The 2023 Golfweek Pacific Northwest Senior Amateur had everything you could ask for as a golf fan. A winner chasing records; a sweaty, down-to-the-wire finish; and four new champions were crowned this week at Wine Valley Golf in Walla Walla, Washington.
Seniors (55-64)
Bradley Karns began Wednesday’s final round three shots back of the leader, Jon Lindstrom.
With over 275 rounds recorded, a 2016 Washington State Senior Amateur win and a runner-up finish in last year’s event all at Wine Valley, Karns felt confident in his abilities to get the job done.
“When you get to this age and you’re kind of in the mix a little bit, playing in tournaments,” Karns told Golfweek. “You just kind of [put your] head down and continue to grind.”
Lindstrom struggled towards the back half of the front nine, carding a front nine 38 and dropping two strokes to Karns as they made the turn. With a birdie on the par 3 11th, Karns moved his way into a tie for the lead, setting up a shootout over the final seven holes.
Lindstrom regained the lead with a birdie on No. 13 only to relinquish the lead on No. 16 with a bogey.
Karns would get his first solo lead of the tournament on No. 17 thanks to another bogey from Lindstrom. Using his local knowledge, the three-time U.S. Senior Am qualifier made easy work of the par 5 18th, taking his first Golfweek Senior Amateur win by one stroke over Lindstrom.
“I’ve played enough and competed against high-level players, that I feel very comfortable when I go tee it up,” he said. “So, I just try to put my head down and keep grinding away… There’s some really good players around the Pacific Northwest and I’m just trying to fit in is all I’m trying to do.”
For Lindstrom, his runner-up finish will move him inside the top 5 of the Golfweek Senior Amateur rankings. Previously 6th in the rankings coming into the week, Lindstrom benefits two-fold as the top 5 players were not in the field.
Super Seniors (65-69)
With a 16-stroke lead heading into the final round, the only question remaining for Scott Masingill was not if he was going to win, but by how many.
“Yesterday, we talked about confidence,” Masingill told Golfweek. “You know, you can be too confident and think ‘I don’t really have to concentrate.”
No matter how experienced you are or how well you may be playing, golf has a funny way of humbling you.
Masingill had a tap in left for par on the par-4 9th. Sweeping it into the hole, it lipped out and resulted in a bogey for the 1971 Pac-8 conference champion (1971, Oregon State). Closing the championship with a 3-over 75, Masingill had wise words that everyone can benefit from:
“There’s the right amount of confidence and there’s the right amount of intensity. You can’t try too hard and you can’t assume that you’re such a good player that you can just go out and play and everything will work out, because it won’t.”
Despite the uncharacteristic day, Masingill closes the week at Wine Valley with the best score to par across the entire field at 7 under 209 and a 17-stroke win in the Super Senior division. Not too shabby for the 72-year-old Idaho legend.
Dan Parkinson (10 over) and Frank Maxwell (12 over) rounded out the podium spots.
Legends (70-74)
Michael Jonson retained his 36-hole lead, taking the Legend division crown with a 10 over 226. Greg Tatham (12 over) takes runner-up honors.
Super Legends (75+)
Oklahoma’s Craig Collins (10 over) takes the 75-and-up division crown. Three straight sub-80 rounds of golf gave him a one-shot victory over No. 2 ranked Bill Engel. Tightly contested, the top six finishers in the Super Legends bracket were separated by just six shots.
The Golfweek Senior Amateur Series tees off yet again next week, this time just outside of Atlanta, Georgia for the Golfweek International Senior Invitational at Cartersville Country Club in Cartersville, Georgia.
Coverage for the event will begin on Tuesday, October 3.