Two-Time Champion Joey Johnson

Of the four remaining golfers, none is more notable than Joey Johnson. The recent Missouri State graduate is looking to go back-to back-to-back in this event. Johnson advanced to the semifinals via a 2-and-1 victory against the #3 seed Wilson Sundvold.

Johnson opened the quarterfinal match with 3 birdies in his first nine to take a 1-up lead. However, bogeys on the 10th and 12th holes gave Sundvold a 1-up lead going into the 14th hole. This is when Johnson’s experience in this event proved invaluable as he birdied the 14th and won the 15th and the 16th to give him a 2-up lead going into the remaining two holes. The players both made par on the par-3 17th and Johnson won the match.

Johnson will face Alex Springer in the semifinals. Springer, of Olathe, Kan., advanced to the semifinals in comeback fashion with a 1-up victory against Travis Mays. Springer, a sophomore at Central Missouri, was 2-down going into the 15th hole when he reeled off three straight birdies to square the match. On the par-5 18th, Springer recorded a clutch 3 on the scorecard to knock Mays out of the tournament.

The Springer/ Johnson match will surely be a great match to follow tomorrow morning. The other semifinal match is between Teddy Jones of Wildwood, Mo and Mitchell Mather of Lebanon, Mo. Jones, also a golfer at Central Missouri, is the #8 seed and took out the #1 seed Brevin Giebler 3-and-2 to advance to the semifinals. Mather, like Johnson, recently graduated Missouri State and advanced through a 2-and-1 victory against Gabe Wheeler.

The semifinals will begin Sunday at 8:15am followed by the championship match beginning at 1:15pm. It’s likely that we will be seeing a battle between current or former college teammates.

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