At 3-under par 69, Taylor is tied for third and two shots off the pace being set by Jake Koppenberg of Everett, WA, a Division II First-Team All-American for Western Washington University, who fired a bogey free 5-under par 67 and took advantage of Sahalee Country Club’s four par-5’s by scoring birdies on three of them.
One stroke back is Dan Woltman of Beaver Dam, WI who is in sole possession of second place after a 4-under par 68. Woltman is coming off of a victory last week at the Northeast Amateur, one of the world’s top ranked amateur events.
Tied with Taylor at 3-under par is 2006 Sahalee Players Championship runner-up Derek Berg of Duvall, WA, recent Texas State Amateur Champion James Sacheck of The Woodlands, TX, and 2008 Pacific Coast Amateur runner-up Ryan Hallisey of Granite Bay, CA.
Tied for eighth placed at 1-under 71's are British Columbians Lindsay Renolds of Christina Lake and Riley Wheeldon of Comox, along with Robert Streb, Edmond, OK.
Brady Johnson of Mill Bay, B.C shares 20th place with Eugene Wong of North Vancouver, both of whom carded 1-over 73s.
Defending champion Trent Whitekiller of Sallisaw, OK remains in the mix after an up-and-down round of even-par 72 that included seven birdies.
This years marks the 16th year of the Sahalee Players Championship and some notable past champions have included Daniel Summerhays, Kyle Stanley, Ryan Moore, Arron Oberholser, Jason Gore, and Casey Martin.
Sahalee Country Club has played host to the 1998 PGA Championship, 2002 World Golf Championship – NEC Invitational, and will once again host a major professional event with the U.S. Senior Open coming to the club in 2010.
The Pacific Northwest Golf Association teamed up with Sahalee Country Club 10 years ago to create the “Western Swing” with the PNGA Men’s Amateur Championship. The Sahalee Players Championship is the first leg of the swing, with the PNGA Men’s Amateur being played the week after. The two events were paired together to give amateur golfers in the west an opportunity to play two major national amateur championships without having to travel to the east coast.
For more information visit: www.sahaleeplayerschampionship.com.
Sahalee Country Club
Par 72 6,942 yards
1- Jacob Koppenberg, Everett, WA --34-33--67
2- Dan Woltman, Beaver Dam, WI --34-34--68
T3- Derek Berg, Kenmore, WA --36-33--69
T3- James Sacheck, The Woodlands, TX --35-34--69
T3- Nick Taylor, Abbotsford, BC --34-35--69
T3- Ryan Hallisey, Granite Bay, CA --34-35--69
7- Tom Hoge, Fargo, ND --33-37--70
T8- Cameron Peck, Olympia, WA --34-37--71
T8- Donald Constable, Wayzata, MN --35-36--71
T8- Eddie Olson, Aptos, CA --39-32--71
T8- Lindsay Renolds, Christina Lake, BC --35-36--71
T8- Riley Wheeldon, Comox, BC --34-37--71
T8- Robert Streb, Edmond, OK --37-34--71
T14- Adam Long, Lake St. Louis, MO --36-36--72
T14- Dodge Kemmer, Stanford, CA --37-35--72
T14- Josh Anderson, Murrieta, CA --35-37--72
T14- Nick Delio, Valencia, CA --36-36--72
T14- Scott Langley, Manchester, MO --35-37--72
T14- Trent Whitekiller, Sallisaw, OK --34-38--72
T20- Brady Johnson, Mill Bay, B.C. --37-36--73
T20- Daniel Nisbet, Caboolture, Australia --36-37--73
T20- Eric Mina, Fremont, CA --36-37--73
T20- Erik Hanson, Kirkland, WA --37-36--73
T20- Eugene Wong, North Vancouver, BC --39-34--73
T20- Joel Dahmen, Clarkston, WA --37-36--73
T20- Kevin Penner, Sammamish, WA --36-37--73
T20- Mitchell Gregson, Waterloo, IL --36-37--73
T20- Sam Cyr, Makawao, HI --37-36--73
T20- Spencer Cole, Greer, SC --35-38--73
T20- Stephen Hale, Bakersfield, CA --37-36--73
T20- Steven Kearney, Carlsbad, CA --35-38--73
T32- Chris Killmer, Bellingham, WA --36-38--74
T32- Conrad Shindler, Westlake, TX --37-37--74
T32- Derek Ernst, Clovis, CA --38-36--74
T32- Geoff Gonzalez, Diablo, CA --38-36--74
T32- Richard Lee, Covington, WA --37-37--74
T32- Robbie Fillmore, Salt Lake City, UT --35-39--74
T32- Taylor Travis, Fremont, CA --38-36--74
T39- Carlos Sainz , Elgin, IL --40-35--75
T39- Chris D Ward, McKinney, TX --38-37--75
T39- Connor Driscoll, Encinitas, CA --39-36--75
T39- Darren Wallace, Langley, BC --35-40--75
T39- Diego Velasquez, Bogota, Colombia --36-39--75
T39- Jarin Todd, Woodinville, WA --39-36--75
T39- Robbie Ziegler, Canby, OR --38-37--75
T39- Skip Berkmeyer, St. Louis, MO --40-35--75
T47- Andrew Putnam, University Place, WA --37-39--76
T47- Brady Exber, Las Vegas, NV --39-37--76
T47- Chan Kim, Chandler, AZ --39-37--76
T50- Austin Hurt, Bainbridge Island, WA --37-40--77
T50- Brett Kanda, La Crescenta, CA --40-37--77
T52- Dan Whitaker, Cle Elum, WA --39-39--78
T52- Nick Geyer, Albuquerque, NM --40-38--78
T52- Paul Peterson, Corvallis, OR --36-42--78
T52- Rob Chandler, Sammamish, WA --37-41--78
T56- Cheng-Tsung Pan, Yuanli, Taiwan --37-42--79
T56- David Lipsky, La Canada, CA --36-43--79
T56- Matthew Giles, Sydney, Australia --36-43--79
T56- Zahkai Brown, Arvada, CO --39-40--79
T60- Alex Shi Yup Kim, Fullerton, CA --39-41--80
T60- Dustin Garza, Wichita, KS --43-37--80
T60- Martin Trainer, Palo Alto, CA --41-39--80
63- Dave Bunker, Woodbridge, Ontario --42-39--81
64- Trent Sanders, Scottsdale, AZ --42-40--82
65- Ryan McCarthy, Burnie, Tasmania --DQ-DQ--DQ
66- Michael Knight, Calgary, AB --WD-WD--WD
