RJ Manke, a recent graduate of Pepperdine, captured the 100th Washington Men’s Amateur Championship by a whopping seven strokes on the Olympic Course at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash.
Manke, who also won the tournament in 2018, became the event’s first multiplechampion in 52 years, since Don Scott won back-to-back titles in 1968-69.
“My goal before we started (the final round) was to get to 15-under,” said Manke, who helped Pepperdine win the NCAA Championship last month. “On 18 I had a choice to go for (the green) or lay up, and I needed a birdie to reach my goal, so luckily I worked it out.
“Having that final group experience is pretty big. To go down the stretch with Brian Mogg and Michael Almonte back in 2018 just gave me more experience to go out there today. … To be back in my home state, for this to be my second title and have it be the 100th at that, to have my name on the trophy two times with some of the greatest players in Washington feels pretty awesome.”
Manke, who won the 2019 West Coast Conference championship and has transferred to Washington to play next season as a redshirt senior, posted a score of 66-67-68—201, 15-under-par by making a birdie on the 18th hole for the third straight day.
Jordan Lee of Tacoma was second at 71-74-63—208, followed by John Sand of Hoquiam, Wash., at 66-73-71—210, and Chuan-Tai Lin of Taiwan at 72-65-75—212, while Jack Plaster of Spokane shot 74-71-70—215 to tie for fifth with Connor Golembeski of Redmond, Wash, who finished at 74-71-70—215.
Jordan Brajcich of Snohomish, Wash., totaled 73-75-68—216 to tie for seventh with Noah Woolsey of Pleasanton, Calif., who wound up at 74-72-70—216, and Colby Watkins of Spokane, who came in at 73-69-74—216, while defending champion Sean Kato of Redmond, Wash., was 10th at 72-72-73—217.
Past champions of the Washington Men’s Amateur include Fred Couples, Kermit Zarley, Bob Boldt, Joel Dahmen, Joe Highsmith, Alex Prugh, Ryan Lavoie, Eric Lohman, Tom Storey, Dick Williams, Bud Ward, Brock Mackenzie, Tim Cruikshank and Bon Stein.
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