MATCH PLAY BEGINS AT 79TH OREGON JUNIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

LAKE OSWEGO, ORE (Tuesday, June 30, 2009) - The traditional match play format of the Oregon Junior Amateur began for most of the 210 players in the field today, with stroke play qualifying beginning for Pee Wee (8-11) and Intermediate Girls (12-14) Divisions.  Unlike stroke play where the number of strokes taken determines your score against the field, in match play you only have one opponent and your result is based on winning more holes than your opponent regardless of the total strokes taken in the round.  Players can have the occasional bad hole and not be out of the competition Tye Gabriel of Portland, Ore., the medalist in the Junior (16-17) division, continued his trek toward the finals with a 2 & 1 win over Harry Chang of Portland, Ore.  In the lower half of the 32-player bracket, defending champion, Bobby Monaco of Eugene, Ore. also advanced with a 3 & 2 win over Adam Bean of Portland, Ore. In the Girls Division, medalist and defending champion Sesia-Lei Telles of Tualating, Ore. easily won her match 7 & 6 over Sarah Salvatori of Salem, Ore. as did the current 6A OSAA High School champion Sharon Shin of West Linn, Ore.  In the bottom half of the 16-player championship bracket, Morgan Thompson of Tualatin, Ore. will have the opportunity to take on Oregon Women's Amateur champion Amy Beth Simanton of Lake Oswego, Ore. In the Boys Division (14-15), medalist Sulman Raza  of Eugene, Ore. advanced with a 3 & 1 win over Nate Krause of Eugene, Ore. while good friend and longtime foe Zach Foushee of Tigard, Ore. easily won his match in the lower half of the bracket with a 6 & 4 drubbing of Conner Kumpula of Albany, Ore. Finally, in the Intermediate Boys Division (12-14), Hayden Coppedge of West Linn, Ore. earned was the only medalist to go down losing his match 3 & 2 to Alex Wrenn of Lake Oswego, Ore.   Dylan Wu, the number two seed in the division was taken to extra holes before he edged Trent Glasgow of Portland, Ore. on the 19th Hole.  Wu was last year's Pee Wee Boys Champion. Any player that lost their match today still has an opportunity to win a Junior Amateur title, as they advance to a consolation flight. On the last day of the competition, nearly one-third of the field will play in finals matches with championship or runners-up trophies awarded to all that make it to Friday's close of the competition. "The purpose of Oregon Junior Golf is to provide the players with competitive opportunities to prepare for national and collegiate play," said Charlotte Plank, Director of Junior Golf.  Several past Oregon Junior Amateur champions have gone on to play professionally including Robert Garrigus (1995) and Jason Allred (1996).  Rebecca Kim, the 2005 Girls Champion recently turned professional and will tee it up next week in the U.S. Women's Open. Lastly, in the remaining stroke play qualifiers, Matthew Tennant of Portland, Ore. won medalist honors  in a playoff  over Spencer Tibbits of Vancouver, Wash. after both shot a 3-over par 39 for nine holes in the Pee Wee (8-11) Boys division.  Ellie Slama of Salem, Ore. took top honors among Pee Wee Girls. For the Intermediate Girls, Monica Vaughn of Reedsport, Ore. won a playoff on the 2nd hole over Gigi Stoll of Portland, Ore. to take medalist honors and the top seed going into tomorrow's match play portion of the tournament. Established in 1927 by the Oregon Golf Association, the Oregon Junior Amateur Championship is one of the oldest and most prestigious event amateur sporting competitions in the state. . The Oregon Junior Amateur is held only at the finest golf courses and historically showcases some of the most talented junior golfers in the Northwest.   The public is welcome to attend and watch the finest junior golfers in the region.