Joe Shaktman of Coral Springs, Fla., captured the Palm Beach County Senior Amateur Match Play Championship, completing an impressive run through the 32-player bracket.
The championship was originally scheduled to conclude on Aug. 30, but bad weather forced the final to be cancelled and rescheduled. The title match was eventually played on Friday, Sept. 4, allowing Shaktman to complete his run several days later.
Shaktman entered match play as the No. 18 seed and opened against No. 15 Mike Chouinard of Hobe Sound, winning 3 & 2 to advance.
In the Round of 16, he faced Jeff Egizio of North Palm Beach, who had knocked out No. 2 seed Mike Nealy in his opening match. Shaktman moved comfortably into the quarterfinals with a 5 & 3 victory.
Shaktman's quarterfinal opponent was No. 7 Joe Ingarra of Palm Beach Gardens. Ingarra had defeated Jeffery Chandler 2 & 1 before Shaktman ended his run to reach the final four.
In the semifinals, Shaktman came up against No. 4 David Roschman of Palm Beach Gardens. Roschman had progressed through a section of the bracket that included Kevin Rees of Deerfield Beach and Victor Leoni of Miami Shores.
Shaktman ultimately completed the job in the rescheduled final, capping a championship run in which the No. 18 seed defeated multiple higher-seeded opponents on his way to the Palm Beach County Senior Amateur Match Play title.
Will Davenport wins Palm Beach County Mid-Amateur Match Play title
Davenport entered the 32-player match-play bracket as the No. 1 seed and never needed to play beyond the 16th hole in any of his five matches.
He opened against No. 32 Bobby Fox of Stuart, posting a 3 & 2 victory to advance.
In the Round of 16, Davenport faced Matt Lashinger of Palm Beach Gardens, who had needed 20 holes to survive his opening match against Justin Goodhue. Davenport prevailed 3 & 2 to book his place in the quarterfinals.
His quarterfinal opponent was Ryan Haxel of Fort Pierce, the No. 25 seed. Haxel had already knocked out No. 8 James Smith, but Davenport continued his steady progress with his third consecutive 3 & 2 victory.
Davenport then produced his biggest winning margin of the championship in the semifinals, beating Scott Butler of North Palm Beach 5 & 4.
That set up the championship match against Jordan Elsen of Palm Beach Gardens, the No. 10 seed. Elsen had made his own strong run through the bottom half of the bracket, which included a 4 & 3 Round-of-16 victory.
Davenport finished the job with a 4 & 3 victory over Elsen in the final, completing a dominant week in which he won all five matches with at least two holes remaining.
