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Hara Takes the Oregon Stroke Play in Four-Hole Playoff
Kyosuke Hara (OGA photo)
Kyosuke Hara (OGA photo)

MOLALLA, OR (July 22, 2018) ­­– Kyosuke Hara (Honolulu, Hawaii), Pat O’Donnell (Happy Valley, Ore.) and Brandon Lorain (Woodburn, Ore.) won their respective divisional titles on Sunday at the 2018 Oregon Men’s Stroke Play Championship, held July 20-22 at Arrowhead Golf Club in Molalla, Ore.

Hara earned the overall Championship win by winning the Open Division. O’Donnell won the Senior Men’s title, while Lorain was victorious in the Master-40 Division.

Hara is a rising junior at Oregon State University, where he’s had a successful career as a Beaver, playing in 16 total tournaments. He was one shot back entering Sunday’s final round at 5-under par, firing a 66 (-6) on Saturday to vault himself up the leader board. On Sunday, Hara was right in the thick of things until a stretch of four holes, Nos. 10-13, in which he played them 4-over. However, Hara battled back, birdieing three-consecutive holes immediately following, and parring the last two holes to finish at 5-under par for the tournament.

Past Oregon Mid-Amateur champion Philip Bagdade (Portland, Ore.), playing in the final group with Hara, compiled a steady round of 1-under par to earn himself a playoff berth against Hara for the title. On the fourth playoff hole, Bagdade found himself out of bounds, while Hara made bogey to win his first OGA Championship.

Hara shot scores of 73-66-72 – 211 (-5), while Bagdade finished at 69-71-71 – 211. Travis Milleman (Portland, Ore.), former Oregon State golfer, and Craig Ronne (Klamath Falls, Ore.), incoming University of Oregon freshman, both vaulted up the leader board on Sunday after the pair each shot a 6-under par 66. Both Milleman and Ronne finished T3 at 212 (-4), one shot back of the playoff. Austin Spicer (Gresham, Ore.) finished in fifth place at 214 (-2).

O’Donnell and Denny Taylor (Gladstone, Ore.), who entered play on Sunday in second place, both played at their home course this weekend, as the two are members at Arrowhead. They took full advantage of that fact on Sunday, pulling away from the rest of the Senior Men’s field to battle for the entirety of the final 18 holes.

Taylor had a remarkable start – the 2002 champion birdied the first hole, made a hole-in-one on the par-3 second, and then birdied the third hole – 4-under through three holes and 6-under for the championship.

O’Donnell, playing with Taylor, wasn’t fazed. He birdied three of the first six holes to regain the lead at 7-under par. On the back nine, Taylor made a run, but O’Donnell birdied both No. 16 and No. 17 to clinch his fourth-straight Oregon Senior Men’s Stroke Play title, and ninth overall. He finished with scores of 71-69-68 – 208 (-8).

Taylor earned second place, shooting 70-72-68 – 210 (-6). Tim O’Neal (Vancouver, Wash.) earned third place at 1-under par (215) for the event, while Gregg Guernsey (Vancouver, Wash.) finished in fourth place at even-par (216).

Lorain entered Sunday with a one-shot lead over Matt Hartley (Vancouver, Wash.) in the Master-40 Division. The two were tied with nine holes remaining during the final round of play, both sitting at 8-over par for the event. However, double-bogies on the par-5 10th hole and par-3 12th hole for Hartley sent him backward, while Lorain birdied those holes to jump out to a six-shot lead with six holes to play.

Lorain finished consistent and earned a seven-shot win, shooting 73-80-68 – 221 (+5) for the event. Hartley earned second place by shooting scores of 77-77-74 – 228 (+12). Jeff Ward (Bend, Ore.) finished strong on Sunday to earn third place at 229 (+13).

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ABOUT THE Oregon Stroke Play

Entries are open to amateur golfers with USGA Handicap Indexes™ of 5.0 and less for the Men’s and Master 40 Divisions, and Seniors with Handicap Indexes of 10.0 or less and are members in good standing of an OGA Member Club. All Contestants must be at least 13 years of age. Master 40s must be 40 years of age and seniors must be 50 years of age or older.

54-hole stroke play competition with a cut to the low half of the field and ties in each division after two rounds of play.

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