Locally: Corey Prugh defends title at PNW PGA Championship

It started out a little haltingly, but when the last ball dropped Thursday, Corey Prugh of Spokane had his second straight Pacific Northwest PGA Championship and third in five years.

The Community Colleges of Spokane golf coach won the 2020 title last week at Canyon River Golf Club in Missoula in a four-hole playoff after he, Bo Baker of The Creek at Qualchan and Brady Sharp of Wine Valley in Walla Walla tied after 54 holes at 14-under 202.

Prugh, who also won in 2016, would have liked a little cleaner start to his title defense. After parring the first hole, he had bogeys on the second and third.

But a birdie on No. 6 and the first of two eagles during the round got him under par and he cruised to an 8-under 64 on opening day.

That left him in a tie for the lead with Jeff Gove of Sandpoint. While Gove struggled to a 3-over 75 in the second round Wednesday, Prugh followed with a 3-under 69 and wound up Day 2 in a three-way tie for first with Sharp and Tim Feenstra of Broadmoor GC in Seattle.

Prugh and Sharp matched 69s on Thursday and Baker came in with a 68 to fashion the tie while a 70 left Feenstra in fourth.

Russell Grove, the North Idaho College golf coach, finished in a two-way tie for fifth at 204 and Gove wound up in a two-way tie for ninth at 207.

Among other area golfers in the 99-player field, Loren Jeglum of Clarkston Country Club tied for 11th at 208, Colin McMahon of Qualchan tied for 14th at 209 and Gordon Corder and Mark Wilkins, both of Manito Golf & Country Club, tied each other for 23rd at 211.

Prugh, Baker and Grove are among the seven golfers who qualified to represent the PNW in the 2021 PGA Professional Championship on April 25-28 in Port St Lucie, Florida. There, the low 20 will qualify for the 103rd PGA Championship in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, May 20-23, 2021.

• A 10-under-par 200, that included birdies on four of the final five holes, earned Derek Bayley of Rathdrum a tie for third on Sept. 20 at the Idaho Open in Boise.

The former Lakeland High School and Washington State University standout, who had sub-par rounds of 65, 66 and 69 on the par-70 Quail Hollow Golf Course in the 54-hole tournament, finished four shots back of winner Jamie Hall of Seattle (67-63-66 – 196).

Two Coeur d’Alene golfers, Sean Langham (211) and Adam Power (212), finished a stroke apart, Langham tying for 16th and Power finishing 18th.

• The inaugural Circling Raven Championship, a Symetra “Road to the LPGA” Tour event in August 2021, will have added flavor.

A 2020 junior girls national champion and Gabby Lemieux, a Native American who grew up in southern Idaho and is a member of the Symetra Tour, have been granted exempt status into the tournament on the award-winning North Idaho course.

The Coeur d’Alene Tribe, which owns Circling Raven, and Notah Begay III, a noted Native American golf broadcaster whose Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship will produce the player who will receive the exemption, announced a partnership that will make it happen.

Under the agreement, the winner of the 14-18-year-old girls division of the Nov. 15-17 tournament in Kinder, Louisiana, will join Lemieux in a full field with Symetra Tour regulars over 54 holes for a purse of $200,000.

Lemieux, a member of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation on the border of Idaho and Nevada, was a Symetra rookie in 2018. The native of Caldwell was an Idaho 5A State champion and 2016 was Big 12 Player of the Year for Texas Tech as a sophomore.

“I must give special thanks to the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and its leadership for providing this unique opportunity that will allow the 2020 girls national champion to compete against the best players on the Symetra Tour,” Begay said in a news release.

Begay, who has dedicated himself to promoting opportunities for youth through golf, had four wins on the PGA Tour since turning pro in 1995 and in 2000 finished eighth in the PGA Championship. Since 2013, he has been an analyst with the Golf Channel and NBC Sports.

The Symetra Tour, the official qualifying tour of the LPGA Tour, and Circling Raven have a three-year agreement. What was to have been the inaugural event this past August was canceled because of coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

Bowling

Michael Bushyeager came out of the third qualifying spot to win the first Junior Bowlers Tour tournament of the season Sept. 20 at Lilac Lanes that had a whole new look because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Tournament director Patti Dudley explained that instead of two four-game qualifying sessions, “the format was a little different. We had four games in the first set and five games in the second set. Then we cut to the top four and bowled games with the lowest out each game.”

No. 2 qualifier Jeff Gore, who averaged 210 for the nine games, was low after the first round and finished fourth. Qualifying leader Kyle Groves, who averaged 233 for the nine games, stumbled in the second round and wound up third.

That set the stage for Bushyeager, who averaged 203, and No. 4 qualifier Cameron Comer (200) to meet for the title. Bushyeager won 191-171.

Groves had high game of the day, a 279, and averaged 223 for 11 games. Tatum Piper was high for the girls with a 177.

“All the kids were very happy to be back on the lanes even with all the restrictions,” Dudley said.

The Next JBT is Oct. 11 at North Bowl.

College scene

Two former area high school standouts, Payton McMahon (Riverside) and Alyssa Hall (University), were named to the Whitworth softball All-Decade Team for the period from 2010-11 to 2019-20.

McMahon (2012-15) and Hall (2013-16) were named outfielders on the 11-woman team that compiled a 246-152 record, won three consecutive Northwest Conference championships (2015-17) and played in the NCAA Division III Championships in 2016 and ’17 with Cristal Brown being named NWC Coach of the Year both years.

The 2017 team had a school-record 37 wins (37-11), including winning its first two NCAA Tournament games.

Heather Hesselgesser (2010-13), Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls, was named honorable mention at shortstop.

The other All-Decade selections: Madi Perez (2014-17), pitcher; Makayla Lefever (2014-16), pitcher; Caty Lieseke (2008-11), catcher; Julia Johnson (2011-14), first base; Desi Graham (2016-19), second base; Michelle Silva (2016-19), third base; Tessa Matthews (2014-17), shortstop; Shannon Wessel (2014-17), outfield; Jamie Brunner (2010-13), designated player/utility.

• The Gonzaga and Washington State women’s soccer teams have earned a 2019-20 Team Academic Award from the United Soccer Coaches Association for posting grade-point averages of 3.0 or higher.

It is the 12th straight season coach Chris Watkins’ Bulldogs were honored. They had a 3.47 GPA.

WSU coach Todd Schulenbeger’s Cougars, who finished the year with a 3.25 GPA, were honored for the 15th time.