Northwest Open/2017

Prante Wins His Second Northwest Open Title

by Jeff Ellison, PGA – CEO

Congratulations to Shane Prante of Lake Spanaway Golf Course for winning his second Northwest Open Invitational at Wine Valley Golf Club. Shane has won two of the eight championships held at the spectacular venue, joining Brian Thornton as the only two-time winners at Wine Valley.

The players enjoyed three days of no wind and perfect golf course conditions which highlighted the playable side of Wine Valley. Bryce Fisher posted 64 on Monday, Liam Kendregran 66 on Tuesday and Prante 65 on Wednesday. With over 50 players at par or better during each of the first two rounds, Wine Valley showed her flexibility in being a fun and championship caliber golf course.

Round one presented a new challenge in the 113-year history of the Northwest Open as the players played through the solar eclipse! With 95+% coverage, the players experienced cooling temperatures with diminished light but were still able to continue playing. It was an interesting experience for all and a new challenge in our rich championship history.

Round two saw a consolidation of proven players at the top of the leader board with 10 players finishing the day within 4 shots of the lead. The final group consisted of Justin Wiles of Reames G&CC, Derek Berg of Sahalee CC and Shane Prante. In all, six of the ten players held Pacific Northwest Section major championships so the final round was going to be a shoot-out. Little did we know!

Wiles started the final round with a two-shot lead and birdied two of the first four holes. Normally, this would build a lead. Not this day, as Prante birdied each of the first four to tie for the lead and serve notice that his was game on! The two combatants both birdied 6, 10, 12 and 15 to set a fast pace. In the end the two were tied at 16 under par 200—just one shot ahead of Tim Feenstra of Broadmoor GC, who posted a final round 66 to almost sneak into the playoff.

Going into the playoff, Prante felt “momentarily dejected after my finish in regulation. But I told myself that I had still played great, and if I would stay in the moment I had a good chance to still win.” Prante finally claimed the title with a birdie on the first playoff hole and added the championship to his 2013 title.

When asked how this win compared to the previous, Prante replied, “2013 was fun, but it was pretty stress-free coming down the stretch with a 6-shot lead. This was intense from the start. Justin and I both hit so many great shots right on top of [each] other all day long. I loved every minute!”

Our thanks to John Thorsnes and Jim Pliska for 8 straight years at Wine Valley and to superintendent Tyler Daniels and his crew for providing a great golf course every day. We were very fortunate this year to welcome three new sponsors to the championship. Making this championship even better were Darrell Livingston and Patrick Coughlin of GT Golf Supplies, Birk Nelson of Orange Whip Trainer and Jake Thomas, JD Rastovski and Jason Owens of PXG. Thank you gentlemen for your support.

One final note, we are happy to be returning to Wine Valley for the 114th Northwest Open Invitational on August 20-22, 2018.

View final results: https://2017secnorthwestopen.golfgenius.com