Flagstaff, AZ. (Pacific Coast Amateur)- Corey Pereira showed no signs of final round pressure, posting a three-under 67 en-route to becoming crowned the 48th Pacific Coast Amateur Champion at the Pine Canyon Club.
 
The sophomore at the University of Washington handled playing in the final grouping with the lead like a seasoned veteran, solidifying his name in Pacific Coast Amateur Championship lore with a 72-hole line of 70-62-62-67-261 (-19).  His four round 261 total broke the Pacific Coast Amateur gross score record by two strokes held by James Lepp from 2003.
 
Pereira opened the round with a five-stroke lead over Lorens Chan and Whittier, California native Mark Anguiano. Playing in the same grouping, both Chan and Anguiano would have needed exceptional rounds to catch Pereira, a fact that seemed to motivate Pereira to close the Championship early.
 
After opening the first three holes with effortless pars, Pereira would make birdies on four and six along with his only bogey of the day on the fifth.
 
Making the turn at one-under 34 and holding a seven-stroke lead over Chan at the time, Pereira would use his unrelenting accuracy off the tee to dismantle any hope of a come-back. He would make two more birdies on holes 14 and 16 to get his round to three-under par and his total to -19. After making a two-putt par on 17, Pereira would come down 18 with the title all but wrapped up.
 
After hitting his approach to 35 feet and missing his birdie try by mere inches, Pereira would make a four-foot putt coming back, raising his hands in triumph as the 48th champion in the Pacific Coast Amateur’s history.
 
“I felt like I played really similar to how I have been this whole week,” stated Pereira.
 
“I played well and just didn’t make mistakes. That’s what it took and I am sitting here now so it’s pretty awesome.”
 
Asked how it feels to etch his name on the Dr. Ed Updegraff with the likes of fellow Washington Huskies James Lepp and Chris Williams, Pereira was excited about joining elite company.
 
“Awesome. I came into this event and knew that Chris Williams won it, I think at Martis Camp, and you know I want to be the number one amateur in the world. Its really nice to kind of be following in his footsteps.”
 
With this win, Pereira becomes the sixth player from the Washington Husky program to win the prestigious Pacific Coast Amateur title. He also started the Championship with a triple bogey-bogey score through two holes, going 23-under-par for the next 70 holes to victory.

David Fink (Corvallis, Ore.) finished as the low Oregonian for the tournament, ending up tied for seventh for the event at 8-under par. Here are the complete scores from players from Oregon and those who play at colleges in Oregon -

T-7: David Fink (Corvallis, Ore.) - 72-66-67-67 - 272 (-8)
T-14: Zach Foushee (West Linn, Ore.) - 71-64-70-70 - 275 (-5)
17: Thomas Lim (Moorpark, Calif.) - 70-69-71-66 - 276 (-4)
T-18: Kevin Murphy (Rogue River, Ore.) - 68-68-67-74 - 277 (-3)
T-32: Hans Reimers (Albany, Ore.) - 71-70-70-72 - 283 (+3)
T-35: Dylan Wu (Medford, Ore.) - 76-68-65-75 - 284 (+4)
48: Sulman Raza (Eugene, Ore.) - 70-72-72-72 - 286 (+6)
T-49: Brian Jung (Corvallis, Ore.) - 75-65-72-75 - 287 (+7)
T-52: Justin Kadin (Corvallis, Ore.) - 78-71-68-71 - 288 (+8)

Finishing tied for runner-up honors was Chan and Matt Hansen. Chan, the UCLA Bruin who held the lead following round two, would struggle early in the day with double bogeys on holes seven and 12 before making three consecutive birdies to climb the leaderboard for good. Chan’s four-day total of -11 (67-63-69-70-269) was a valiant effort by a player who will be successful on the amateur circuit for years to come.
 
Hansen, a recent graduate of UC Davis, was finally able to post a low number, with a final round 66. His four-day scores of 69-69-65-66-(269) will no doubt bump the World Amateur No.92 up the rankings before he turns professional later this year.
 
Rounding out the top-5 at -10 (270) were Anguiano and Minneapolis, MN native Andrew McCain.
 
This years’ installment of the Pacific Coast Amateur broke records including the lowest gross by Pereira and the lowest ever round (not in relation to par) by second-day standout Alex McMahon of Tucson, AZ with a 61. The previous record was held by James Lepp with a 62 at Capilano G&CC.