Medalist Ziyi Wang is a sophomore at Stanford
(PNGA Photo)

Both players have earned the No. 1 seed heading into their respective match-play brackets. For the Women’s Amateur, 32 players advance to match play, while 16 players in the Women’s Mid-Amateur advance.

The format will now be single-elimination match play, with each match conducted over 18 holes, with the exception of the Women’s Amateur final match, which will be contested over 36 holes on Friday, July 21.

Both championships are being held concurrently this week on the par-71 Fairwood Golf and Country Club in Renton, Wash. and conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA).

Wang’s first round of 2-under 69 was the only under-par round in the field. Born in Beijing, China, Wang became the youngest winner (and amateur) on the China LPGA Tour when she won the 2014 Xiamen Challenge at age 16. She also won the 2014 Callaway World Junior Championship.

“This is my first time to the Northwest,” Wang said. “My coach told me this was a good event to play in. It’s a good golf course. I made some mistakes on today’s back nine, but that happens.”

Other players in the exceptionally strong field in this year’s Women’s Amateur to make it to match play are Julianne Alvarez and Karen Miyamoto, both of Seattle, and Gigi Stoll of Tigard, Ore. Last week all three players qualified for the 2017 U.S. Women’s Amateur, with Stoll taking medalist honors.

Stoll is a rising junior at the University of Arizona, and last month she won her third Oregon Women’s Amateur title. She is a two-time recipient of the PNGA Women’s Player of the Year award (2014, 2015), and also named the 2013 PNGA Junior Girls’ Player of the Year.

Alvarez and Miyamoto are teammates on the University of Washington women’s golf team, and last month Alvarez won the Washington State Women’s Amateur, with Miyamoto finishing second. Alvarez, a native of New Zealand, has twice won the New Zealand Amateur (2013, 2015).

Also making match play are Naomi Ko of Victoria, B.C., the 2014 PNGA Junior Girls’ Player of the Year and 2016 PNGA Women’s Player of the Year who also won the 2016 Canadian Junior Girls’ National Championship and qualified for the 2016 LPGA Tour’s Cambia Portland Classic; and Marianne Li of Bellevue, Wash., who won the 2016 Washington State Women’s Amateur.

Wang’s first round of 2-under 69 was the only under-par round in the field. Born in Beijing, China, Wang became the youngest winner (and amateur) on the China LPGA Tour when she won the 2014 Xiamen Challenge at age 16. She also won the 2014 Callaway World Junior Championship.

“This is my first time to the Northwest,” Wang said. “My coach told me this was a good event to play in. It’s a good golf course. I made some mistakes on today’s back nine, but that happens.”

Other players in the exceptionally strong field in this year’s Women’s Amateur to make it to match play are Julianne Alvarez and Karen Miyamoto, both of Seattle, and Gigi Stoll of Tigard, Ore. Last week all three players qualified for the 2017 U.S. Women’s Amateur, with Stoll taking medalist honors.

Stoll is a rising junior at the University of Arizona, and last month she won her third Oregon Women’s Amateur title. She is a two-time recipient of the PNGA Women’s Player of the Year award (2014, 2015), and also named the 2013 PNGA Junior Girls’ Player of the Year.

Alvarez and Miyamoto are teammates on the University of Washington women’s golf team, and last month Alvarez won the Washington State Women’s Amateur, with Miyamoto finishing second. Alvarez, a native of New Zealand, has twice won the New Zealand Amateur (2013, 2015).

Also making match play are Naomi Ko of Victoria, B.C., the 2014 PNGA Junior Girls’ Player of the Year and 2016 PNGA Women’s Player of the Year who also won the 2016 Canadian Junior Girls’ National Championship and qualified for the 2016 LPGA Tour’s Cambia Portland Classic; and Marianne Li of Bellevue, Wash., who won the 2016 Washington State Women’s Amateur.

First held in 1899, the Pacific Northwest Women’s Amateur Championship is one of the oldest amateur golf championships in the world. Past champions include Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Famers who made up the Golden Age of female golfers in the Northwest such as JoAnne Gunderson Carner, Jo Ann Washam, Pat Lesser Harbottle, Edean Ihlanfeldt, Violet Pooly Sweeney, Marcia Fisher, and Betty Jean Hulteng, among others. Past champions also include many others who would later go on to the LPGA Tour, such as Jimin Kang, Peggy Conley, Ruth Jessen and Shirley Englehorn.

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