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Top Ten 2008 Performances by Washingtonians
1. Cameron Peck – US Junior Amateur
The Timberline HS Senior became the hottest junior golfer in the country in July when he defeated Virginian, Evan Beck, 10&8 in the final of the US Junior Amateur at Shoal Creek in Alabama. It was the largest margin of victory since the event went to a 36-hole final four years ago, and Peck became the first Washingtonian to win the championship since Bill Tindall in 1960. Named the 2008 Rolex Junior National Player of the Year, Peck had already won three times on the American Junior Golf Association Tour prior to the US Junior Amateur, and finished the season second in the AJGA rankings behind Cory Whitsett. He was awarded first-team All-America honors by the AJGA, was the 2008 Washington junior player of the year and helped the U.S. defeat Great Britain and Ireland in the 2008 Junior Ryder Cup. In November, Peck signed a national letter of intent to play for Texas A&M.
2. Erynne Lee – US Women’s Amateur
15-year-old Lee became the surprise package at the US Women’s Amateur at Eugene CC, OR, in August after squeezing through the first three rounds of matchplay, and enjoying a fairly easy quarter-final victory over Chelsea Stelzmiller before eventually being knocked out in the Semis by eventual champion, Amanda Blumenhurst.
In May, the Ridgetop Junior High sophomore had won medalist honors at the US Women’s Open local qualifier at Bellingham Golf and Country Club, and two weeks later she made it through her sectional qualifier at Eastern Hills CC in Garland, TX. At the championship itself, she missed the cut after rounds of 77 and 76.
The 2008 Washington State Golf Association’s (WSGA) Women’s and Junior Girls Player of the Year, Lee also won the 2008 Kathy Whitworth Invitational, teamed with Chun-Ji Kim to win the 2008 I.R.I/Srixon Mixed Team Championship at Arizona National Golf Club in Tucson, won the Pacific Northwest Junior PGA Championship at Tumwater Valley by six strokes after rounds of 68 and 69, tied for second at the 2008 AJGA Rolex Girls and runner-up at the AJGA Traditions, won the 2008 Tacoma Junior Open by a stroke over sister Katie, and was named 2008 Kitsap County Sports Player of the Year.  Richard Lee
Helped by a course and tournament record 62, ten under par, 21-year-old Lee won the 82nd WSGA Men’s Amateur Championship, played at Moses Pointe in Moses Lake, by five shots from Derek Berg, Joel Dahmen and Jarin Todd. His 275 total was thirteen under par for the 7,276-yard course, hosting the WSGA Men’s Amateur for the second time. A week after this remarkable performance, Lee defended his Seattle Amateur crown with a six-under total of 207 for the 54 holes (West Seattle, Jefferson Park, Jackson Park). Now a Husky after transferring from Bellevue Community College, Lee began his Division 1 college career with four straight top-ten finishes.
4. Kyle Stanley – Southern Amateur
The 2008 WSGA Men’s Player of the Year, Stanley won the 102nd Southern Amateur Championship in Florida in July thus joining Bobby Jones, Lanny Wadkins, and Justin Leonard among those to have won the tournament twice. A junior at Clemson in North Carolina, Stanley finished tied for seventh at the NCAA Championship at Purdue in May (Clemson finished fifth) despite a closing 82, and qualified for the US Open after finishing eighth at a sectional qualifier in Ohio. Rounds of 72 and 78 at Torrey Pines saw him miss the cut by one, however. At the US Amateur in August, he finished fifth in the strokeplay section before going down by a single hole to Missouri’s Connor McHenry in the second round of matchplay. He reached the Round of 16 at the Western Amateur, and was a quarter-finalist at the North and South Amateur. Another solid season for the 21-year-old from Gig Harbor saw him end the year in third place on Golfweek’s World Amateur Rankings.
5. Kent Brown – WSGA Senior Amateur, PNGA Senior Public Links
60-year-old Brown from Colville had a stellar summer during which he won both the WSGA Senior Amateur Championship at Oakbrook GCC and the PNGA Senior Public Links Championship at Hangman Valley, his third win in a row in that event. He also tied for third at the Senior Oregon Open in July and was tied third again at the PNGA Mid-Amateur at Christina Lake in BC in September.
 Jeff Coston
Coston, Semiahmoo’s resident golf coach, won his third Rosauers Open at Indian Canyon in July with a 54-hole total of 199, 14 under par. A final round 67 saw the 52-year-old edge out Mill Creek’s Ryan Bensel by a shot. In September, Coston also picked up the Pacific Northwest Section Senior Championship at Tualatin in Portland and, a week later, he tied for third in his defense of the Northwest Open. Not surprisingly perhaps, Coston was named the Pacific Northwest Section PGA Senior Player of the Year.
7. Rob Clark - Northwest Open
The Wenatchee GCC professional won the Northwest Open at Meadow Springs CC in Richland in September after a two-hole play-off with Overlake GC’s Pat Howard. Both players carded double-bogeys at the first extra hole (18th), but Clark claimed the title at the next (10th) with a par. The former Asian Tour player had started the final round three back of Howard but closed with a superb 68 to force extra holes.
8. Chris Killmer – Husky Invitational
After a year in which he basically gave golf up in order to concentrate on his studies at the University of Washington, Killmer returned to the Husky team at the start of the 2008-2009 season and promptly won the first event; the Husky Invitational at Gold Mountain. His three-round total of 211, five under par, beat Johan Carlsson and Andrew Cooley, both of San Diego State, by three and five shots respectively and earned Killmer his first college victory.
9. Ryan Moore – EDS Byron Nelson Championship
After three runners-up finishes, a total of eight top-tens and nearly $3.5million in winnings from his first three seasons on the PGA Tour, Moore began 2008 eager for his first tour win. After starting the year well enough with a tie for fifth at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in January, Moore wouldn’t come close to breaking into the top ten again until the EDS Byron Nelson Championship in Dallas at the end of April. There, opening rounds of 67, 70 and 68 put him three behind leader Adam Scott going into the final round, and a 68 saw him and Scott finish four ahead of Bart Bryant in third. After pars at the first two extra holes, Moore and Scott made their third visit in an hour to the 18th where the Australian dropped a 48ft birdie putt to claim his sixth PGA Tour title. Moore managed just one more top-ten all season (a tie for 10th at the Memorial), but that runner-up spot in Dallas will hopefully
encourage the 26-year-old to great things in 2009.
 Derek Berg
For Derek Berg, 2008 was a year of close calls. In May, the 27-year-old amateur and former Husky lost out in a play-off at the Washington Open Invitational at Glendale GC after Langdon Farms professional Brian Nosler sank a birdie putt at the first extra hole. Then, at the state Amateur Championship a month later, he shot a nine-birdie 64 in the second round and eventually finished a runner-up again; this time five back of the impressive Richard Lee. The 2005 and 2006 Northwest Open champion also made it to the Round of 32 at the US Mid-Amateur Championship, and combined with PGA teacher Tom Sovay to win the PNW Pro-Am Championship at Chambers Bay.
Honorable Mentions
Corey Prugh – Champion Oregon Open Invitational, TaylorMade-Adidas Golf PNW Assistants
Bowdy Elher – Champion PNGA Public Links Championship
Tom Phillips – Champion PNGA Senior Amateur
Joel Dahmen – Runner-up WSGA Men’s Amateur, 5th at Rosauers with closing 64
TJ Bordeaux – Won Oregon Duck Classic in March and thus qualified for the British Amateur
Championship at Turnberry where he progressed to the matchplay section and won his first round match.
Kevin Tucker – Cougar junior won his first college event at the Desert Intercollegiate in California in October.
Stephanie Corey – Champion WSGA Women’s Amateur
Ann Swanson – Champion WSGA Senior Women’s Amateur
Anne Carr – Progressed to Round of 16 at US Senior Women’s Amateur Championship
William Holdridge – Champion PNGA Junior Boy’s Amateur
Rui Li – Champion PNGA Junior Girl’s Amateur |
