Pepperdine University men’s golfer Andrew Putnam captured a four-shot victory at the 44th Pacific Coast Amateur Tournament on Friday at the Eugene Country Club in Oregon. The event is one of the top amateur tournaments in the West.
Putnam shot a 7-under 277 (68-69-70-70) to beat Oregon’s Daniel Miernicki. Putnam was also the leader after the second and third rounds, leading by as many as seven shots at one point on Friday. He played all four rounds below par.
This summer, Putnam played in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, took second place at the Sahalee Players Championship and helped a Pacific Northwest team win the Morse Cup. He will also take part in the U.S. Amateur at Chambers Bay later this month.
The last time the Pacific Coast Amateur was held at the Eugene Country Club, it was also won by a Pepperdine player named Putnam. Andrew’s older brother Michael was the champion in 2004. Pepperdine’s Jason Gore won the tournament in 1997.
Putnam, who will be a senior next season, led the Waves in 2009-10 with a 72.59 stroke average over 39 rounds. He made both the PING All-West Region and All-West Coast Conference first team for the third straight year. Putnam had eight top 20 finishes and five top 10 results. He was Pepperdine’s top scorer at seven of 12 tournaments. Through three seasons, Putnam has a career stroke average of 72.77, which is the third, all-time best rank at the school.