POR 2027 Season Opener

The Portland Amateur Players Tour opened its 2027 season on Saturday, October 10 at Michelbook Country Club, and the first of the season’s Portland amateur golf tournaments needed more than 18 holes to decide a champion. A field of 22 players competed across four divisions, with the Mid-Am Net and Senior Net games running alongside. Players are flighted into divisions based on their APT Tournament Index.

The low number of the day was a 76, and it was posted twice. Gage Slaughter and Noah Neuschwanger, both of McMinnville, OR, matched 4-over 76s at the top of Division 1, with Kaden Robinson a single stroke adrift at 77. Nobody in the field got to par, and the golf course picked its spots: the par-4 13th played a full shot over par and gave up exactly one birdie all day, while the par-5 7th was the most generous hole on the property, surrendering five.

Division 1 belonged to Slaughter, but he had to chase it down and then settle it in sudden death. Neuschwanger was two strokes clear of him after six holes and still two clear after twelve, a lead built on patience — 12 pars on the card, out in 1-over 38 and home in 3-over 38, with his lone birdie coming at that friendly par-5 7th. Slaughter turned in 4-over 41 and then flipped the switch, coming home in even-par 35. He birdied the par-5 11th, trimmed the margin to one with three to play, and played his closing six holes in even par, capped by a birdie at the par-5 18th. The two finished locked at 4-over 76, and Slaughter came through the playoff for the title. Robinson‘s 77 left him a shot outside the tie, with the fourth card in the division at 81.

Division 2 was decided over the final three holes. Cory Dobak of Brush Prairie, WA was two in front of Paul Matis after six, the pair were level at the turn through twelve, and Dobak had edged back ahead by one with three to play. That was where Matis, of Portland, OR, answered where it mattered most. He played his last three holes in 1-under, finishing with a birdie at the par-5 18th to post 6-over 78 and win by a single stroke. Matis built the number on steadiness — ten pars, a 4-over 41 on the way out and a 2-over 37 coming home. Dobak took runner-up honors at 7-over 79 and was the most prolific birdie-maker in the division with four, at the 1st, the par-5 7th, the par-5 11th and the par-3 17th, but a 3-over 40 going out and a bogey inside the last three left him a shot short. Two more players in the division signed for 84.

Division 3 was a runaway. Nirmal Shrestha of Portland, OR opened in even-par 37 with birdies at the 3rd, the par-5 5th and the 8th — and that birdie at the 5th came on a hole that averaged nearly a full shot over par for the field and yielded only three all day. He was three clear after six holes, ten clear after twelve, and he closed with a fourth birdie at the par-5 18th to sign for 5-over 77, the second-lowest number posted anywhere in the field. The eight-stroke margin was the largest of the day. Fred Corona Jr. of Gresham, OR finished in 2nd.

Division 4 produced the best finish of the afternoon. Ken Malmin of Portland, OR led Chad Hartmann by four after six holes, saw that cushion shrink to one by the twelfth, and watched it disappear entirely with three holes to play. From there Malmin played the last three in even par — the only stretch of the round where he gave nothing back — and turned a dead heat into a three-shot win, signing for 11-over 83 off a 4-over 41 and a 7-over 42. There were no birdies on his card; there were nine pars, and on a day when the 13th was taking a stroke a man, that was enough. Hartmann, also of Portland, OR, took runner-up honors at 14-over 86 after opening in 7-over 44, steadying with a birdie at the par-4 10th and matching Malmin‘s inward 42 until the closing three went 3-over on him. Three players finished within seven shots of the lead in the division.

The Mid-Am Net game went to Shrestha, who turned his 77 into a net 3-under 69 and controlled the contest from the opening six holes, never surrendering the lead. Matis was the only player to get inside him, posting net 1-under 71 for 2nd, two back. Those two were the only players in the Mid-Am field to break par on the net card.

Senior Net was the other half of a big day for Malmin. Dobak‘s net card had him in front through fifteen holes, but Malmin was the one who got to the house in front, closing for a net 4-under 68 and a five-stroke win. Dobak finished 2nd at net 1-over 73, with the next three cards at 79, 80 and 80.

Both of the day’s double winners did it the hard way. Shrestha completed the double-dip with Division 3 and the Mid-Am Net, taking two titles on the same scorecard, and Malmin did exactly the same in Division 4 and the Senior Net — the only two players in the field to walk away with a pair.

Next up in the Portland chapter — the POR Fall Break Open on Saturday, October 24. Space is limited and registration closes October 18. The chapter follows that with the POR Veteran’s Day Open on Saturday, November 7, an Elevated Event, with registration closing November 1. Both count toward a 2027 season that is now officially underway in Oregon amateur golf.