Gillis Wins 2006 Oregon Amateur
Gillis (Williams Lake, B.C.), who will be a senior this fall, tied for 12th in qualifying, then won five straight match play rounds at Portland Golf Club to win the championship. In Saturday’s final, he beat Brad Skreen 5 and 3 over 36 holes.
“My goal is always to get out to a fast start and put pressure on my opponent immediately,” Gillis said. “One thing I need to work on is to maintain my focus and to be able to close out a match.
“For the most part, I followed my game plan. I wanted to keep my ball ahead of him off the tee so that he would have to play first on his approach to the green. If he didn’t stick it close, then I would play conservatively. And if he did stiff it, only then would I necessarily go flag hunting.”
Gillis was up by five holes following the morning’s first 18 holes, but Skreen rallied to cut Gillis’ lead to two holes with the final nine to play. But he ended the match with a birdie on the 33rd hole.
“Mitch played great golf the entire tournament,” OSU Coach Brian Watts said. “He never got himself into trouble and forced his opponents to make mistakes. He took advantage of his opportunities and was very consistent.”
In stroke play qualifying, Gillis shot a 2-over 146 to tie for 12th. En route to the championship, he defeated Scott Alford 1 up, Craig Winter 1 up, former Beaver Brad Simpson 4 and 2 and Chris Polski 4 and 3 before meeting Skreen in the final.
Gillis wasn’t the only OSU player in the field. Junior Clayton Moe (
Barton tied for the best score in qualifying with a 4-under 140. Sundseth and Simpson each tied for fourth in qualifying with a 1-under 143.
