The former Fresno State player barely scraped by in the first round and needed an extra hole against Gary Knight just to guarantee himself a match on Sunday. From there, he took down Aaron Chen, 2 and 1, before needing only 14 holes in his Round of 16 match against Andrew Bernick.
Anthony, 35, has logged top-10 finishes at the Fresno City Amateur and the Stocker cup since his San Francisco City win a year ago. He was affectionately dubbed as an “old guy” in a tournament that – like many – skews young.
For McNeely, an 18-year-old from Carmel, Calif., the thrill of victory was short-lived. Travis Peterson pulled the same trick on Sunday morning, taking down McNeely in 20 holes. Peterson went on to defeat Dylan VanderVeer, a junior at St. Mary’s College, in the afternoon by a 1-up margin.
Along with Anthony on the bottom of the bracket, San Francisco City returners Brett Viboch and Bobby Bucey also advanced to the quarterfinals. The two men must win the next match to face off against each other, which would make for an excellent match considering that they are also four-ball partners. The two were medalists at last year’s U.S. Amateur Four-Ball and won the NCGA Four-Ball title in 2016.
Quarterfinal play will resume on Saturday March 16 in the championship division, while the open division has been whittled down to four players in each of six brackets.
In the women’s division, top-seeded Sophie Thai got a big 6-and-4 victory over Andrea Gomez to move into the quarterfinals. Only Danielle Suh’s victory was bigger. The No. 4 seed defeated Grace Bettis, 7 and 6, to earn a tee time for next weekend.