 
PHOTO GALLERY
SAWYER AND OLEXIA-SMOOT TAKE PUBLIC LINKS TITLES
PORTLAND, ORE (Sunday, June 8, 2008) – As is often the guiding principal establishing the start of summer in Portland, yesterday was the Rose Parade, and today the skies cleared and the sun was shinning. Summer officially started in Portland for the final round of the 11th Oregon Public Links Championship at Eastmoreland Golf Course.
This 36-hole stroke play competition is open to both Men and Women amateur golfers with USGA Handicap Indexes of 36.4 or less (for Men) and 40.4 or less (for Women). Each player’s course handicap is used to compute their Net score, so players of all abilities can compete on a level playing field.
In the Women’s Division, Donna Olexio-Smoot of Beaverton, Ore. struggled shooting 7-shots more than her first round and finishing with a 17-over par 77-84—161 to narrowly fend off 16-year old Sharon Shin of West Linn, Ore. to take the championship title. Shin had the low round of the day shooting 84-79—163. The Women’s Net title was earned by home course favorite Helen “Rusty” Beckel of Milwaukie, Ore. by 7-strokes over her close friend Karen Herness of Portland, Ore.
In the Men’s Division, Chad Sawyer of Wilsonville, Ore. maintained his first round lead by shooting a respectable even par 71-73—144 to win the title by three stokes over Tyler Nelson, also from Wilsonsville. Sawyer, a scratch golfer, had the lowest Net score among golfers, but was ineligible by virtue of winning the overall title. The Net award was shared by Matt Klenz of Tualatin, Ore. and David Anderson of Sherwood, Ore.. Sawyer and Klenz are both members of the Eastmoreland Men’s Club.
First established in 1998, the Public Links Championship is only open to those members of the Oregon Golf Association who have been bona fide public course players and have not held a membership at any course that does not extend playing privileges to the general public. The majority of OGA members come from regular public clubs (those based at golf courses). Public players also join Associate Clubs that are not based at any particular golf course. Olexia-Smoot, for instance, plays out of the GolfNow Players Club, the only internet-based Associate Club recognized by the Oregon Golf Association.
Eastmoreland Golf Course, established in 1918, is owned and maintained by the City of Portland and is one of the oldest public golf courses in the country. Designed by H. Chandler Egan, the acclaimed designer of Pebble Beach Golf Links, it has hosted both the 1933 and 1990 United States Public Links Championships. Egan was a member of the Oregon Golf Association, and represented the region in the 1934 Walker Cup.
OGA member clubs are comprised of more than 50,000 avid golfers responsible for more than 2 million rounds of golf and a direct annual economic impact exceeding $250 million (more than seventy-five percent of the golf rounds played in the region).
The Oregon Golf Association is unique in that it is one of the few amateur golf associations that include men, women, and junior golfers from both public and private clubs. In addition to its responsibilities as the governing body for the sport in the region, the OGA is one of just eight amateur golf associations to own and operate a golf course.
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