Northwest Open/2020

Cogswell Wins Northwest Open Invitational

by Molly Cooper, PGA Certified Professional

Amateur Nathan Cogswell of Meridian Valley CC won the Northwest Open Invitational by one stroke over PGA Professional David Phay of Whidbey G&CC. Cogswell is a junior at Seattle University and this marks his first PNW PGA win. He fired rounds of 68-66-134, 10-under.

Golfweek recently ranked Wine Valley GC #34 in the country for Best Golf Courses You Can Play. “The course does inspire your imagination,” said PGA Director of Golf Chris Isaacson.

The tournament began on the morning of Monday, August 17 with temperatures over 100 degrees though the winds did cooperate. PGA Professional Matt Epstein of Inglewood GC and PGA Professional Birk Nelson of Orange Whip fired rounds of 66, 6-under par.

The second and final day of the event was another day of 100+ temperatures. Despite this, players managed to post low scores. Amateur Nathan Cogswell came from two strokes behind the leaders to win by one stroke after posting a final round with six birdies.

“With such a high quality field and a challenging golf course, it is a tremendous honor to win the Northwest Open this year,” said Cogswell. Asked how this event compared to a collegiate event, he responded, “I think in some ways it is similar to a collegiate event in that the strength of the field is high. It takes a special week in college golf in order to get a win. You have to be at the top of your game and you must be able to eliminate big mistakes, the same can be said for this event.”

Cogswell mentioned that, “winning the NW Open is a confidence boost for me because it is such a big event in the section and in the Northwest. I can take many things that I learned from those two days of competition and use them going forward. I won't linger on the win too much though because I am always focused on what I need to prepare for next. It is nice to enjoy a victory like this, but I am excited to build on it with the tournaments that I have coming up.”

As for his plans for the future, Cogswell will try to qualify for the PGA Tour. “Much of that depends on my quality of play in the next two seasons and that will determine which route of qualifying I will take. I understand that it is a long tough road to getting your tour card, but it has always been a dream of mine to play among the best on the PGA Tour.”

We’d like to thank Wine Valley GC for hosting yet another Northwest Open Invitational. Thank you to PGA Director of Golf Chris Isaacson, Assistant PGA Professional Brady Sharp, Superintendent Tyler Daniels and their staffs for a fantastic week. We look forward to returning to Wine Valley GC again for the 2021 Senior Players’ Championship and 2021 Northwest Open Invitational.

Final results: https://2020secnorthwestopen.golfgenius.com