WOODBURN, ORE. ­­– Twelve OGA competitors are set to compete for Team Oregon at the 12th PNGA Cup, held May 3-5 at TimberStone Golf Course in Caldwell, Idaho.

The squad representing the OGA will be attempting to repeat as PNGA Cup champions, after winning the competition in 2016 at Richmond Country Club in Richmond, B.C. The OGA has won six PNGA Cup titles, three more than the association with the next most (British Columbia Golf – three).

The PNGA Cup was created in 2006 by past PNGA President Dr. Jack Lamey as a way of continuing the friendship and partnership of the region’s allied associations under the PNGA umbrella – British Columbia Golf, Idaho Golf Association, Oregon Golf Association and Washington State Golf Association.

Each association has selected a 12-person team consisting of eight men and four women. The representation includes four mid-amateur men of 25 years of age or older, two men of 40 years or older, two senior men of 55 years or older, two mid-amateur women of 25 years or older and two senior women of 50 years or older.

The annual Ryder Cup-style competition includes four-ball and foursome matches the first day and singles matches on the second and final day. With three matches for each player, the championship allows each competitor to compete against players from each of the other associations. Using both men’s and women’s scores used to determine the team result, it is the only known event of its kind in the U.S.

Oregon’s PNGA Cup Team:
Men – Mid-Amateur: Jack Dukeminier (Portland, Ore.); Jim Dunlap (Tigard, Ore.); Justin Kadin (Corvallis, Ore.); Robbie Ziegler (Canby, Ore.)
Women – Mid-Amateur: Amanda Jacobs (Portland, Ore.); Brie Stone (Veneta, Ore.)
Men – Master-40: Jay Poletiek (Happy Valley, Ore.); Jeff Ward (Bend, Ore.)
Women – Senior: Leilani Norman (Eugene, Ore.); Anita Wicks (Roseburg, Ore.)
Men – Senior: Charley Griswold (Bend, Ore.); Pat O’Donnell (Clackamas, Ore.)

Men – Mid-Amateur: Jack Dukeminier is coming off a strong 2016 season. In the first event of last year, he won the OGA Tournament of Champions in a playoff. The former Oregon Amateur champion also medaled in 2016 U.S. Amateur sectional qualifying at Emerald Valley Golf and Resort in Creswell, Ore. Dukeminier finished sixth in this year’s OGA Tournament of Champions. Jim Dunlap is also coming off a strong 2016 season, where he won the Master-40 title at the Oregon Men’s Stroke Play Championship, and earned top-six finishes at both the 2016 OGA Tournament of Champions (T5) and the Oregon Mid-Amateur Championship (6th).

Justin Kadin was the overall Men’s Performance Points leader in 2016 after a number of impressive events. He and his playing partner earned medalist honors at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Qualifier, while Kadin also earned a T2 finish at U.S. Open local qualifying. He was tied for third in 2016 Oregon Amateur stroke play qualifying, and finished fifth at the 2016 Oregon Mid-Amateur. His season also included a T2 at the Oregon Open. Robbie Ziegler, the fourth representative of the Men’s Mid-Am side for Team OGA, qualified for the 2016 U.S. Amateur Championship after earning medalist honors at local qualifying, and finished fourth at the Oregon Mid-Amateur Championship.

Women – Mid-Amateur: Amanda Jacobs will be making her Team OGA debut at this year’s PNGA Cup. Her 2016 was filled with excellent results, including a win at the 2016 PNGA Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship and the Inaugural Oregon Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship. Nationally, Jacobs advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, and she finished fifth at the Oregon Women’s Mid-Amateur. Brie Stone, a mainstay on Team OGA, won her sixth Oregon Women’s Mid-Amateur title last year. She also finished runner-up at the 2016 OGA Tournament of Champions, and earned a T6 finish at the Oregon Women’s Stroke Play Championship.

Men – Master-40: In 2016, Jay Poletiek advanced to the finals of the Inaugural Oregon Amateur Four-Ball with his playing partner, Jim Dunlap (also representing Team OGA at the PNGA Cup). Poletiek finished T7 at the 2016 OGA Men’s Team Championship, individually. Jeff Ward had a successful year in 2016, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Oregon Amateur, as well as finishing T7 at the PNGA Mid-Amateur Championship.

Women – Senior: This will be the fourth consecutive year that Leilani Norman and Anita Wicks represent Team OGA in the PNGA Cup. Wicks won her first Oregon Senior Women’s Amateur title in 2016, finishing fourth in the Oregon Senior Women’s Stroke Play Championship. Norman won the Oregon Senior Women’s Stroke Play, and earned runner-up honors to Wicks at the Oregon Senior Women’s Amateur.

Men – Senior: Pat O’Donnell, the 2016 OGA Golfer of the Year, had an outstanding season in 2016. He won both the Oregon Senior Men’s Amateur and Oregon Senior Men’s Stroke Play Championships, and finished runner-up individually at the Oregon Men’s Team Championship. He advanced to match play at the 2016 U.S. Senior Amateur, earned third place at last year’s OGA Tournament of Champions and was a fourth place finisher at the Oregon Senior Open Invitational. Griswold’s 2016 was highlighted by a semifinal appearance in the Oregon Senior Men’s Amateur, and a third place finish at the Oregon Senior Men’s Stroke Play Championship.

Opened in 2011, TimberStone Golf Course has already been the site of numerous statewide championships, and in 2017 will host, besides the PNGA Cup, the IGA Match Play State Championship and IGA Mid-Amateur State Championship.