Playing at Par-71 Poppy Hills, No.1 seed Randy Haag from Olympic Club defeated No.32 seed Ron Collet by a 7-and-6 margin. Haag, who is a two-time defending champ after winning the Senior Match Play in 2016 and 2017, halved the opening hole with a par. He then went on to win six of the next eight holes and make the turn with a 6-up lead. His opening nine included three birdies and one bogey.
The upsets began in the No. 4 versus No. 29 match, when David Halvorson from Del Rio G&CC overcame Scott Anderson in 20 holes. Halvorson came out with an opening birdie to take a 1-up lead, and maintained a lead through the 15th hole. Anderson rallied late on 16 with a birdie to square up the match. They then halved the next three holes before Halvorson closed out the match on the par-3 second hole with a birdie.
No. 28 seed John Watson also advanced over No. 5 seed Jim Knoll with a 2-and-1 victory. Knoll had an early lead after a birdie on the first; however, that was his only lead of the day after Watson came back with a win on the second to square up the match. Watson took a 2-up lead through 13 with a birdie on the par 5, and then halved the next four to take the win.
The upsets continued when No. 27 seed Bobby Davis defeated No. 6 seed Steve Donnelly 5 and 3. After initially playing the first two holes in all square, Donnelly discovered he had fifteen clubs in his bag and had to take losses on the opening holes. Davis would hold onto the lead for the rest of the match, closing out with a birdie on the par-3 15th to go 5 up with three holes remaining.
Wednesday will see play move over to Spyglass Hill, with the Round-of-16 matches beginning at 9:40 a.m., followed by the quarterfinal matches in the afternoon at 2:28 p.m.
Super Senior Championship
The top seeds went unscathed in Tuesday’s opening round of 16 at the NCGA Super Senior Match Play Championship.
No.1 seed Mark Miller, the current Player of the Year points list leader, advanced with a 4-and-3 victory over Tom Lyons. Miller took the early lead with a birdie on the first, but Lyons would battle back to all square on four separate occasions on the front nine. Miller then took a 1-up lead on the ninth with a birdie and would not look back, maintaining a lead through the rest of the match.
Also advancing were the No. 2 seed Ron Johnson, No. 3 seed Herb Jensen and No. 4 seed Frank Pieper.
In the only upsets of the day, No.11 seed Bob Cayton and No.12 seed Rob Adolph both will move on to the quarterfinals.
Wednesday’s quarterfinal matches will move over to Spyglass Hill where play will begin at 11:00 a.m.