.

Both divisions include strong fields, including past champions and storied competitors.

Highlighting the Men’s Division is defending champion Pat O’Donnell (Happy Valley, Ore.). O’Donnell has also won this Championship in 2008 and 2010, and earlier this summer, earned the win in the 2015 Oregon Senior Men’s Stroke Play Championship. Playing with O’Donnell in stroke play qualifying is Scott Hval (Portland, Ore.), who won the Oregon Senior Amateur for three consecutive years (2011-13) before falling to O’Donnell in last year’s final match.

Past champions Erik Myrmo (Eugene, Ore.), 2009, and George Walker (Portland, Ore.), 2007, will be paired together on Monday during qualifying. Chris Maletis (Portland, Ore.) is also in the field – he won the Oregon Senior Amateur for three consecutive years (2000-02). Earlier this month, Maletis defended his 2014 title at the Oregon Super Senior Championship. Randy Mahar (Portland, Ore.) is another name to follow next week. Mahar won two consecutive Oregon Senior Men’s Stroke Play titles in 2013-14.

Defending champion Loree McKay (Hillsboro, Ore.) is back another year and hoping to earn her fourth Oregon Senior Women’s Amateur title, also winning in 2007 and 2011. Leilani Norman (Eugene, Ore.), who won the 2013 title, and Debbie Friede (Washougal, Wash.), the 2012 champion, will be battling for their second career title in this Championship.

Anita Wicks (Roseburg, Ore.) will be looking for her first Oregon Senior Women’s Amateur Championship. She’s won three straight Oregon Senior Women’s Stroke Play titles (2013-15).

Also in the field this year are Lisa Smego (Olympia, Wash.), winner of three Washington State Senior Women’s Amateur titles, and Ginny Burkey (Eugene, Ore.), winner of that Championship in 2011.

Emerald Valley Golf and Resort, with its tree-lined fairways and Championship conditions, is located in the southern Willamette Valley in the small and welcoming community of Creswell, fewer than 15 miles south of Eugene. Known for hosting numerous OGA events and USGA qualifiers, Emerald Valley last hosted an OGA Championship in 2014 – the Oregon Mid-Amateur Championship.

Emerald Valley will play at 6,585 yards with a slope and rating of 71.8/126 for the Men’s Division, and will play at 5,254 yards with a slope and rating of 71.6/131 for the Women’s Division.

For complete coverage of the 32nd Oregon Senior Amateur Championship, visit: http://oga.org/32nd-oregon-senior-amateur-championship.