Union-Bulletin

WALLA WALLA - Nicholas Chianello of Gresham, Ore., shot a course-record 7-under-par 65 here Tuesday at the Wine Valley Golf Club during the second round of the Pacific Northwest Golf Association's Men's Amateur Championships.

He held the record for about 10 minutes.

Because shortly after Chianello's score was posted, Carl Jonson of Bainbridge Island, Wash., put the finishing touches on a flawless 9-under-par 63 for a new course mark and a share of the top spot in the field of 167 after two rounds of medal play.

Jonson, who will be a sophomore on the University of Nevada Las Vegas men's golf team in the fall, made seven birdies and an eagle to improve by 10 strokes over his first-round 73. His 18-hole total of 136 was equaled by Tanner Higham of Shelley, Idaho, who carded a second-round 69 after shooting 5-under-par 67 in the first round.

Jonson and Higham met this morning in a sudden death playoff to decide the No. 1 seed going into today's match-play competition. The top 64 players qualified for match play.

Dylan Maine of Spokane finished alone in third place with a 139 total, three strokes off the pace. Maine shot 66 Tuesday after an opening-round 73.

Chianello, who captured the Oregon Amateur title last month, also improved by 10 strokes over his first-round 75 and found himself in a three-way tie for fourth place with Charlie Mroz of Woodinville, Wash., and Jonny Baxter of Pleasanton, Calif. Mroz shot back-to-back 2-under-par 70s while Baxter carded a 1-over 73 Tuesday after a 5-under 67 in the first round.

Kennewick's Gregg LaVoie came next at 141, three strokes under par after 36 holes, followed by a six-player logjam at 142.

Twenty-seven players broke par Tuesday and another 16 matched par. That compared favorably to a first round in which 18 players mastered par and 10 equaled it. Higham and Baxter were the first-round co-leaders at 67.

Prior to Tuesday's assault on Wine Valley's 7,360-yard championship course, the course record belonged to Chris Williams of Moscow, Idaho. Williams, who will be a senior and the No. 1 player on the University of Washington men's golf team this fall, shot a 6-under-par 66 here last fall, club head professional John Thorsnes said.

"I think it was a combination of both," Thorsnes said of course familiarity and improved weather conditions Tuesday that probably led to the low scores. "Conditions were ideal. There was no wind and it didn't get really hot until late in the day."

Two Walla Walla players survived the 36-hole cut, which came at 4-over-par 148.

Tyler Daniels followed up a first-round 70 with a second-round 74 and was one of six players in at even-par 144. And Ryan Baumgart matched par-72 in the second round after posting a 75 on Monday and was among 14 players at 3-over-par 147.

"Tyler played really well," Thorsnes said of Daniels' second-round score. "He had one spell where he went bogey-double bogey on back-to-back holes, but otherwise he played very steady.

"And Ryan had a solid round, one bogey and one birdie. Nothing exciting, but he didn't get himself in any trouble."

Baumgart's birdie came on the par-5 18th hole and enabled him to avoid being swallowed up in a gangsome playoff for the final slots in the match-play field.

Thirteen players finished at 148, and five of them were eliminated in a sudden-death playoff as darkness closed in on the links-style Wine Valley course.

"We finished up in the dark at about a quarter to nine," Thorsnes said. "Fortunately, we only had to go one hole, otherwise we would have been back out here early this morning."

Thorsnes was surprised, he said, at the 148 cutoff score.

"I really thought it would be around 150," he said. "It was a couple of strokes better than I thought it would be."

The first round of match-play competition began this morning at 7:30. The second round and the quarterfinals will be played Thursday, the semifinals Friday and the 36-hole championship match is slated for Saturday.

Baumgart was matched against Scott Malo of Calgary, B.C., at 8:50 this morning and Daniels met Scott Rubzin of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., at 10:34.

Malo shot rounds of 73 and 74 during medal play and like Baumgart was among the 14 players at 147. Rubzin was also 73-74-147.

Three other local players missed the cut.

Drew Reinland of College Place followed up his first-round 77 with an 8-over-par 80 on Tuesday to finish at 157. Mason Palmer of Walla Walla shot 79-82-161 and Kevin Michelson, also of Walla Walla, finished 82-82-164.

Thorsnes expects Daniels, who is the greens superintendent at Wine Valley, and Baumgart, who plays the course regularly, to make good showings during the match-play portion of the tournament.

"Course knowledge is really going to help both of them," Thorsnes said. "Ryan is capable of making a bunch of birdies today, and Tyler is really just a solid player. Both could do really well in match play."

Match play is a different kind of competition, Thorsnes stressed.

"A lot changes," he said. "Double-bogeys and triple-bogeys don't matter as much because you just move on to the next hole. It's a different mind set.

"There's less pressure, especially at the start of a match because one bad hole doesn't effect your score. But as you get toward the finish line, the pressure mounts."

PNGA Men's Amateur

At Wine Valley Golf Club

Tuesday's Results

Carl Jonson, Bainbridge Island, Wash. 73-63-136

Tanner Higham, Shelley, Idaho 67-69-136

Dylan Maine, Spokane 73-66-139

Nicholas Chianello, Gresham, Ore. 75-65-140

Charlie Mroz, Woodinville, Wash. 70-70-140

Jonny Baxter, Pleasanton, Calif. 67-73-140

Gregg LaVoie, Kennewick 71-70-141

Preston Valder, Yorba Linda, Calif. 73-69-142

Niall J. Platt, Santa Barbara, Calif. 72-70-142

David Finks, Kailua, Hawaii 72-70-142

Mason Casper, Mapleton, Utah 70-72-142

Ian Dahl, Longview, Wash. 69-73-142

Brian Jung, Corvallis, Ore. 69-73-142

Jake Wagner, Portland 72-70-143

Erin Grimberg, Portland 72-71-143

Samuel Kloenne, West Linn, Ore. 72-71-143

David Nuhn, Moscow, Idaho 69-74-143

Tyler Salsbury, Enumclaw, Wash. 73-71-144

Jeremy Wendelken, Sammamish, Wash. 73-71-144

Shawn Vanderwal, Kamloops, B.C. 73-71-144

Greg Gildea, Vashon, Wash. 71-73-144

Chris Tedesco, Gig Harbor, Wash. 71-73-144

Tyler Daniels, Walla Walla 70-74-144

Gaston De La Torre, Brush Prairie, Wash. 77-68-145

Kent Hagen, Covington, Wash. 76-69-145

John Pechan, Bothell, Wash. 75-70-145

Kento Ogami, Olympia, Wash. 74-71-145

Hunter Thompson, Richland 73-72-145

David Rose, West Vancouver, B.C. 73-72-145

Jesse Heinly, Bend, Ore. 72-73-145

Shotaro Ban, San Jose, Calif. 71-74-145

Hans Reimers, Albany, Ore. 71-74-145

Cole Lorenzo, Richland 71-74-145

DJ Schultz, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. 76-70-146

Kyle Hurt, Bainbridge Island, Wash. 75-71-146

Reilly McMahon, Santa Monica, Calif. 74-72-146

Jacob Webb, Issaquah, Wash. 74-72-146

Corey Gard, Villa Park, Calif. 74-72-146

Charlie Kern, Mercer Island, Wash. 71-75-146

Damian Telles, The Dalles, Ore. 68-78-146

Scott Malo, Calgary, Alberta 78-69-147

Andrew Whalen, Ephrata, Wash. 76-71-147

Rak Cho, Eugene, Ore. 75-72-147

Ryan Baumgart, Walla Walla 75-72-147

Brian Moon, Sammamish, Wash. 75-72-147

Jacob D. Gralitzer, Agoura Hills, Calif. 74-73-147

Brent Pollock, Eugene, Ore. 74-73-147

Scott Rubzin, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. 73-74-147

Sang Gyun Lee, Calgary, B.C. 73-74-147

Riley Fleming, Airdrie, Alberta 73-74-147

Sean Collopy, Lake Oswego, Ore. 73-74-147

Evan Dyar, Spokane 73-74-147

Conner Barr, Beaverton, Ore. 72-75-147

Jarred Bosso, Olympia, Wash. 70-77-147

Gordon Webb, Malta, Mont. 78-70-148

Ryan Books, Seattle 77-71-148

Zak Griffiths, Red Deer, Alberta 75-73-148

Dan Whitaker, Ellensburg, Wash. 75-73-148

Garrett Howard, Spokane 75-73-148

James Hall, Seattle 75-73-148

Blake Snyder, Seattle 75-73-148

Kevin Dehuff, Cota De Caza, Calif. 74-74-148

Riley Hayfield, Kennewick 74-74-148

Jeffrey Neeley, Mukilteo, Wash. 74-74-148

Taylor Schmidt, Boise, Idaho 74-74-148

Eric Peterson, Nampa, Idaho 72-76-148

Darren Kuhn, Pocatello, Iaho 72-76-148

Also

Jeff Marcum, Richland 74-75-149

Jared Paulsen, Kennewick 78-72-150

Nick Atkin, Kennewick 78-73-151

Drew McCullough, Richland 80-73-153

Sota Nozaka, Richland 78-76-154

James Rooney, Lewiston, Idaho 76-78-154

Scott Stevens, Pullman, Wash. 79-76-155

Taylor Mutch, La Grande, Ore. 82-75-157

Drew Reinland, College Place 77-80-157

Tanner Martin, Richland 77-81-158

Kurt Simmons, Hermiston 79-82-161

Mason Palmer, Walla Walla 79-82-161

Tim Hall, La Grande, Ore. 83-79-162

Kevin Michelson, Walla Walla 82-82-164

Samson Martinez, Pasco 80-84-164

Bryce Johnson, St. John, Wash. 94-94-188

Josh Harvey, Richland 83-DNF

Joel Evans, West Richland 88-DQ