Creswell, Ore. (Sunday, August 24, 2014) – Former University of Portland golfer Joel Johnson's consistent play and plentiful birdies led him atop the leaderboard when the dust settled Sunday after the final round of the 26th Oregon Mid-Amateur Championship.

 

Johnson sat five strokes off the lead after his first round two-over par 73, which included five birdies, three bogies and two double bogeys, but persistent play and limited mistakes during Sunday’s one-under par 70 left him atop the scoreboard at the conclusion of play, which included four birdies and just three bogies.

 

Johnson qualified and competed in the 2004 U.S Amateur before his Freshman year at the University of Portland.

 

Mark Bowler (Portland, Ore.) finished alone in third with a final score of 71-73 144

 

Charlie Rice (Bend, Ore.), who was just two strokes back after the first day of competition, just couldn’t quite complete the capture after a bogey-bogey finish left him one off of Johnson’s pace with a two-over par 144. Rice won last year’s Oregon Stroke Play Master’s 40 title on this same course.

 

First-round leader Jack Dukeminier (Portland, Ore.) slipped from the top spot to finish T4 at four-over par 146 (along with his brother Chris Dukeminier (Portland, Ore.), Jake Wagner (Portland, Ore.) and Jim Dunlap (Beaverton, Ore.)

 

In the Women’s Division, Brie Stone (Veneta, Ore.) added to her impressive string of victories at the Women’s Oregon Mid-Amateur Championship, capturing her fifth title in as many years. Not without excitement, Stone withstood a strong charge from Lani Marie Elston (Milwaukie, Ore.) who overtook the top spot during the today’s round, but just couldn’t recover from a triple-bogey seven on the par-four 14th hole.  

 

Stone stumbled down the stretch with bogies on three of the final five holes, but held on to win for the fifth straight year, with her Husband, Jason, on the bag for the first time during the string of wins today.

 

As it always does for OGA Championships especially in the later part of the summer, Emerald Valley provided the players with challenging, firm and fast conditions that required consistent precision ball striking and finesse around the greens and putting.

 

The two-round scoring average was 81.05 for the men and 85.21 for the women.

 

“The course this weekend lived up to its expectations,” said Oregon Golf Association Director of Tournament Operations Brent Whittaker. “The way this course was prepared and presented for a state championship is exemplified by the comments of the contestants and the results today – fair, yet challenging and requiring the best every player has on every shot.”

 

Positioned on 170 acres nestled by the gently flowing coast fork of the Willamette River, the golf course is one of the Willamette Valley’s premier championship public golf courses. It is known for its tree-lined fairways, fast-consistent greens and tournament quality course conditions year round. Ranked #1 of 71 Courses in Oregon from the back tees - Oregon Business, October 2005; “Golf Course of the Year 2004” - Oregon Golf Association, March 2005.

 

At Emerald Valley birdies can be plentiful on the front nine, but bogeys can be just as prevalent on the back nine especially for those that don't play smart. The course played to a yardage of 6,693 for the men and 5,648 for the women. 

 

The minimum qualification for entrants in the Oregon Mid-Amateur Championship is a handicap index of 10.0 or less for men and 22.4 or less for women who, as of August 23, 2014 are 25 years of age or older.

 

Complete, photos, recaps and player information can be found at www.oregonmidam.org

 

About The Oregon Golf Association (OGA) is a 501(c)(6) non-profit membership association. Founded in 1924, the OGA was originally established with the sole purpose of conducting the Oregon Amateur Championship. Since its founding 88 years ago, the OGA works tirelessly to promote, foster, and grow the game of golf providing a multitude of benefits and services to approximately 42,000 individual men, women, senior, and junior members at over 270 member golf clubs and 190 golf courses throughout Oregon and SW Washington.


 

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