Portland, Ore.----- An 8&7 win in a 36-hole match play golf championship is like a four-touchdown Super Bowl run away or a 30-point victory in basketball.
For San Jose State University junior Bryce Wortman won the 111th Oregon Amateur Golf Championship with an 8&7 victory over former University of Richmond golfer Ben Wanichek at the Columbia Edgewater Country Club.
Wortman never trailed in the match play championship final completing six consecutive days on the par 71 course. He took a 2-up lead after five holes over Wanichek, was tied eight holes later and finished the first 18 holes 2-up with a three-under par 68. Wortman went ahead to stay with a par on the 15th hole and added to his lead with another par to Wanichek's bogey on the 17th hole.
The Spartan southpaw birdied the 1st hole of the afternoon round to go 3-up before winning holes six through 10. Wortman eagled the sixth, birdied the seventh and eight holes, and made par on the ninth and 10th holes to go 8-up, nearly an insurmountable lead with eight holes to go. Each player made par on the 11th hole or 29th hole of the match giving Wortman the biggest win of his career.
Wortman was six-under par in the second round, reminiscent of his hot streak in the final round of the 73rd Western Intercollegiate at the Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz when he posted a four-under 66.
The Oregon Amateur Championship, one of the longest running championships in the country, consists of 36 holes of stroke play with the top 64 players advancing to as many as four days of match play competition. Wortman tied for 12th in stroke play with a one-under par 141. He won two of his match-play battles 4&3, one at 3&2, and two more in close 2&1 decisions before his one-sided 8&7 decision over Wanichek.
Wortman, who first began playing golf at four-years old, now has three major wins in Oregon Golf Association hosted tournaments. He won the 2015 Oregon Junior Amateur and the 2018 Oregon Publinx.
