Mike Booker

Off in the first match of the morning and looking to continue his consistent and solid play from Friday was Oak Hills employee, John Perez. For the third straight match, Perez would be facing off against an Oak Hills member. Saturday’s opponent was qualifying round co-medalist, Zan Terry. Perez got things started early with a birdie on the 1st to take a quick 1-up lead. Terry went on to square the match with a par on the 3rd, but would lose the 4th and 9th holes to head to the back nine 2-down. The two halved the 10th hole with birdies and moved on to the 11th. With a par on the par-4, 11th, Perez extended his lead to 3-up and would never look back. The two players matched pars for the next five holes and Perez would emerge victorious once again with a 3&2 win. The third match of the quarterfinals featured Gene Williams and Colby Harwell. A birdie at the 1st gave Harwell the quick 1-up lead. The two would then go back and forth for the next eight holes making the turn at all square. Harwell made another birdie at the par-5, 10th, but gave it back at the 11th with a bogey to even the match once again. A conceded birdie at the 13th, and another birdie at the 15th quickly gave Harwell the 2-up lead going into the 17th hole. With matching pars on the 17th, the match was over with Harwell winning 2&1. Also advancing from the quarterfinals were Mike Booker, who defeated Michael Pruitt in 20 holes, and Ron Kilby, who defeated Matt Wernecke by a margin of 4&3.

Semifinal matches started Saturday afternoon with John Perez facing Mike Booker. With a fast start that included two birdies in his first six holes, Booker took a commanding 4-up lead going to the 8th tee. Perez, who has been known to wear people out with his consistent play, made a par on the 8th to get back to 3-down, and another par at the 9th to halve the hole. The players went on to halve the 10th with birdies but with another par on the 11th, Perez cut into the lead again moving him to 2-down. Sensing a change in momentum, Booker picked up the pace and won holes 12 and 13 to retake the 4-up lead. Making another birdie on the 15th, Booker closed out John Perez 5&3 to claim his spot in the final match on Sunday.

In the last semifinal match, Ron Kilby, who was the college roommate of Mike Booker, faced off against Colby Harwell. Kilby took a quick 2-up lead with wins on the first two holes and would manage to hold on to that lead through the first 13 holes. Kilby made a solid par on the 14th to win another hole and extend his lead to 3-up. With a birdie at the par-5, 15th, and a par at the 16th, Harwell quickly got two holes back to move to 1-down with two holes to play. The players halved the 17th with pars and headed to the 18th with Harwell in a win-or-go home situation. Harwell’s tee shot on the par-3, 18th, left him with a very difficult two-putt that he was unable to convert. Kilby’s chip from short of the green was enough for a concession and a victory of 2-up.

With that, the final match for the 2013 Mid-Amateur Match Play Championship is set for Sunday morning at Oak Hills Country Club with former college roommates Mike Booker and Ron Kilby battling for the title. The pair will tee off at 7:30am. For live scoring and other information, please visit WWW.TXGA.ORG.

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