7/23/25

(Blaine, WA) The 16th Washington Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship came down to a two-horse race between Bellingham’s Jonathan Larson and Olympia’s Jon McCaslin. The pair dueled for the final 10 holes to provide a thrilling finish to the 54-hole championship.

After the second round, Jonathan Larson led by six shots when scoring conditions were at their hardest. McCaslin was in second after rallying on the back nine in the second round. Larson started the final round with four pars before a bogey on the 5th hole. McCaslin was even through five holes after a birdie on the opening hole and a bogey on the 5th. Larson birdied the 8th hole but gave it back with a bogey on the 9th to go out at 1-over with a 37. McCaslin birdied the 9th hole to go out at 1-under with a 35.

Larson carded birdies on the 11th and 14th holes before a bogey on the 15th hole. Larson quickly recovered with a birdie on the 16th hole to get to 8-under for the championship. McCaslin birdied the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th holes to vault himself to just two shots back of Larson. McCaslin added a birdie on the 17th hole to get one shot back of Larson. Larson had pars on both the 17th and 18th holes to fire a 1-under round of 71 for the second round in a row, while McCaslin shot a 6-under 66 for his second straight sub-70 round after a par on the 54th hole. Larson would win the championship with a three-day total of 208, 8-under par, with all three of his rounds under par. McCaslin finished one shot back with a three-day total of 209, 7-under par. Larson and McCaslin were the only two players to finish under par.

Jonathan Larson just wrapped up his senior year at The Master’s University in California. The Master’s is an NAIA school, and Larson had a very successful career. He was a finalist for the 2025 NAIA Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year, was the Great Southwest Athletic Conference (GSAC) Player of the Year, had a nation-leading six wins, finished 7th at the NAIA Individual National Championships, among many other accolades. Larson was the only player in the field to record all three rounds under par this week en route to the victory. Larson had only five bogeys, no doubles or worse, and 13 birdies in a near-perfect week.

Finishing solo third was Wenatchee’s Spencer Ellis at even par for the week. Tied for fourth were Kenmore’s Colten Kleis, Seattle’s Ben Minyard, and Seattle’s Johnny Carey with a three-day total of 217, 1-over par. Tacoma’s Greg Gildea took home seventh at 2-over. Blaine’s Jamie Meade and Hayden Lake, Idaho’s Reid Hatley, finished at 3-over to tie for eighth. Rounding out the top 10 was Everett’s Jacob Rohde, who was attempting to be the first back-to-back champion, finishing at 4-over in 10th place.

The scoring average in the final round was down four strokes from the second round at 77.43. The 1st hole was the easiest hole of the day for the second round in a row. The 491-yard par 5 played under par with an average score of 4.75, with one eagle, 26 birdies, and only 9 bogeys or worse. The hardest hole of the final round was the 15th hole, a 185-yard par 3. It saw an average score of 3.86, only four birdies, and 43 bogeys or worse in the last round. All three rounds saw a different hardest hole of the round.

For the championship, the 1st hole was the easiest hole, seeing a whopping 89 birdies, the most of any hole by 29 birdies, four eagles, tied for the most with the 13th hole, which was the second easiest hole, only 43 bogeys, the least of any hole for the week, and 30 doubles or worse. The hardest hole of the week was the 4th hole, a 407-yard par 4. The daunting hole surrendered only six birdies, the least of any hole for the week, 110 bogeys, second most for the week behind the 15th hole, which was the second hardest hole, 44 doubles, the most of any hole, and 19 triples or worse.

The front nine saw an average score of 39.92, with the back nine seeing an average score of 40.37. There were only 5 sub-70 rounds, with Jon McCaslin and Colten Kleis recording two each, and Jonathan Larson the other. The low round of the championship was 66. Larson shot that in the first round, and McCaslin shot it in the final round.

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