Press Release

For Immediate Release August 10, 2008

Peter McGarry coasts to 2008 Western Golf Alliance Open win

Amazing consistency off the tee ensures easy victory

BANDON, Oregon. Leveraging a barrage of accurate tee shots and net pars all tournament long, Peter McGarry looked comfortable throughout the final round in easily winning the 2008 Western Golf Alliance Open. At the beautiful coastal resort of Bandon Dunes, McGarry coasted to victory six shots ahead of his nearest rival.

"Against this level of competition, and on these amazing golf courses, I honestly didn't think I could close out the tournament the way I did," said McGarry. "During the final round, I just tried to concentrate on putting every drive down the middle, without worrying about the approach angle or distance. I was able to execute on that strategy pretty successfully."

The results of this strategy did, indeed, win the tournament for McGarry. Over all four rounds, McGarry hit 94 percent of the fairways, and was able to parlay that accuracy into net pars with an occasional birdie. Additionally, without McGarry ever getting into any real trouble - he lost one one ball in the wispy rough over 72 holes and was only in four bunkers all tournament long - there was never a real opportunity for anyone to take advantage of a mistake.

"To culminate such an outstanding tournament with a winning result leaves me at a loss for words," added McGarry. "About all I can say is 'wow'."

Entering the final round, there were several players in position to take advantage of such a mistake. Trever Esko and Brian Gray were within three strokes of the lead, and Robert Gibson and Doug Atchison were within striking distance if they had gone low. While all those players shot solid final rounds, there was never an opportunity to make a move.

"Unfortunately, Peter had one of the best driving rounds I have ever witnessed," admitted Gray, the eventually runner-up. "We were waiting for a blow-up hole, for a couple double bogies or where he might take three to get out of a pot bunker, and it just never happened. It's frustrating trying to catch someone who just won't cooperate."

In addition to McGarry's consistent final round, there were some spectacular moments that highlighted this WGA Open at this spectacular venue. One such moment occurred in Round 1, when Esko shot a net 59 to surge to the early lead, powered by a 1-over par 37 on the back nine at Bandon Dunes. Another was the early morning Round 2 at Bandon Trails, which started in dense fog and featured Gibson shooting a tournament-best gross score of 73. For spectacular individual shots, there was Gray's drive on the 16th hole in the 4th round, a par 4 playing 345 - Gray placed his drive just left of the green, 20 yards beyond the pin.

Final standings - Top 3:

Peter McGarry

Brian Gray

Trever Esko

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About the Western Golf Alliance: The Western Golf Alliance is the premier golf organization in the United States. The WGA exists to further the greatness of this grand sport of golf through the improvement of golf play by its members, the promotion of golf rules, etiquette, and tradition, and the ability to gather together from time to time for golf events and tournaments. The regional organization spans five western states, and is organized into nine geographic regions. Further information is available at http://www.westerngolf.org/.

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