BANDON, ORE. (July 24,  2012) -  Gaston De La Torre of Brush Prairie, Wash. and  Lorens Chan   of Honolulu, Hawaii fired even-par rounds of 70 today on the Bandon Trails   layout at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort to share the lead after the first round of   the 46th Pacific Coast Amateur Championship at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.

Strong winds sent scores soaring throughout most of the day; the median score   for the field was 79 and 36 players shot 80 or better. As Jimmy Burnett of   Pocatello, Idaho noted ruefully, “You can’t hide a bad swing in the   wind.” Jordan Irwin, the 2008 champion, added, “You have to hit   perfect shots on this course; good shots aren’t good enough.”

“Brutal” was another word that showed up in many descriptions of   the four finishing holes, which played straight into the teeth of a 35 mph   wind. They did, indeed, prove to be (as one wit described it) “The Long,  Green Mile” for nearly everyone.

Chan and De La Torre both teed off in the fourth group but even they felt the   brunt of the wind on the back nine. “We were lucky to get Bandon Trails   in the morning,” said Chan. “The last four holes were brutal; they   played straight into the wind. On the last hole (426 yard, par 4), I hit the   best hybrid possible and barely got it there.”

De La Torre, 22, who recently graduated from New Mexico State University,  stumbled badly at the beginning of his round, posting five bogeys in his   first seven holes. However, he rallied strongly on the back nine, finishing   with four birdies over his final six holes to end up at even par.

The notable description was De La Torre, who won the 2012 Rice   Intercollegiate and the 2011 Oregon Public Links Championship. He completed   his strong finish by making what he later termed an “incredible   birdie” on the 185-year 17th hole. “I cut a 3 iron and held it   against the wind,” he explained. “It nearly went in the hole and   rolled off the back of the green, but I made the putt coming back.”

The 18-year-old Chan, winner of this year’s Hawaii State Amateur, posted   consecutive nines of even-par 35 today. He birdied the ninth, 10th and 11th   holes and made birdie 4 on the 16th hole but finished with bogies on the last   two holes to fall back into a share of the lead.

Chan and De La Torre are two shots in front of Matt Rawitzer of Bellingham,  Wash., who finished with a 72 A quartet of golfers, including David Fink of   Corvallis, Ore., is another shot back at 73.

Rawitzer and Fink combined to give the Pacific Northwest Golf Association a   five-shot lead at the midpoint of the Morse Cup Team Competition, which is   conducted concurrently with the first two rounds of the championship. With   the best two of three individual scores counting in each round for the team   total, the PNGA is at 145, 5 over par, and five shots in front of the Southern   California GA.

The weather forecast for tomorrow calls for winds similar to today.

Today’s round was played over Bandon Trails GC, which will also host the   third round on Thursday. Tomorrow’s second round and the final round Friday   will be contested over Bandon Dunes GC.

Live scoring of all four rounds will be at www.pacificcoastamateur.com.

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FIRST ROUND RESULTS

Bandon Trails Golf   Course; 6,832 yards, par 70

Lorens Chan, Honolulu, Hawaii, 35-35 - 70, Even
Gaston De La Torre, Brush Prairie, Wash., 38-32 - 70, Even

Matt Rawitzer, Bellingham, Wash., 35-37 - 72, +2

Alex Moore, Richland, Wash., 33-40 - 73, +3
Sam Saunders, Albuquerque, N.M., 34-39 - 73, +3
David Fink, Corvallis, Ore., 35-38 - 73, +3
Jarred Bossio, Olympia, Wash., 37-36 - 73, +3

Maxwell Marsico, Las Vegas, Nev., 37-37 - 74, +4
Ramsey Sahyoun, Reseda, Calif., 36-38 - 74, +4
Jake Knapp, Costa Mesa, Calif., 38-36 - 74, +4
Tyler Raber, El Macero, Calif., 36-38 - 74, +4

David Rose, West Vancouver, BC, Canada, 37-38 - 75, +5
David Schroeder II, Colorado Springs, Colo., 37-38 - 75, +5
Gregg LaVoie, Kennewick, Wash., 36-39 - 75, +5

Jeremy Sanders, Chatsworth, Calif., 34-42 - 76, +6
Brent Wilson, Victoria, BC, 38-38 - 76, +6
Dominick Francks, Olympia, Wash., 36-40 - 76, +6
Anton Arboleda, La Canada, Calif., 39-37 - 76, +6

Robbie Ziegler, Canby, Ore., 35-42 - 77, +7
Alberto Sanchez, Nogales, Ariz., 40-37 - 77, +7
Niall Platt, Santa Barbara, Calif., 39-38 - 77, +7
Sulman Raza, Eugene, Ore., 37-40 - 77, +7
Jordan Irwin, Calgary, AB, Canada, 38-39 - 77, +7
Zac Blair, Ogden, Utah, 40-37 - 77, +7
Sean Thomas, Arvada, Colo., 39-38 - 77, +7
Taeksoo Kim, Boise, Idaho, 40-37 - 77, +7
Shotaro Ban, San Jose, Calif., 37-40 - 77, +7
Matt Pinizzotto, Salinas, Calif., 36-41 - 77, +7

David Nelson, Reno, Nev., 37-41 - 78, +8
Andrew Whalen, Ephrata, Wash., 37-41 - 78, +8
Michael Anderson, Phoenix, Ariz., 38-40 - 78, +8
Benjamin Clementson, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 37-41 - 78, +8
Nick Sherwood, Albany, Ore., 37-41 - 78, +8
Brady Exber, Las Vegas, Nev., 35-43 - 78, +8

Matt Hansen, Los Osos, Calif., 40-39 - 79, +9
Clancy Waugh, North Palm Beach, Fla., 39-40 - 79, +9
Patrick Beyhan, Albuquerque, N.M., 41-38 - 79, +9
Greg Condon, Monte Vista, Colo., 36-43 - 79, +9
Ryan Mitchell, Incline Village, Nev., 41-38 - 79, +9
Gavin Parsons, Boise, Idaho, 40-39 - 79, +9
Jake Johnson, Cameron Park, Calif., 40-39 - 79, +9
Blake Snyder, Seattle, Wash., 41-38 - 79, +9
Donald Hiebing, Coos Bay, Ore., 36-43 - 79, +9

Nicholas Varelia, Kent, Wash., 38-42 - 80, +10
Carl Jonson, Bainbridge Island, Wash., 39-41 - 80, +10
Rak Cho, Eugene, Ore., 38-42 - 80, +10
Spencer Fletcher, Los Altos, Calif., 37-43 - 80, +10
Michael Harrington, Colorado Springs, Colo., 40-40 - 80, +10
John Hornbeck, Saratoga, Wyo., 39-41 - 80, +10
Eddie Stewart, Jackson, Wyo., 36-44 - 80, +10
Jonathan Sanders, Chatsworth, Calif., 44-36 - 80, +10
Nick Drost, Salt Lake City, Utah, 42-38 - 80, +10
David Lowe, Scottsdale, Ariz., 41-39 - 80, +10
Darryl Donovan, Morgan Hill, Calif., 37-43 - 80, +10

Ben Geyer, Arbuckle, Calif., 38-43 - 81, +11
Nick Chianello, Gresham, Ore., 41-40 - 81, +11
Jimmy Burnett, Pocatello, Idaho, 35-46 - 81, +11
Mac McClung, Fremont, Calif., 40-41 - 81, +11
James Mohlman, Las Vegas, Nev., 41-40 - 81, +11
Neil Thomas, Edmonton, AB, Canada, 41-40 - 81, +11
David Kim, Redondo Beach, Calif., 42-39 - 81, +11
Mason Casper, Lindon, Utah, 38-43 - 81, +11
Kevin Murphy, Rogue River, Ore., 46-35 - 81, +11

Daniel Pow, Calgary, Alberta, 37-45 - 82, +12
Ian Dahl, Longview, Wash., 40-42 - 82, +12
Derek Ernst, Clovis, Calif., 40-42 - 82, +12

Darren Kuhn, Pocatello, Idaho, 43-40 - 83, +13
Kamrin Allen, Sheridan, Wyo., 40-43 - 83, +13
Manav Shah, Bakersfield, Calif., 42-41 - 83, +13

Joe Sanders, Incline Village, Nev., 42-42 - 84, +14

Christian Jensen, St. George, Utah, 42-43 - 85, +15

Dan Whitaker, Ellensburg, Wash., 39-47 - 86, +16

Martin Salgado, Tempe, Ariz., 41-46 - 87, +17
Jesse Heinly, Bend, Ore., 44-43 - 87, +17
Lewis Chong, Lethbridge, AB, Canada, 44-43 - 87, +17
Preston Valder, Yorba Linda, Calif., 44-43 - 87, +17

Michael Wynn, Las Vegas, Nev., 43-47 - 90, +20

Jin Song, Scottsdale, Ariz., 45-47 - 92, +22

Charlie Hughes, Burnaby, BC, Canada, DQ
Zak Griffiths, Red Deer, AB, Canada, WD