Amateur Carl Jonson of Wing Point G&CC won the Northwest Open Invitational at Wine Valley GC yesterday in Walla Walla, Washington. Jonson battled Tim Feenstra of Broadmoor Golf Club all day and took the lead for good with a birdie on the par 3 16th hole. The Senior at UNLV made a scrambling par on 18 that included trips to fairway and greenside bunkers on the 565 yard par 5. Feenstra took home the first place professional check of $6,250. Two back was second round leader Colin Inglis.
Jonson’s victory was the first by an amateur since Derek Berg took the title at the Running Y Ranch in 2006.
Congratulations to PGA Professional Greg Morris of Iron Horse GC won his awesome hole-in-one during the final round on the 6th hole.
The history of the Northwest Open is as significant as the history of golf in the Pacific Northwest. The list of past champions reads like a who’s who in Pacific Northwest Golf. In fact, fifteen members of the Pacific Northwest Section’s Hall of Fame are Northwest Open Champions.
The early years were dominated by Seattle Golf Club’s Robert Johnstone (who won 8 of the first 10 events) and “Long Jim” Barnes. Barnes, the professional at Tacoma C&GC from 1911 – 1915, won the first two PGA Championships (1916, 1919) in addition to the 1921 U.S. Open and the 1925 British Open! Spokane’s Marvin “Bud” Ward captured six championships over a 22 year span, five as an amateur and his last as a professional. Bud was also a National Amateur champion and may have won a few more but for the lack of championships during WWII.
Wine Valley Golf Club, which opened in April of 2009, has been rated 5th on Golfweek’s Best New Courses. To produce Golfweek’s Best New Courses list, a nationwide team of more than 475 evaluators rated the layouts on the basis of 10 criteria, including routing, conditioning, variety and memorability of holes. The result is an average of scores, which then dictates a course’s overall ranking.
This stunning Dan Hixson design unfolds on a grand scale, playing over rolling hills in the shadow of the Blue Mountains. Wine Valley GC had broad fairways, dramatic bunkers, and bold, undulating putting surfaces.
To view past champions of the Northwest Open Invitational, CLICK HERE.
Final results can be found at https://pnwpga.com/results/results_nwo14.html