DEFENDING CHAMPION ALEX PRUGH, TWO REIGNING USGA CHAMPIONS HEAD EARLY FIELD FOR 40^th PACIFIC COAST AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

SAN FRANCISCO, June 2, 2006 — Defending champion Alex Prugh of Spokane, WA, and reigning USGA national champions Clay Ogden of West Point, UT, and Kevin Marsh of Las Vegas head the list of early entrants into the 40^th Pacific Coast Amateur Championship to be played August 1-4 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.

Two former USGA champions — Tim Jackson of Germantown, TN, and Tim Hogarth of Northridge, CA — are also planning to compete. They are among 42 presidential invitees who will join 48 players from 16 state and regional associations that comprise the Pacific Coast Golf Association, which runs the prestigious 72-hole, stroke play championship.

The 90-player field will play 18 holes each day, alternating between The Olympic Club’s Ocean and Lake courses. The Lake Course has hosted eight USGA national championships, including four U.S. Opens and two U.S. Amateurs and will be the site of the Amateur again in 2007 and the Open in 2012.

Concurrent with the first two rounds of the championship will be the annual Morse Cup Team Competition with three-player teams from each association competing for the trophy originally donated by Samuel F.B. Morse, developer of Pebble Beach. The best two of three individual scores each of the first two days count for the team total.

In addition to capturing the 2005 Pacific Coast Amateur at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, the 21-year-old Prugh won the 2005 Washington State Amateur and was a first team All Pac-10 member this year while competing for the University of Washington.

The 21-year-old Ogden captured the U.S. Amateur Public Links championship last July at Shaker Run Golf Club in Lebanon, OH, defeating Martin Urete of Chile, 1 up. En route to the championship, Ogden ousted Michelle Wie, 5 & 4, in their quarterfinal match.

Marsh, 33, captured the U.S. Mid-Amateur title last year by routing Carlton Forrester, 10 & 9, in their 36-hole championship match at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, TN. It was Marsh’s second consecutive strong performance in the Mid-Amateur after getting his amateur status reinstated (he made the quarterfinals in 2004). Both Marsh and Ogden competed in this year’s Masters tournament, although neither made the cut.

The 47-year-old Jackson’s sparkling amateur career includes wins in the 1994 and 2001 U.S. Mid-Amateur and appearances on the 1995 and 1999 Walker Cup squads. Hogarth, 40, won the 1996 U.S. Amateur Public Links championship, and has also won the 1999 California Amateur and 2004 Southern California Mid-Amateur.

For a current list of the entrants, log onto www.pacificcoastamateur.com.

PACIFIC COAST AMATEUR HISTORY

Although its present history dates only from 1967, the Pacific Coast Amateur Championship’s roots make it one of the oldest amateur golf championships in American history.

The first tournament was held on the links of the San Francisco Golf Club at The Presidio, April 24-27, 1901. Championships were held annually through 1911, all being conducted in California except for the 1909 championship, which was held at Seattle Golf Club in Washington.

The Pacific Coast Amateur then ceased to exist, only to be reconstituted at the Seattle Golf Club on August 10-12, 1967. The objective was to start a golf championship with the stature that would attract the attention of the USGA and display the ability of amateur golfers in the western United States for possible Walker Cup Team selection. Since 1967, 12 Pacific Coast Amateur champions and another dozen who have competed in the event have been selected to U.S. Walker Cup squads.

The championship rotates each year among major golf clubs throughout the western United States and Canada.