BANDON, ORE. (July 13,  2012) - Headed by a number of state, provincial and regional golf association champions   from throughout the western United States and Canada, a field of 84 of the   world’s top amateurs will tee it up in the 46th Pacific Coast Amateur   Championship, July 24-27 at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore.

Representing the Utah Golf Association   at the tournament will be Zac Blair, Nick Drost, and Christian Jensen. Casper   Mason was also granted a presidential invite for his recent strong   performances.

The 72-hole stroke-play event will be contested over the Bandon Dunes and   Bandon Trails courses at the famed resort on Oregon’s Pacific coast. The   four-day event is played without a cut. Spectators are welcome to attend with   no admission charge. Live scoring will be at www.pacificcoastamateur.com.

This marks the second time that Bandon Dunes has hosted the prestigious   event. In 2005, Alex Prugh of Spokane, Wash. came from behind on the last   round to post a two-shot victory over Clay Odgen of Utah, joining his   brother, Corey, the 2001 champion, as the first brothers to win the title   (Michael and Andrew Putnam later duplicated that feat).

Among the contestants in this year’s field is Jordan Irwin of Calgary,  Alberta, who won the 2008 title at Royal Colwood GC in Victoria, BC. Irwin is   bidding to become just the third person to win more than one Pac Coast title   and the first since Billy Mayfair in 1987-88 (Mike Davis also won   back-to-back titles, in 1969-70).

Other players in the field include Greg Condon of Monte Vista, Colo, the 2011   Sun Country GA Match Play Champion; Nick Chianello of Gresham, Ore., 2011   Oregon Stroke Play and 2012 Oregon Amateur champion; Martin Trainer of Palo   Alto, Calif., 2010 Pac-10 champion; David Rose of West Vancouver, BC, 2011 BC   Amateur Champion; and Loren Chan of Honolulu, the Hawaii State Amateur   champion.

Also in the field are Nick Sherwood of Albany, Ore. and Alberto Sanchez of   Nogalez, Ariz., each of whom played in this year’s U.S. Open, and Tyler Raber   of El Macero, Calif., who recently made it to the Round of 16 at the British   Amateur at Royal Troon, Scotland. Ten players who made the 64-man match play   field at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship are also in the Pacific   Coast Field.

A complete list of players can be found at www.pacificcoastamateur.com.

Of the 84 players, 48 will come from the 16 golf associations that make up   the Pacific Coast Golf Association, which administers the championship.   The association teams compete in the annual Morse Cup Competition held   concurrently with the first two stroke-play rounds. The best two of three   scores each day count for the team score. Northern California GA is the   defending champion.

The first and third rounds of the championship will be contested on the   Bandon Trails Golf Course, the third layout at Bandon Dunes Golf   Resort.  Designed by Bill Coore and former Masters champion Ben   Crenshaw, Bandon Trails is the only course in the complex not situated on the   ocean. It begins atop a massive sand dune and then works back into the   coastal forest before returning to the sand dune where it began. Play for   both rounds will begin at 8am off of the first tee.

The second and fourth rounds will be played over the Bandon Dunes GC layout,  the original course in the complex, which was designed by Scotsman David   McLay Kidd and opened in 1999. Perched on a bluff above the Pacific, the   course has panoramic ocean views from nearly every hole and prevailing winds   are almost always in play.

The second round will begin on July 25 at 8am off of the first tee. In the   final round on July 27, golfers will tee off from the 1st and 10th tees   beginning at 7am. An awards lunch will be held following the completion of   play.

ABOUT THE PACIFIC COAST AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Although its present history dates only from 1967, the Pacific Coast Amateur   Championship’s roots make it one of the oldest amateur golf championships in   American history.
 
The first tournament was held on the links of San Francisco Golf Club at The   Presidio, April 24-27, 1901. Championships were held annually through 1911,  all being conducted in California except for the 1909 championship, which was   held at Seattle Golf Club in Washington.  

The Pacific Coast Amateur then ceased to exist, only to be reconstituted at   Seattle Golf Club on August 10-12, 1967 with the Pacific Northwest, Northern   California, Southern California, Oregon and Arizona golf associations   participating. Today, 16 member Pacific Rim golf associations comprise the   Pacific Coast Golf Association. For more information visit www.pacificcoastamateur.com
 
ABOUT BANDON DUNES GOLF RESORT
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort was created by Mike Keiser on the western coast of   Oregon, a locale that is as close to the wilds of Scotland - where the game   of golf was invented - as exists in North America.  The resort’s   marketing theme, “Golf as it was Meant to Be,” is more than a   slogan. All four regulation 18-hole layouts are walking courses and guests   are encouraged to make use of one of hundreds of caddies at the club, all of   which is a reflection of the game’s origins. Bandon Dunes Golf Resort also   has several levels of accommodations.

The first course, Bandon Dunes GC, opened in 1999 and was designed by David   McLay Kidd. Pacific Dunes, designed by Tom Doak, opened in 2001. Bandon   Trails, designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, opened in 2005, and Old   Macdonald, a course designed by Tom Doak and Jim Urbina and inspired by   legendary 19th and early 20th century architect C.B. Macdonald, made its   debut in 2010.  In addition to these courses, it recently opened a fifth —a 12-hole par three course designed by Crenshaw and Coore known as the   Bandon Preserve.

All four courses are rated highly by various ranking lists. Golfweek’s 2012   Best Modern Courses places Pacific Dunes second, Old Macdonald third, Bandon   Dunes GC seventh and Bandon Trails 26th. Golf Digest ranked the Bandon Dunes   as the No. 1 resort in the country (ahead of Pebble Beach Resort) and in its   America’s Best 100 Courses (which includes both modern and older layouts),  Pacific Dunes is rated No. 15, Bandon Dunes No. 28 and Bandon Trails No. 63   (Old Macdonald had not been open long enough to be listed in these ratings).