Texas Public Links: Match Play begins
-- photo Odessa American College
MONTGOMERY, Texas (June 1, 2012) -- Absolutely beautiful weather and ideal scoring conditions welcomed the top 32 players to the Match Play portion of the 2012 Public Links Championship. The #1 rated daily fee course in Texas, Woodforest Golf Club, has seen spectacular golf so far, with Medalist Stanton Tondre continuing his strong play into the Quarterfinals.
Tondre, of Castroville, began the morning round of 32 with a victory over Belton’s Casey Wharton. Tondre, the #1 seed heading into Match Play, turned in his morning round 2-up and was able to advance after halving the par four 15th hole en route to a 4 and 3 win.
Cedar Park’s Michael Smith, the 2011 Public Links Champion, squared off against Aaron Kaiser, of Austin. Smith, the #2 seed, was able to make the turn at 3 up before closing it out with a 5 and 4 victory on the Back Course.
A morning match that stood out was between Fort Worth’s Robert Perry and Gregory Davis, of Sugar Land. Perry needed only 11 holes before closing out with a 9 and 7 victory. Perry won 9 of the 11 holes with the other two holes being halved.
The afternoon round of 16 saw Tondre continue his dominate play. A member of the University of Texas at San Antonio golf team, Tondre was able to put away Crosby’s Jonathan Marek with a 7 and 6 victory.
Michael Smith was able to advance to the Quarterfinals with a victory in the round of 16 against Tyler Smith, of Fort Worth. The Stephen F. Austin golfer made the afternoon turn at 4 up and held a 5 up lead before giving one back and eventually winning 4 and 3.
Wichita State’s Tyler Gann will face Michael Smith in the Quarterfinals after two straight victories of 7 and 6. His morning win came against Andrew Carreon, of San Antonio. Gann was able to continue the strong play with an afternoon victory against Rockwall’s Christopher Clem.
The State Public Links is scheduled for 18 holes of stroke play qualifying on Thursday, May 31, 2012 with the low 32 players advancing to the match play portion of the championship. First and second round matches will be played on Friday. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played Saturday, with the finals on Sunday.