Bremerton, Wash. (July 12, 2006) -- Jesse Schutte, 18, of Florence, Ore.,
used a hot putter to eliminate defending champion Clay Ogden of West Point, Utah,
in Wednesday’s
first round of match play at the 81st U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship,
being played at the par-72, 7,061-yard Gold Mountain Golf Club.
Also ousted was the 2005 APL runner-up, Martin Ureta, 20, of Chile, who lost
in 20 holes to Joseph Prince, 28, of Chula Vista, Calif.
 |
| Defending champion Clay Ogden during his first-round loss at the 2006
U.S. Amateur Public Links at Gold Mountain Golf Club. (Robert Walker/USGA) |
Leading those who advanced to the second round were stroke-play co-medalists
Justin Metzger, 21, of Knoxville, Tenn., and Mitch Cohlmia, 21, of Tulsa, Okla.
In what was a close match throughout, Schutte and Ogden were all square through
10 holes when Ogden bogeyed the par-5 11th to give Schutte a one-hole advantage.
Schutte then won the par-3 12th when he made a 15-foot birdie putt and Ogden
could not convert his birdie try from 20 feet. Ogden did get one back with
a conceded birdie at the 13th, but Schutte regained a 2-up edge with a birdie
at the 14th.
“Whenever I hit a good shot, he would respond,” said Schutte. “It
was a great match all day, back and forth.”
After the two traded pars at the 15th hole, both birdied the par-5 16th when
Schutte converted a 30-foot putt and Ogden matched from 8 feet. On the par-4
17th, Ogden hit his approach shot to within 10 feet, but Schutte sank his 15-foot
birdie putt to earn the victory.
“He made the putts when it came down the stretch,” said Ogden. “I
felt like I made a really good putt on 16 to keep it going, and I hit a great
drive and great approach on 17, but he didn’t give me a chance.”
Schutte, who was so frustrated with his putter during his APL sectional qualifier
that he damaged it and had to finish his round using a sand wedge to putt,
wasn’t intimidated playing against the defending champion.
“I was stoked,” said Schutte, who is playing in his first USGA
championship. “I was well prepared and came in wanting to start out the
week with an upset.”
Down two holes in his match against Jeff Berkshire, 22, of Phoenix, Ariz.,
Metzger won the ninth when Berkshire hit into a water hazard, and squared the
match on the 15th hole when Berkshire missed a four-foot par putt. Berkshire
regained a one-hole lead on the 17th when he made a 10-foot birdie putt. But
on the 18th tee, Berkshire, playing first, hit his drive well left of the fairway,
into an area of tall grass. Metzger, meanwhile, was safely on the fairway.
“I was kind of frustrated because I know it’s not over until it’s
over, but he had a great opportunity,” said Metzger. “But after
I saw him hit it left, I knew I had a legitimate chance to get to extra holes.”
That he did, as Berkshire was unable to get up and down and Metzger won the
hole with a conceded par.
“I was very lucky to get to extra holes,” said Metzger. “I
thought, ‘you haven’t been playing well all day, and you got a
break, so take advantage of it.’ “
On the 19th hole, the par-4, 460-yard first, Metzger got another break when
Berkshire hit his approach from the rough well right of the green. Metzger,
from the left rough, hit a 6-iron from 181 yards to 25 feet below the hole.
Berkshire’s chip shot skidded across the green, leaving him a long par
putt. Metzger’s 25-foot birdie attempt rolled to within inches of the
hole and was conceded. When Berkshire’s 12-foot par putt missed, Metzger
had the victory.
“I feel very fortunate to escape with that,” said Metzger. “Jeff
played solid all day and made a lot of great putts on the front nine and got
me down early. I just wasn’t as sharp as I was the last couple of days
and I was just trying to hang in there.”
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| Stroke-play co-medalist Mitch Cohlmia advanced with a 3-and-1 victory
during the first round of match play at Gold Mountain Golf Club Wednesday.
(Robert Walker/USGA) |
Cohlmia had a somewhat easier route to victory, with a 3-and-1 win over Kevin
Wentworth, 22, of Arnold, Calif. Wentworth was 2 up after four holes, but Cohlmia
came back to win four consecutive holes, starting at the par-4 seventh, to
turn the tide in his favor.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little worried to start
out because I got two down pretty quick,” said Cohlmia. “But I
just missed a few fairways to start out with and made bogeys. But I felt pretty
confident because he wasn’t really making birdies to beat me. It was
just me making bogeys.”
Also winning first-round matches were 2005 USA Walker Cupper Anthony Kim,
21, of Traverse City, Mich., 2001 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Henry Liaw,
20, of Rowland Heights, Calif., and 2004 U.S. Junior Amateur winner Sihwan
Kim, 17, of Buena Park, Calif.
The second and third rounds of the 2006 U.S. Amateur Public Links are scheduled
for Thursday and the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will be played Friday.
The championship concludes with Saturday’s 36-hole final match.
The U.S. Amateur Public Links is one of 13 national championships conducted
annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for
amateurs.
Story written by Beth Murrison of USGA Media Relations. E-mail her with questions
or comments at bmurrison@usga.org.
* * * *
Bremerton, Wash. – Results after the first round of match play Wednesday
at the 2006 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at the 7,061-yard, par-72
Gold Mountain Golf Club:
Justin Metzger, Knoxville, Tenn. (137) vs. Jeff Berkshire, Phoenix, Ariz.
(150), 19 holes
Kevin Larsen, Santa Barbara, Calif. (146) def. Derek Busby, Ruston, La. (146),
5 and 4
Derek Fathauer, Jensen Beach, Fla. (143) def. Andrew Yun, Tacoma, Wash. (148),
3 and 2
Keegan Bradley, Jackson, Wyo. (148) def. Ben Fox, Studio City, Calif. (143),
6 and 4
Derek Berg, Duvall, Wash. (142) def. Ryan Keeney, Redmond, Wash. (150), 19
holes
Kyle Ritchie, Corning, Iowa (147) def. Adam Wynia, Sioux Falls, S.D. (145),
20 holes
Zack Byrd, Calabash, N.C. (142) def. Josh Wilks, Tucson, Ariz. (149), 5 and
4
Matt Savage, Louisville, Ky. (145) def. Derrick Whiting, Alexandria, Minn.
(147), 2 and 1
Brad Marek, Arlington Heights, Ill. (150) def. J.C. Horne, Daytona Beach,
Fla. (139), 19 holes
Jerre Maynor Jr, Nashville, Tenn. (146) def. Tarik Can, Augusta, Ga. (147),
1 up
Anthony Kim, Traverse City, Mich. (143) def. Lucas Lee, Brazil (149), 2 and
1
Rory Hie, Los Angeles, Calif. (144) def. James Hockman, Norfolk, Va. (148),
3 and 2
John Cassidy, Yelm, Wash. (140) def. Brandon Pike, Huntington, Ind. (150),
4 and 3
Kane Hanson, Detroit Lakes, Minn. (147) def. Brad Hastings, Easton, Md. (146),
3 and 2
Brodie Flanders, Canada (143) def. Jesse Massie, Louisville, Ky. (149), 20
holes
Matt Harmon, Grand Rapids, Mich. (144) def. Sean Maekawa, Paauilo, Hawaii
(148), 3 and 2
Mitch Cohlmia, Tulsa, Okla. (137) def. Kevin Wentworth, Arnold, Calif. (150),
3 and 1
Kevin Foley, Somerville, N.J. (146) def. Tadd Fujikawa, Honolulu, Hawaii (146),
3 and 2
Tze Huang Choo, Singapore (143) def. Michael Barbosa, St Petersburg, Fla.
(148), 3 and 1
Sihwan Kim, Buena Park, Calif. (144) def. Billy Horschel, Grant, Fla. (148),
2 up
Scotty Jones, East Palestine, Ohio (141) def. Jay Lindell, Lakewood, N.Y.
(150), 19 holes
Brent Paladino, Kensington, Conn. (145) def. William Mitchell, Roswell, Ga.
(147), 23 holes
Cole Moreland, Austin, Texas (149) def. Brian Carroll, Crystal Lake, Ill.
(142), 19 holes
Tim Feenstra, Lynden, Wash. (147) def. Cory Segall, La Jolla, Calif. (145),
3 and 2
Joseph Prince, Chula Vista, Calif. (150) def. Martin Ureta, Chile (138), 20
holes
Chad Cooper, Lafayette, Ind. (147) def. Zachary Sebert, Columbus, Ohio (146),
5 and 3
Jesse Schutte, Florence, Ore. (148) def. Clay Ogden, West Point, Utah (143),
2 and 1
Casey Watabu, Kapaa, Hawaii (148) def. Raymond Sheedy, Keymar, Md. (144),
22 holes
Lindsay Renolds, Canada (141) def. Hernan Borja, Kingwood, Texas (150), 3
and 2
Daniel Im, Fullerton, Calif. (147) def. Charles Soule, Longmont, Colo. (146),
4 and 3
Jeff Daniels, Harrisburg, Pa. (142) def. Derek Tolan, Highlands Ranch, Colo.
(149), 4 and 2
Henry Liaw, Rowland Heights, Calif. (144) def. Terrence Miskell, New Braunfels,
Texas (148), 2 and 1
Bremerton, Wash. – Pairings for the second round of match play Thursday
at the 2006 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at the 7,061-yard, par-72
Gold Mountain Golf Club:
7:30 a.m. Justin
Metzger, Knoxville, Tenn. (137) vs. Kevin Larsen, Santa Barbara, Calif. (146)
7:39 a.m. Derek
Fathauer, Jensen Beach, Fla. (143) vs. Keegan Bradley, Jackson, Wyo. (148)
7:48 a.m. Derek
Berg, Duvall, Wash. (142) vs. Kyle Ritchie, Corning, Iowa (147)
7:57 a.m. Zack
Byrd, Calabash, N.C. (142) vs. Matt Savage, Louisville, Ky. (145)
8:06 a.m. Brad
Marek, Arlington Heights, Ill. (150) vs. Jerre Maynor Jr, Nashville, Tenn.
(146)
8:15 a.m. Anthony
Kim, Traverse City, Mich. (143) vs. Rory Hie, Los Angeles, Calif. (144)
8:24 a.m. John
Cassidy, Yelm, Wash. (140) vs. Kane Hanson, Detroit Lakes, Minn. (147)
8:33 a.m. Brodie
Flanders, Canada (143) vs. Matt Harmon, Grand Rapids, Mich. (144)
8:42 a.m. Mitch
Cohlmia, Tulsa, Okla. (137) vs. Kevin Foley, Somerville, N.J. (146)
8:51 a.m. Tze
Huang Choo, Singapore (143) vs. Sihwan Kim, Buena Park, Calif. (144)
9:00 a.m. Scotty
Jones, East Palestine, Ohio (141) vs. Brent Paladino, Kensington, Conn. (145)
9:09 a.m. Cole
Moreland, Austin, Texas (149) vs. Tim Feenstra, Lynden, Wash. (147)
9:18 a.m. Joseph
Prince, Chula Vista, Calif. (150) vs. Chad Cooper, Lafayette, Ind. (147)
9:27 a.m. Jesse
Schutte, Florence, Ore. (148) vs. Casey Watabu, Kapaa, Hawaii (148)
9:36 a.m. Lindsay
Renolds, Canada (141) vs. Daniel Im, Fullerton, Calif. (147)
9:45 a.m. Jeff
Daniels, Harrisburg, Pa. (142) vs. Henry Liaw, Rowland Heights, Calif. (144)