The last time Vancouver’s Spencer Tibbits and Portland’s Robbie Ziegler were competing on the same golf course, Ziegler was running away with the 2018 Royal Oaks Invitational Tournament title.
The end result Saturday at Bend Golf Club was similar, just not a runaway.
Ziegler, 28, a former standout golfer at Oregon, won the 109th Oregon Amateur Championship 2 and 1 over Tibbits but needed a late charge to do it.
“I made a few birdies coming down the stretch, he made a bogey here and there and the rest is history,” said Ziegler in comments posted at OGA.org. “He played awesome. Hats off to him. I’m glad he could let an old guy win because he’s so good. He’s going to win a lot of these going forward.”
Tibbits, 19, a former Fort Vancouver High golf standout and No. 1 golfer at Oregon State, led the 36-hole final by as much as 3 during the first 18 holes.
He made eagle on the 535-yard par-5 sixth hole to go 2-up, and then went ahead 3-up with a birdie on the 567-yard No. 11 hole.
Ziegler, the sixth seed, would cut the lead down to 1 after 18 holes, and squared the match on the 21st hole with a birdie.
Tibbits, seeded fifth, was 1-up after a birdie on No. 6 (the 24th hole), and then took his last advantage by making par on the 410-yard No. 9 holed.
Ziegler squared the match at No. 11 (the 29th hole) with a birdie. He then took his first lead of the final with a birdie on the 376-yard par-4 14th (the 32nd hole).
Tibbits bogeyed the next hole to up Ziegler 2-up. Both made par on the next two holes to end the match on the 17th green.
The last two years it was Clark County native Brian Humphreys, a Camas High grad now playing for Boise State, who finished runner-up at the Oregon Am.
Ziegler won his second consecutive Royal Oaks title on June 10 by four shots over Humphreys and seven over Tibbits.
