Western Amateur down to final four at Rich Harvest Farms

August 7, 2015 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

Medalist Robby Shelton (top left), will face<Br>Dawson Armstrong (top right) while Jake Knapp<br>(bottom left) will do battle with Aaron Wise

Robby Shelton will face Dawson Armstrong while Jake Knapp will square off with fellow Californian Aaron Wise

SUGAR GROVE, Ill. — Saturday's semifinal matchups are set for the 113th Western Amateur. Two kids from the Southeast will do battle while two Pac-12 collegians, both natives of California, will dual it out on the other side of the bracket.

Medalist and No. 1 seed Robby Shelton of the University of Alabama was the first player through to the semis on Friday afternoon, handing Australian junior golfer Ryan Ruffels a 4-and-3 defeat. The win will pit him against Tennessee native Dawson Armstrong on Saturday morning.

Armstrong, who at one point held the 36-hole stroke play qualifying lead after opening rounds of 67 and 66, is a sophomore at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. He took down 2013 Western Amateur winner Jordan Niebrugge in the quarterfinals to punch his ticket to Saturday.

RELATED: Shelton claims medalist honors at Western Amateur
QUARTERFINAL RECAP: Shelton among eight advancing Friday morning

The most compelling match of the afternoon wound up being the duel between UCLA senior Jake Knapp and University of Texas junior Gavin Hall. The pair needed six extra holes after Hall forced sudden death with a clutch birdie at 18. Knapp and Hall managed to both make birdies on the fifth extra hole, the par-3 5th at Rich Harvest Farms, to force what was eventually their final hole. Knapp knocked an incredible fairway bunker shot to two feet and tapped in to eliminate Hall.

Knapp will face fellow Southern Californian Aaron Wise on Saturday morning. Wise, a sophomore at the University of Oregon from Lake Elsinore, Calif., would be a remarkable champion at tournament's end considering he won last week's Pacific Coast Amateur. Wise defeated soon-to-be University of Florida freshman Sam Horsfield of England in his quarterfinal match by a count of 3-and-2.

Results: Western Amateur

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
Win	Dawson Armstrong	Brentwood, TN	1500	67-66-74-74=281
Runner-up	Aaron Wise	Lake Elsinore, CA	1200	76-64-71-70=281
Semifinals	Jake Knapp	Costa Mesa, CA	900	71-70-72-70=283
Semifinals	Robby Shelton	Wilmer, AL	900	71-68-71-67=277
Quarterfinals	Gavin Hall	Pittsford, NY	700	70-73-70-66=279

View full results for Western Amateur

About the Western Amateur

Western Amateur down to final four at Rich Harvest Farms

Invitational event, and the most important tournament in American amateur golf outside of the U.S. Amateur. With a grueling schedule, it's quite possibly the hardest amateur tournament to win. 156 invited players come from across the globe to play on...