Playing at the Sahalee course in Sammamish, Washington Friday in his first event after finishing as low amateur in the U.S. Open two weeks ago, Taylor and Australian National Team member Daniel Nisbet of Caboolture, arrived at the challenging 211 yard par-3 17th hole locked at 4-under par overall. Taylor's tee shot sailed directly over the flag and stopped 40 feet away, while Nisbet's shot settled softly six feet from the hole.
After struggling with his putter much of the week, Taylor, from Abbotsford, British Columbia and a four-time winner this season playing for the University of Washington Huskies, said to his caddie as they approached the 17th green, "I’m due to make one.” He then proceeded to drain his putt for birdie.. Nisbet pushed his 6-footer off to the right.
Walking onto the 18th green with a one shot lead and seeing Nisbet left with a seven-footer for birdie, Taylor methodically
stroked his 15-foot birdie putt into the center of the cup to seal the victory at 6-under par 282. Nisbet also got his birdie for 283.
Eddie Olson of Aptos, CA, the 54-hole leader, struggled much of the final round after making a birdie at the first hole. Olson holed out an amazing flop shot on the 18th hole to finish the round in style and take home sole possession of third place at 4-under par 284.
Taylor joins an impressive list of past Sahalee Players Championship champions that includes 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 on the Sahalee Players Championship visit: www.sahaleeplayerschampionship.com.
Sahalee Players Championship
Sahalee Country Club
Par 72 - 6,977 yards
1- Nick Taylor, Abbotsford, BC --69-70-70-73--282
2- Daniel Nisbet, Caboolture, Australia --73-67-68-75--283
3- Eddie Olson, Aptos, CA --71-68-68-77--284
4- Lindsay Renolds, Christina Lake, BC --71-72-70-73--286
T5- Dan Woltman, Beaver Dam, WI --68-77-71-72--288
T5- Ryan Hallisey, Granite Bay, CA --69-70-74-75--288
T5- Trent Whitekiller, Sallisaw, OK --72-70-73-73--288
T8- Derek Berg, Kenmore, WA --69-70-76-75--290
T8- James Sacheck, The Woodlands, TX --69-73-76-72--290
T8- Richard Lee, Covington, WA --74-74-73-69--290
11- Riley Wheeldon, Comox, BC --71-73-71-76--291
T12- Dodge Kemmer, Stanford, CA --72-74-71-75--292
T12- Jacob Koppenberg, Everett, WA --67-75-74-76--292
T14- Chan Kim, Chandler, AZ --76-67-75-75--293
T14- Conrad Shindler, Westlake, TX --74-72-77-70--293
T14- Erik Hanson, Kirkland, WA --73-75-72-73--293
T14- Scott Langley, Manchester, MO --72-69-75-77--293
18- Dustin Garza, Wichita, KS --80-70-74-70--294
T19- Eugene Wong, North Vancouver, BC --73-73-75-74--295
T19- Robert Streb, Edmond, OK --71-76-81-67--295
T21- David Lipsky, La Canada, CA --79-75-71-71--296
T21- Jarin Todd, Woodinville, WA --75-71-75-75--296
T21- Mitchell Gregson, Waterloo, IL --73-74-74-75--296
24- Donald Constable, Wayzata, MN --71-74-78-74--297
T25- Adam Long, Lake St. Louis, MO --72-76-77-73--298
T25- Chris D Ward, McKinney, TX --75-74-76-73--298
T25- Tom Hoge, Fargo, ND --70-74-76-78--298
T28- Cameron Peck, Olympia, WA --71-79-75-74--299
T28- Joel Dahmen, Clarkston, WA --73-76-70-80--299
T28- Josh Anderson, Murrieta, CA --72-74-77-76--299
T28- Martin Trainer, Palo Alto, CA --80-71-75-73--299
T28- Robbie Ziegler, Canby, OR --75-73-73-78--299
33- Stephen Hale, Bakersfield, CA --73-75-76-76--300
T34- Cheng-Tsung Pan, Yuanli, Taiwan --79-73-71-78--301
T34- Nick Delio, Valencia, CA --72-76-80-73--301
T34- Sam Cyr, Makawao, HI --73-76-76-76--301
37- Spencer Cole, Greer, SC --73-72-80-77--302
T38- Brady Johnson, Mill Bay, B.C. --73-76-73-81--303
T38- Carlos Sainz , Elgin, IL --75-72-78-78--303
T38- Chris Killmer, Bellingham, WA --74-76-78-75--303
T38- Derek Ernst, Clovis, CA --74-81-77-71--303
T38- Eric Mina, Fremont, CA --73-80-73-77--303
T38- Kevin Penner, Sammamish, WA --73-76-78-76--303
T38- Skip Berkmeyer, St. Louis, MO --75-77-73-78--303
T45- Connor Driscoll, Encinitas, CA --75-72-80-77--304
T45- Geoff Gonzalez, Diablo, CA --74-78-79-73--304
T47- Diego Velasquez, Bogota, Colombia --75-74-78-78--305
T47- Matthew Giles, Sydney, Australia --79-73-76-77--305
T47- Robbie Fillmore, Salt Lake City, UT --74-78-78-75--305
T50- Dan Whitaker, Cle Elum, WA --78-75-79-74--306
T50- Darren Wallace, Langley, BC --75-71-80-80--306
T52- Dave Bunker, Woodbridge, Ontario --81-73-80-73--307
T52- Taylor Travis, Fremont, CA --74-74-78-81--307
54- Andrew Putnam, University Place, WA --76-77-78-78--309
55- Steven Kearney, Carlsbad, CA --73-81-79-77--310
56- Brady Exber, Las Vegas, NV --76-79-77-79--311
T57- Nick Geyer, Albuquerque, NM --78-78-73-83--312
T57- Zahkai Brown, Arvada, CO --79-76-80-77--312
T59- Alex Shi Yup Kim, Fullerton, CA --80-77-87-69--313
T59- Austin Hurt, Bainbridge Island, WA --77-82-78-76--313
61- Rob Chandler, Sammamish, WA --78-77-77-82--314
62- Brett Kanda, La Crescenta, CA --77-76-83-79--315
63- Paul Peterson, Corvallis, OR --78-80-75-89--322
64- Trent Sanders, Scottsdale, AZ --82-81-76-85—324
