REDMOND, ORE. – The Inaugural Oregon Four-Ball Championship kicks off this weekend at Eagle Crest Resort – Ridge Course, taking place August 27-30 in Redmond, Ore.

The newest OGA event features three divisions – Open, Senior Men’s and Women’s. Stroke play qualifying will be 18-holes and commence on Saturday, with match play beginning on Sunday. Championship matches for all divisions will take place on Tuesday.

Highlighting the Open Division is a pair of brothers, Kevin and Matt Geniza (Corvallis, Ore.). The Geniza’s qualified for this year’s U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Winged Foot GC in New York, finishing just one shot out of advancing to match play competition. Kevin, an incoming freshman at the University of Oregon, won the 2016 Oregon Men’s Stroke Play Championship earlier this month.

Playing partners Jim Dunlap (Beaverton, Ore.) and Jay Poletiek (Portland, Ore.) competed in the inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship in 2015, while 2016 competitor William Snow (Vancouver, Wash.) will be competing with a different partner than in the U.S. Championship in Chris Dukeminier (Portland, Ore.). Also competing are teams comprised of four Concordia University – Portland golfers: Tanner Huddleston (Woodland, Wash.) and Ryan Melnychuk (Grants Pass, Ore.), as well as Jarred Gomez (Vancouver, Wash.) and Jake Wiley (Portland, Ore.).

In the Senior Men’s Division, a strong field will battle for the inaugural title. Michael Kloenne (West Linn, Ore.) and his playing partner, Terry Paresi (Oregon City, Ore.) are a team to keep an eye on, as Kloenne earned second alternate honors at this week’s U.S. Senior Amateur qualifier. Teammates Charley Griswold and Don Orell (Bend, Ore.), both Central Oregon residents, will look to take advantage of home field advantage, and both are coming off impressive recent finishes. Griswold earned third place at this month’s Oregon Senior Men’s Stroke Play Championship, while Orell finished in second at the 2016 Oregon Super Senior Championship held a few weeks ago.

The Women’s Division features many strong teams, including the duo of Amanda Jacobs and Gretchen Johnson (Portland, Ore.). Jacobs won this year’s PNGA Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship held earlier this month. Playing the duo in the first Women’s group on Saturday is the team of Ginny Burkey (Eugene, Ore.) and Lisa Smego (Olympia, Wash). The two have won two of the last four Washington State Women’s Best-Ball Championships, while Smego earned runner-up at last year’s Oregon Senior Women’s Amateur Championship.

Debbie Friede (Washougal, Wash.), who just qualified for this year’s U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, and her playing partner Katy Wright (Camas, Wash.) will challenge for the Women’s title. This year’s Oregon Women’s Super Senior champion Nettie Morrison is also in the field, along with teammate Amy Anderson (Bend, Ore.).

For complete coverage of this week’s Inaugural Oregon Amateur Four-Ball Championship, including recaps, scoring, photos, videos and more, visit http://oga.org/inaugural-oregon-four-ball-championship.