The first player to book his place in the final four was Lewis Irvine, who defeated Lachlan Reynolds, 3 and 2, in the afternoon. Irvine put together a nearly flawless performance against Reynolds with four birdies and no dropped shots. The youngster had earlier reached the last eight in tense fashion with a victory at the third extra hole against Jeff Wright.
Matthew Clark also reached the semifinals with a tense one-hole victory over 2008 champion, Callum MacAulay. The match between Clark and MacAulay contained 12 birdies and an eagle, with both players playing some outstanding golf. Earlier in the day, Clark had beaten Sean Marc, 3 and 2, in the last 16.
“Callum MacAulay is someone I used to look up to back when he was in the amateur ranks in 2007/08, it was an honor to just play with him this afternoon and to win was fantastic. We both played really nicely. It was a good match and most importantly played in the right spirit.”
Darren Howie will also tee it up Saturday morning after a one-hole victory over John Paterson. Howie fell behind at the first had to battle to stay in the match until he leveled things up with a birdie on No. 15. Howie then took the lead for the first time with a par on the 17th and closed out the victory with another par on 18. It was Howie’s second 1-up victory of the day, having earlier beaten Louis Dobbelaar in the last 16 by the same margin.
Completing the semifinal lineup is Crail member George Burns who kept alive the hopes of a home winner this week. In another match that was won on the 18th, Burns edged out Marcus Rickard, having earlier beaten Eric McIntosh in the last 16.
The event will reach its conclusion Saturday with the semifinals taking place in the morning before the 18-hole final in the afternoon, which will tee-off at 1:30 p.m.