23rd Oregon Mid-Amateur Champions Crowned

O'NEAL COMES FROM BEHIND; STONE HOLDS ON TO WIN 23RD OREGON MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

Portland, Ore. (July 31, 2011) - In the final round of the Oregon Mid-Amateur at Oswego Lake Country Club in Lake Oswego, Ore., it came down to the final hole for both divisions in this 36-hole stroke play contest for Men and Women over the age of 25. In the end it would be Brie Stone of Veneta, Ore. repeating as the Women's Division champion, and Tim O'Neal of Vancouver, Wash. winning his first title.

The hot and dry temperature made the course play harder and faster, and afternoon winds created an additional element of difficulty and for most players it showed as scores seemed to be noticeably higher - especially for the first round leaders, although the overall scoring average was only a half-stroke higher than round one.

The Women's Division began the day with first round leader and defending champion Stone holding a commanding 8-stroke lead, but the day was hardly a walk in the park.

Unlike the first round where Stone had three birdies and three bogeys to go even par, she struggled all day beginning with a bogey and double bogey on the first two holes and proceeded to watch her opponents draw closer with three additional double bogeys enroute to a 12-par 72-84--156. "I was hitting the ball fairly well, but I just couldn't stop making 3-putts on these difficult greens," said Stone.

Closing in quickly was Rosie Cook of Bend, Ore. who improved her first round score by 8-strokes and had a chance to catch Stone on the final hole. With just 1-stroke separating the two, if Stone bogeyed another hole or if Cook could make birdie, a playoff would have been required to determine the champion. But with both players making par, Stone was able to to eak out a repeat title.

The Men's competition began the day with 14 players within 5-strokes of the leader, Chad Rusek of Portland, Ore., a former collegiate player from Holy Cross.

For the second consecutive year, Rusek made the final grouping. And for the second time, he saw he had noticeably higher scores in the second round. Last year he shot 78 in the final round to fall to a T10 finish, and this year he dropped to a T29 finish after shooting a surprising 70-87-157 including a quintuple bogey on he par-3 3rd hole.

With the door left wide open and a title ripe for the taking, several former Mid-Amateur champions had their eye on the prize including Scott Hval (2007) of Portland, Ore., Eric Fiskum (2002) of Salem, Ore., Denny Taylor (2006) of Gladstone, Ore. and Randy Mahar (2009) of Portland, Ore. Today, however, it would be a new champion that would be crowned as Tim O'Neal went 74-73--147 to win his first Oregon title.

Initially it appeared that Hval had the best shot at winning, starting the day in second place at 1-over par amd making the 27-hole turn at 2-over par with a 2-stroke lead over the rest of the field. Unfortunatley for Hval, that is when he lost control of his game. As he described it after his round, he was hitting shots nearly everywhere but fairways and greens yet still able to hold it to a very respectable 4-over par on his final nine to finish at 72-76--148. His scrambling effort fell just a little short.

Fiskum and Taylor were among a few players who were able to improve on their first round scores, but could not make up enough strokes to overtake Hval, as both shot 75-74--149 to finish just 2-stokes from the leader. And Mahar posted one of the best rounds of the day going 3-under par on his final 13-holes of the tournament, but still falling short by 4-strokes.

O'Neal, who has been one of the top amateur players in the region noted on his first win, "You want to win, but its harder to win than people think. You get nervous, and I'm no different. It not to hard to get up to the top. Its hard to get over the top. Maybe as I get older I'm getting better and more consistent and stay within myself better."

For both the Men and Women, next on the tournament agenda is the Men's and Women's Stroke Play Championships, both to be held over the next two weekends at Emerald Valley Golf Course in Creswell, Ore.

Interestingly, O'Neal will be able to celebrate his joining the winner's circle with his brother Todd, the General Manager and PGA Head Professional at Emerald Valley. Todd O'Neal recently won the Oregon Chapter PGA Title.