Dumdumaya regains 59th Pacific Coast Amateur lead after three rounds; Knox breaks course record
Livermore, Calif. – Jaden Dumdumaya (Benecia, Calif.) shot a 5-under par third round of 65 and holds a three-shot lead at the 59th Pacific Coast Amateur at 11-under par. The championship is being held this week, July 21-24, at Poppy Ridge Golf Course in Livermore, Calif.
Conditions during the third round were more reminiscent of the first, with moderate winds and sunshine.
Championship Links:
Defending tournament champion Dumdumaya entered the day one stroke behind the lead, due in large part to the presence of a triple bogey on his round 2 scorecard. Clad in the same red-and-white stripes in which he hoisted the trophy last year, Dumdumaya grinded his way through Thursday’s front nine, bogeying the third hole and not recording a birdie until the seventh. Making the turn in 35, Dumdumaya soon found another gear on the back nine with five birdies, three of which came consecutively to finish his round. It all totaled to a second side of 30, and a reacquisition of the solo lead at 11-under.
This week, other than Dumdumaya’s triple bogey, which came at the 16th hole during his second round, he has only carded two additional bogeys and nothing worse against 16 birdies. Entering his junior season at the University of Southern California, Dumdumaya is the highest ranked WAGR player in this week’s field at No. 75.
“Tomorrow my game plan is to stay in the present and trust the process,” Dumdumaya told AmateurGolf.com after his round.
Among those from whom Dumdumaya will have to resist challenge is Jacob Goode (San Francisco), who is currently at the 8-under tie for second. Playing in the final group Thursday after a pair of 67’s to open his week, Goode found four birdies on his front nine and went out strongly in 31. But some turbulence followed, as Goode dropped shots on holes 14 and 17 to come home with a 68, which still represented his third straight sub-70 round.
“My enemy and my rival is the golf course,” Goode said later in competitive spirit. “I’m not really thinking about anyone else, I’m just trying to go out and put a round together.”
Goode is ranked No. 140 in WAGR. A graduate of the University of Washington, he finished in a tie for sixth at the 2026 Trans-Mississippi Amateur Championship.
Tied with Goode in second are Brandon Knight (Pleasanton, Calif.) and Sihao Cong (Temecula, Calif.), who both shot 68’s of their own.
As well, Reese Knox (Peyton, Colo.), who teed off at 10:20 (the leaders did at 1:50), skyrocketed his way into contention. Beginning the day at 1-over and far from guaranteed to make the cut, Knox fired an incendiary round of 62 – the course record at Poppy Ridge – to post 7-under.
“It was an awesome day, I had fun,” Knox said later. “The putter got hot early, which is good.”
Knox is a rising junior at Boise State University and represented Team Idaho in the Morse Cup competition this week. Four strokes off Dumdumaya’s lead, Knox will attempt to win the 59th Pacific Coast Amateur as WAGR No. 3336.
With the first three rounds complete, the field will now be cut to the low 50 players and ties. The first group will tee off at 7:30 a.m., and the last will do so at 10:30.
Other Notables:
- Brandon Knight’s path to second was ignited by four consecutive birdies to finish. Standing on the 15th tee, he was 2-over for his round and seven back of the would-be lead.
- Sterling Hurd (Austin, Texas) fired a 7-under 63 after starting his day at 3-over for the championship, below the cutline. Hurd is now T17, seven shots behind the lead.
- Aidan Lee (Pasadena, Calif.), who held the 36-hole lead at 8-under, shot 71 (+1) and is now four adrift Dumdumaya.
- Benson White (Canada) recorded a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th hole. White’s ace was the third of this year’s championship and, so far, the only one on 17.
- The par-5 18th hole played as the easiest hole of round 3. It was followed by the par-4 sixth, which was birdied 33 times and eagled once.
- Conversely, the 14th and 13th played as the hardest and second hardest, respectively.
About Poppy Ridge
Located in Livermore, Calif., Poppy Ridge Golf Course is one of two golf courses owned and operated by the Northern California Golf Association (NCGA), the other being Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach, Calif. The course officially reopened on May 31, 2025, after a 13-month construction and grow-in process, where an 18-hole golf course has been created with completely new routing and state-of-the-art infrastructure. The new championship-caliber venue hosted a multitude of NCGA championships in 2025 and is set for nine more in 2026. A newly renovated practice facility and short game area are complemented by an executive nine-hole course, appropriately named “The Ridge 9.”
About the Pacific Coast Golf Association
The Pacific Coast Amateur Championship is one of the oldest and most prestigious amateur golf championships in North America. The first tournament was held on the links of San Francisco Golf Club at The Presidio in 1901. After being played until 1911, the Pacific Coast Amateur then ceased to exist, only to be reconstituted at Seattle Golf Club in 1967. Today, 15 member Pacific Rim golf associations comprise the Pacific Coast Golf Association. For more information visit, pacificcoastamateur.com.
About the Elite Amateur Golf Series
Launched in 2022 to challenge the best of the best in amateur golf, the Elite Amateur Golf Series brings together the top amateur championships in a collective series of competitions, the Elite Amateur Cup. In addition to hosting the best players, Elite Amateur Cup events are contested at the best sites and have the longest history of successful champions. The Elite Amateur Golf Series maintains a proven track record that prepares elite players for the toughest competitive tests, making the championships the majors of amateur golf. Visit eliteamateurgolfseries.org for more information.