PAT O’DONNELL WINS MEN’S TITLE AT 31ST OREGON SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Molalla, Ore. - Pat O’Donnell (Happy Valley, Ore.) defeated three-time defending champion Scott Hval (Portland, Ore.) two-up to win the Men’s Championship at the 31st Oregon Senior Amateur, held at Arrowhead Golf Club in Molalla, Ore.
For O’Donnell, the victory marked his third Oregon Senior Amateur win (2008, 2010). Hval’s runner-up finish marked an end to an tremendous run, where he became the first player to win three-consecutive Oregon Senior Amateur titles (2011-13) since Chris Maletis (2000-2002).
The match began on a strong note for O’Donnell, who birdied three of the first four holes and found himself three-up through four. After Hval won the ninth hole, O’Donnell still went into the back nine two-up. However, Hval won the first three holes of the second nine, and was one-up going into the 13th hole.
O’Donnell knew he had to hang tough after suddenly finding himself down with only six holes to play.
“You get a little down,” said O’Donnell. “Because Scott [Hval] is a good player, there’s no doubt about that. He can play.”
“I just kind of hung in there. Still made some good shots, and the ship righted. It worked out in my favor.”
After halving holes 13-15, Hval still maintained a one-up lead going into the 16th hole. On the 430-yard par-4, O’Donnell made par while Hval just missed his five-foot par putt. Going into the 17th hole tied, O’Donnell hit his second shot on the green about 12-feet from the pin. Hval missed his long par putt, and O’Donnell made an easy four, leading one-up and heading to the 18th hole.
On the last hole, O’Donnell’s par sealed the win – his first Oregon Senior Amateur title since 2010.
In the Men’s First Flight Championship match, Tom Heckler (Lake Oswego, Ore.) defeated Chris Hall (Bend, Ore.) 6 & 5. Glen Clark (Medford, Ore.) beat David Milne (Beaverton, Ore.) 4 & 2 to win the Men’s Second Flight Championship, while in the Men’s Third Flight, Bill Andres (Tualatin, Ore.) defeated Anthony Bella (Aurora, Ore.) one-up to win the title.
On Thursday, Loree McKay (Hillsboro, Ore.) won the Women’s Championship after she defeated Anita Wicks (Roseburg, Ore.) after 19 holes.
