Amanda Jacobs left Oregon ten years ago, in 2006. She had just completed a successful career in Oregon Junior Golf and with the girls’ golf team at Central Catholic High School and was headed to the University of Idaho on a golf scholarship. Would being out of her home state mess with her juju? No way.

Conference (WAC) Championship Team in 2007, claimed individual First Team All-WAC Honors in 2010, and twice made appearances at the regional level of the NCAA Championship. After graduating from college and living in Japan for two years teaching English, Jacobs moved to Seattle to work on her MBA at Seattle University.

She jumped back on the competitive golf tilt and earned a PNGA Women’s Mid-Amateur title in 2014, won the WSGA Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship in 2015, and advanced to the Round of 32 at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship in 2014 and 2015. After making waves in the state of Washington, she returned last year to her hometown, Portland, Ore. So, establishing herself as one of the most dominant players in the Pacific Northwest, how would Amanda Jacobs transition back to being in her home state? Quite well, it seems.

Jacobs re-started her career as an OGA competitor at the OGA Women’s Mid-Amateur at Pumpkin Ridge – Ghost Creek (North Plains, Ore.). She finished tied for fifth at the tournament, which ran from July 9-10, but it was just a warm-up for her. Two weeks later she made her first statement of 2016 at the PNGA Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Washington. As the defending champion, Jacobs played well in qualifying, earning the number two seed in the tournament.

She breezed through her Round of 16, Quarterfinal, and Semifinal matches, needing no more than 15 holes in each to dispatch her opponents. In the Championship match, Jacobs took on fourth-seeded Shawn Farmer of Renton, Washington. Jacobs won the first two holes of the match and then held off Farmer’s rally en route to a 3&2 victory. She had successfully defended her PNGA Women’s Mid-Amateur title and earned her first regional win back as an OGA player. Suddenly, her momentum had begun to grow.

Jacobs began her August campaign by qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship. She claimed co-medalist honors at the August 18th qualifier after firing a six-over par 78 on the wind-swept fairways of Astoria Golf & Country Club. However, before heading to the national event in September, Jacobs had more work to do in Oregon.

Jacobs teamed up with Gretchen Johnson, also of Portland, Ore., and the pair headed to Eagle Crest Resort’s Ridge Course (Redmond, Ore.) with their eyes fixed on winning the Inaugural Oregon Amateur Four-Ball Championship that ran August 27-30. The two mid-ams put together a nice four-under par 68 in stroke play qualifying, a decent start that was only overshadowed when they lost in a playoff for medalist honors to Ginny Burkey (Eugene, Ore.) and Lisa Smego (Olympia, Wash.).

Still awarded a first round bye, Jacobs and Johnson used their day off to regroup and prepare for their semifinal match. The respite paid dividends as they rode their consistent partner play to a 4&3 match play win. In the championship match, Jacobs and Johnson met some familiar foes in Burkey and Smego. The match stayed close the entire way, with Jacobs and Johnson’s 1-up lead being constantly pulled back to all-square by Burkey and Smego’s relentless play. However, back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th hole followed by a solid par on the 17th sealed a 2&1 victory for Jacobs and Johnson, and etched their names at the top of the plate on the perpetual trophy.

Now seemingly on cruise control and looking to put the cherry on top of an already successful season, Jacobs headed to the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, held September 10-15 at The Kahkwa Club in Erie, Penn. This was her third straight trip to the national event, with her previous two attempts in 2014 and 2015 ending in losses in the round of 32.

With her focus set on improving on her past results, Jacobs came out strong in stroke play qualifying.  Her back-to-back rounds of 76 earned her the twelfth seed heading into the match play portion.  Jacobs was dominant in the round of 64, winning her match, 5&4. Looking to break the round of 32 curse from her previous times at the event, Jacobs and tallied an impressive 3&2 victory to advance further than she ever had before in the championship.

With 16 players remaining, the cream was rising to the top. Jacobs took an early two-up lead, and then was forced to battle all 18-holes as her competitor refused to go away. She halved the final hole to secure a one-up victory and advance to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals pitted her against 13th-seeded Olivia Herrick (Roseville, Minn.). Having never trailed in a match to this point, Jacobs struggled and fell five-down to Herrick after 10 holes. Not willing to go down without a fight, Jacobs won three of the next six holes to narrow Herrick’s lead to two-up with two to play. However, a double bogey on the 17th hole derailed Jacobs’ comeback attempt and gave Herrick a 3&1 victory.

Jacobs’ U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship dreams were dashed, but she was happy with her run. “I thought that to make it to the final eight was a great accomplishment and [it’s] exactly where I want my golf game to go,” she chimed. “My only note would be to add how great of players the Pacific Northwest has. We’ve consistently performed well at the U.S. Mid-Am and I think it shows a lot to the type of people we have playing in state and regional events. So a big thank you to the OGA and PNGA for hosting such great events.”

As the summer came to a close, Jacobs was awarded the PNGA Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year Award after compiling one of the most successful women’s mid-amateur seasons in recent Oregon history. Jacobs made quite a splash in her first season back as an OGA competitor, but the real question is: How far can Amanda Jacobs go?

The sky is the limit, climbing Jacobs Ladder.