Alex Fitch of Redmond tees off on the 17th hole during the second round of stroke play at the Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship at Tetherow Golf Club in Bend Tuesday. Fitch reached the match play portion of the tournament.

Enough major-university logos could be spotted Tuesday at Tetherow Golf Club to mistake the Bend course for a college fair.

That is no surprise at the site of the Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship, a tournament that each year attracts the region’s best amateur golfers, many of whom are major-college players toting bags sporting the logos of their respective universities.

But an NCAA Division I insignia is absent from the golf bags of Bend’s Jesse Heinly and Redmond’s Alex Fitch, who both play for small Oregon colleges.

Heinly, a sophomore-to-be at Portland’s Concordia University, and Fitch, a senior-to-be at McMinnville’s Linfield College, do not have Division I pedigrees.

Yet both advanced Tuesday to single-elimination match play, which begins today at 7:30 a.m..

“It’s a lot of fun playing against great competition,” Fitch said after his round of 77 on a cool, relatively clear morning that turned to a gray, breezy afternoon. “It’s a really good experience to play against those type of players.”

The Northwest Amateur is no college tournament and includes some players well past college age, including 46-year-old former big-league baseball pitcher Erik Hanson.

But the tournament is often dominated by Division I golfers. And that offers a chance for at least some small-school players to see how their games stack up against some of the nation’s best.

So far, so good for Fitch and Heinly.

Heinly, a former Summit High golfer, earned the No. 19 seed at Tetherow after carding a 36-hole score of 4 over. Fitch, a former Redmond High golfer who led Linfield into May’s 2011 NCAA Division III national championship, earned the No. 32 seed at 6 over.

Hawaii’s David Fink, who plays for Oregon State, set a course record 67 Tuesday to share medalist honors at 7 under with Washington’s Matt Rawitzer, who plays collegiately at Idaho.

Bend’s Andrew Vijarro, a University of Oregon standout golfer, earned the No. 14 seed by carding 3 over. Bend’s Taylor Garbutt, a caddie at Tetherow, also advanced at 8 over.

The Northwest Amateur, which began with 12 Central Oregon golfers in the 152-player field, pared the field to 64 Tuesday. Match play begins today in a single-elimination format.

For Heinly, a good result here could pay dividends later. After all, he still has dreams of playing Division I golf.

“I am definitely going to Concordia one more year, and then I might try to leave and go someplace else,” said Heinly, who considers Tetherow his home course. “But I want to prove that I can play with any of these guys.”

Heinly is not short on confidence.

He led NAIA Concordia in scoring average as a freshman and broke 70 three times during the season.

“I think I can play with them,” Heinly said. “I think the big difference is that they just play more consistently and they have more experience.

“(Playing in the Northwest Am) is definitely a good experience for me.”

Fitch said he believes that on any given day a Division III player can beat a major-college player.

“I feel like I can play with any one of them, but at the same time they’re just really, really consistent,” said Fitch. “They have (top) coaches and everything, and they have a lot better facilities and things like that.

“But on a good day, I feel like I can compete with almost anyone out there, which is kind of a cool deal. It’s an aspect of golf that you really don’t get from any other sport.”

Both golfers now look to do damage in match play.

Heinly will play Jeremy Wendelken, a Sammamish, Wash., golfer who plays college golf at Sonoma State, today at Tetherow. Fitch is scheduled to play Joseph Harrison, a University of San Diego golfer from Boulder City, Nev.

“I think a success is winning at least one match here, and maybe two,” Heinly said. “That would be a pretty solid week. But I definitely want to try to win it.”

Winning the Northwest Amateur, which concludes with Saturday’s 36-hole championship match, is a tall order for any golfer. But even if a victory in the Northwest Amateur — whose winners include Tiger Woods, in 1994 — is not in the cards, Fitch said that playing well so far means something.

Said Fitch: “It’s nice to know that even though Jesse and I go to smaller schools, that we can play with the big boys and still kind of represent Central Oregon.”

Bend golfers Cole Pickavance (+17), Nick Schaan (+20), Roger Eichorn (+21), Jim Tebbs (+26), Cory Schmidt (+27), Ryan Roskowski (+38), Cory Benner (+43) and Redmond’s Andy Rodby (+16) all missed the cut.

If you go

What: Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur Championship

When: Today-Saturday

Where: Tetherow Golf Club

Admission: Free

Schedule of play

Play begins at 7 a.m. each day

Today: Round one of match play

Thursday: Rounds two and three of match play

Friday: Quarterfinal and semifinal matches

Saturday: 36-hole final championship match

For more information: www.thepnga.org