Derek Bayley repeats as Idaho amateur match play champion

Derek Bayley, who recently concluded his collegiate career at Washington State University, collected another Idaho Golf Association men’s amateur match play championship.

Bayley, a product of Lakeland High in Rathdrum, repeated as champion with a 6&5 win over Auburn’s Graysen Huff on Monday at TimberStone Golf Course in Caldwell. Bayley beat Huff 4&2 in the 2017 final.

Bayley torched the front side in 29 strokes. He was 7 under in a six-hole stretch that included two eagles. He holed out from 75 yards for eagle on the 284-yard par-4 sixth to halve the hole with Huff, a former Eagle High standout who nearly made a hole-in-one.

After closing out the match, Bayley finished out the back side to see if he could break TimberStone’s course record. Bayley made birdies on 14, 15 and 17 to finish at 11-under 61 and match the record.

Bayley won five matches in a three-day span, including a 6&5 win in his opener and an 8&6 quarterfinal victory. Bayley defeated Notre Dame’s Hunter Ostrom, a former Bishop Kelly standout, in 19 holes in the semifinals.