Strickland wins Master-40 event

Jeff Strickland of Mill Creek, Wash. won the 44th Pacific Northwest Master-40 Amateur Championship, beating Brad Karns of Vancouver, Wash. 3&1 in the final match. The championship was held at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Wash., and conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA).

Under cloudy, cool, and breezy conditions, with the rainfall the night before softening the course, Strickland, the No. 13 seed, birdied the par-4 first hole, and never trailed in the scheduled 18-hole match. He ended up with four birdies on the day, despite not hitting a fairway between the seventh and 15th holes.

After both players bogeyed the short par-3 14th, Strickland put his foot on the gas on the uphill par-5 15th, hitting his second into the front greenside bunker and blasting out to 12 feet and sinking the putt for a birdie and taking the hole to put him 2-up with three holes to play. Strickland closed out the match on the par-4 17th, sinking a downhill eight-foot birdie putt.