Defending champion Mark Bemowski tees off on the 18th hole

"There are other guys I’d much rather play,” Reynolds said. “We’ve got a really hard bracket. You’ve got to figure you’re going to have to play some really good players to get through this.”

Bemowski needed 19 holes to beat three-time Georgia State Senior Amateur champion Spencer Sappington of Alpharetta, who had defeated two-time Senior Amateur winner Kemp Richardson of Laguna Nigel, Calif., in the second round.

"I guess you’re lucky when you make it from 15 feet two holes in a row to go from 1-down to winning, especially after 18 holes of virtually nothing going in the hole for either one of us,” Bemowski said. “There’s no better feeling than making a putt when you have to.”

Sappington, who shot 69 to lead Senior Amateur qualifying at The Farm in late August, was the lone Georgian left in the field.

"If he’d have putted well it would have been a blowout, if I had putted well, it would have been a blowout,” Bemowski said. “We both had a million good birdie putts but we couldn’t make one.”

Bemowski now holds a 17-3 mark in Senior Amateur match play since 2001.

Reynolds, who tied for low amateur honors at the 2005 U.S. Senior Open, went 20 holes to edge Ron Vannelli of Edison, N.J. Vannelli, the medalist in 2004, beat 1992 U.S. Mid-Amateur winner Danny Yates of Atlanta, Ga., 4 and 2 in the second round.

Jack Vardaman, 65, of Washington, D.C., the oldest remaining contestant, beat Stan Fischer of Richmond, Va., 3 and 2 in the third round. Vardaman, a past member of the USGA Executive Committee and a quarterfinalist in 2004, meets Randy Reifers of Columbus, Ohio in the quarterfinals.

Fischer, who pulled his match out Monday after facing a 6-down deficit, had beaten record-setting medalist Billy Clagett earlier in the day, 3 and 1.

Mike Rice, 65, of Houston, Texas, playing in his sixth Senior Amateur, ousted 1991 U.S. Amateur champion Mitch Voges of Simi Valley, Calif., 4 and 2. He faces Gayle Sanchez of Baton Rouge, La.

Alan Foster of Manlius, N.Y., the 2005 British Senior Amateur champion, won a pair of 6-and-5 matches. He faces Bob Mielcarz of Concord, N.H.

“I had one bogey this morning and no bogeys this afternoon;” Foster said. “I’ve never hit it any better. I’m hitting it where I’m aiming it. It seems too simple now. I hadn’t been hitting my irons that well. I did a little tinkering and they started to go straight.”

All quarterfinalists are exempt from having to qualify for the 2006 championship at Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Ind.

The 13 extra-hole matches sets a record for most in any Senior Amateur, surpassing 1992 and 2001 which had 11 each.

Quarterfinals and semifinal rounds will begin at 8:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively on Wednesday and the final round on Thursday starts at 9 a.m.

The USGA Senior Amateur, for amateurs 55 and older, is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

Rocky Face, Ga. – Results from Tuesday’s second and third rounds of match play at the 2005 USGA Senior Amateur Championship at 6,737-yard, par 72 The Farm Golf Club:

Second Round

UPPER HALF

Stan Fischer, Richmond, Va. (148) def. Billy Clagett, Austin, Texas (134), 3 and 1

Jack Vardaman, Washington, D.C. (145) def. Ken Benson, Alpharetta, Ga. (150), 19 holes

Randy Reifers, Columbus, Ohio (142) def. Steve Dallas, Mesa, Ariz. (149), 20 holes

Charles Bagby, Birmingham, Ala. (151) def. Jim Brown, Loudon, Tenn. (146), 3 and 2

Mike Rice, Houston, Texas (140) def. James Myers, Oceanside, Calif. (148), 4 and 3

Mitch Voges, Simi Valley, Calif. (151) def. Rick Ten Broeck, Chicago, Ill. (144), 5 and 4

Martin West, Rockville, Md. (140) def. Tim Miller, Kokomo, Ind. (149), 5 and 4

Gayle Sanchez, Baton Rouge, La. (150) def. B. Shawn McLoughlin, Bethel, Conn. (144), 2 and 1

LOWER HALF

Alan Foster, Manlius, N.Y. (138) def. Gary Hardin, Ft. Worth, Texas (148), 6 and 5

Chip Campion, Salinas, Calif. (145) def. Ken Redfern, Austin, Texas (145), 21 holes

Robert Kulp Jr, Winston-Salem, N.C. (149) def. John Hogden, Black River Falls, Wis. (141), 1 up

Robert Mielcarz, Concord, N.H. (143) def. Mike Brummer, Rapid City, S.D. (149), 2 and 1

Mark Bemowski, Mukwonago, Wis. (139) def. Jack Forbes, Morgantown, W.Va. (147), 3 and 2

Spencer Sappington, Alpharetta, Ga. (150) def. Kemp Richardson, Laguna Niguel, Calif. (144), 6 and 4

Ronald Vannelli, Edison, N.J. (149) def. Danny Yates, Atlanta, Ga. (151), 4 and 2

Greg Reynolds, Grand Blanc, Mich. (144) def. Larry Boswell, Jamestown, N.C. (150), 3 and 1

Third Round

UPPER HALF

Vardaman def. Fischer, 3 and 2

Reifers def.. Bagby, 5 and 4

Rice def. Voges, 4 and 2

Sanchez def. West, 20 holes

LOWER HALF

Foster def. Campion, 6 and 5

Mielcarz def. Kulp, 3 and 2

Bemowski def. Sappington, 19 holes

Reynolds def. Vannelli, 20 holes

Rocky Face, Ga. – Pairings for Wednesday’s quarterfinal round of match play at the 2005 USGA Senior Amateur Championship at 6,737-yard, par 72 The Farm Golf Club: (all times EDT)

UPPER HALF

8:30 a.m. – Jack Vardaman, Washington, D.C. (145) vs. Randy Reifers, Columbus, Ohio (142)

8:40 a.m. – Mike Rice, Houston, Texas (140) vs. Gayle Sanchez, Baton Rouge, La. (150)

LOWER HALF

8:50 a.m. – Alan Foster, Manlius, N.Y. (138) vs. Robert Mielcarz, Concord, N.H. (143)

9:00 a.m. -- Mark Bemowski, Mukwonago, Wis. (139) vs. Greg Reynolds, Grand Blanc, Mich. (144)