The beauty of match play in all of its fickle form was on full display this morning at the Country Club of Detroit, where only five higher seeds survived their round of 32 matches at the U.S. Senior Amateur.
Ousted in the Round of 32 were No. 3 seed Sean Knapp, No. 4 Sherrill Britt, No. 5 Roger Newsom, No. 6 Mike McCoy, No. 8 Chris Fieger and defending champion Bob Royak, who was seeded 12th.
Chip Lutz (No. 2) and Jerry Gunthrope (No. 9) are the only single-digit seeds to have found their way to the Round of 16.
Lutz, who dispatched of Robert Nelson, 5 and 3, in the first round, had an easy time of it against Jim Muething in the Round of 32, winning 6 and 5, while Gunthrope defeated Brad Wayment (Mesa, Ariz.) 1 up.
Lutz won the 2015 U.S. Senior Amateur and has reached match play in all 10 Senior Amateurs played. He know has a 27-9 match-play record in the championship, has also advanced to the semifinals on four occasions (2010, 2011, 2013, 2018). He has won the R&A Senior Amateur Championship three times and the Canadian Senior Amateur twice.
In the battle of Georgia, Billy Mitchell won holes 14 and 15 to defeat defending champion Bob Royak, 1 up.
The top-ranked senior amateur in the world, Gene Elliott, is through to the round of 16 after surviving a tight match against fellow Des Moines, Iowa resident Mike McCoy in 19 holes. Joe Jaspers of Waverly, Iowa also advanced to the Round of 16.
No. 33 seed Rusty Strawn jumped out to an early lead against Kory Frost, who eliminated medalist Tim Hogarth in 21 holes on Monday, going 5 up through the first seven holes en route to a 3 and 2 victory.
Craig Davis (Chula Vista, Calif.), the 58th seed, continued his hot play on Tuesday morning, rolling Paul Jett, 5 and 4 one day after taking out No. 7 seed Jeff Knox.
Round of 16 Matches
Rusty Strawn vs. Jim Lehman
Jim Scorse vs. Jerry Gunthorpe
Daniel Russo vs. Dave Bunker
Tim Peterson vs. Billy Mitchell
Chip Lutz vs. Eddie Hargett
Craig Davis vs. Lewis Stephenson
Joe Jaspers vs. Tom Gieselman
Gene Elliott vs. Doug Hanzel
AmateurGolf.com will have a complete update of the Round of 16 matches at the U.S. Senior Amateur later today.
ABOUT THE U.S. Senior Amateur
The USGA Senior Amateur is open to those
with a USGA Handicap Index of 7.4 or lower,
who are 55 or older on or before the day the
championship begins. It is one of 14 national
championships conducted annually by the
USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.
View Complete Tournament Information