WA Golf Men’s Amateur Championship tees off in Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — The 2024 WA Golf Men’s Amateur Championship teed off at The Links at Moses Pointe Tuesday morning, bringing in amateur golfers from across the state, as well as some from Idaho, Oregon and Canada.

“These are the top amateurs in the state of Washington, and some come from Oregon and Idaho,” said Chris Voigt, event media for the tournament. “It’s the top golfers in the Pacific Northwest, and this is an opportunity for them to go pro.”

Local golfers at the tournament include Jacob Eby and Tim Cameron from Moses Lake; Jacob Rawley and Kenji Pickeral from Ephrata; and Paul Mitzel, Gabe Porter and Anthony Guerrero from Quincy.

“You’re going to watch future PGA players in action,” Voigt said. “A lot of these guys come from Division I golf or currently playing Division I golf in college, and this is an opportunity for them to move up the rankings quite a bit.”

This is the first time in more than 15 years that the WA Golf Men’s Amateur Championship has been in Moses Lake, previously also being held at Moses Pointe in 2008 and 2005. The tournament was also held at the Moses Lake Golf Club in 1992, 1987, 1982, 1977 and 1967.

“This is one of the best courses in Central Washington, Eastern Washington in general, to hold a big event like this,” Voigt said. “It’s pretty long, and they keep it up in really great shape here. The greens are rolling really well – we’ve had a lot of compliments from players about how good the greens are. The course was in great shape, and I think that’s what drew Washington Golf back.”

Aside from those on the exempt list, golfers qualify for the tournament by competing at one of five Men’s Amateur Qualifier tournaments earlier this month; 24 golfers qualified at the first tournament, hosted at Lake Spanaway Golf Course on June 10; 14 qualified at the second tournament, hosted June 11 at Latah Creek Golf Course; 24 qualified at the third tournament June 12 at The Home Course; and 16 qualified at both the fourth and fifth qualifiers hosted at Canyon Lakes Golf Course and North Bellingham Golf Course on June 13 and 14, respectively. 

“If you missed the cut on one qualifier, you could go to the next qualifier and play,” Voigt said. 

Those on the exempt list include previous eligible champions, those in the top 15 at last year’s amateur championship, the top three from the Washington Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship, the winner of the 2023 Men’s Champion of Champions, the winner of the 2023 Washington Senior Men’s Amateur Championship, the top 10 members of the performance points list, and the Washington Boys Player of the Year, Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year, Men’s Player of the Year and Senior Men’s Player of the Year from 2023.

Round two of the tournament begins Wednesday morning at 7 a.m., where the field of 120 will play 36 holes to determine who will make the top 60 cut for Thursday’s final round. The tournament is open to the public to come and watch, Voigt said. 

“There will be, probably, two or three guys on the Korn Ferry Tour that are playing here, and maybe one that goes to the PGA Tour,” Voigt said. 

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

    The three-day WA Golf Men’s Amateur Championship began on Tuesday at The Links at Moses Pointe and wraps up on Thursday, where the 120-player field will be cut down to 60 for the final round.