Jackson, Zahringer Advance At 2002 U.S. Mid-AmateurGreenwich, Conn. – Defending champion Tim Jackson, 43, of Germantown, Tenn., and last year’s runner-up, George Zahringer, 49, of New York, N.Y., each won in the first round of match play Monday at the 2002 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, being held at The Stanwich Club (par 72, 6,952 yards).
Jackson, who also won the 1994 U.S. Mid-Amateur, had four birdies on the front nine, with the usual match play concessions, and cruised to a 7-and-5 victory over Rick Reinsberg of Moraga, Calif.
“I want to play as good as I can play and stay right in the middle of what I’m doing,” Jackson said. “You can’t think about the trophy until the last day when the final putt drops. You know this match play thing – funny things happen on the way to the house.”
Zahringer, one of the three co-medalists and a member at The Stanwich Club, won the par-5, 500-yard 14th hole to square his match against Scott Hardy, 26, of Pleasant Hill, Calif., and took a 1-up lead when Hardy bogeyed the par-3, 165-yard 16th hole. The two players traded pars on the final two holes and Zahringer had a 1-up victory.
“Hopefully, you only have one match that could go either way, what you would characterize afterward as a squeaker,” Zahringer said. “The close matches are tough – they wear on you. This is a match that could have gone either way, so absolutely I feel fortunate to win.”
The other co-medalists, Pat Carter, 34, of Lesage, W.Va., and Bill Sharpe, 33, of Edmond, Okla., both lost in first-round action. Tim Hogarth, 36, of Northridge, Calif., the 1996 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion, defeated Carter, 1 up. David Brown, 41, of Pittsburgh, Pa., earned a 4-and-3 victory over Sharpe.
Also advancing was 1995 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Jerry Courville, Jr., 43, of Milford, Conn., who eagled the 14th hole en route to a 1-up victory over Chris Kuhlke of Augusta, Ga.
England’s Gary Wolstenholme, 42, a four-time member of the Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team and former British Amateur and British Mid-Amateur champion, sank a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to win, 1 up, over Jim Spagnolo of Fort Worth, Texas.
Seven of 12 players made it through the morning playoff to advance to match play, including Hogarth and Trey Lewis, 33, of Hendersonville, Tenn., who went on to earn a 1-up victory over 1999 Mid-Amateur champion Danny Green, 45, of Jackson, Tenn. Five of the seven advanced to the second round.
The second and third rounds of match play are set for Tuesday and the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will be played Wednesday. The Championship runs through Thursday’s 36-hole final match.
The U.S. Mid-Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.
Results
Greenwich, Conn. -- Results from Monday’s first round of match play from the 2002 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at The Stanwich Club (6,952 yards, par 72).
Upper Bracket
David Brown, Upper St. Clair, Pa. (152) def. Bill Sharpe, Edmond, Okla. (142), 4 and 3
Peter Samborsky II, Dayton, Ohio (149) def. Greg Stebbins, Mahwah, N.J. (149), 3 and 2
Richard Southwick, Shelter Island, N.Y. (151) def. Michael Kelley, Westerville, Ohio (147), 2 and 1
Jerry Courville, Milford, Conn. (148) def. Chris Kuhlke, Augusta, Ga. (151), 1 up
Gregory Martin, Starkville, Miss. (151) def. Chris Cupit, Alpharetta, Ga. (146), 3 and 2
Greg Reynolds, Grand Blanc, Mich. (150) def. Timothy Waggoner, Spokane, Wash. (149), 2 and 1
John Pate, Santa Barbara, Calif. (146) def. Terry Wamack, Columbus, Ohio (151), 1 up
Tripp Davis, Norman, Okla. (149) def. Daniel Arvanitis, Manchester, N.H. (150), 6 and 4
Dave Yarnes, Corvallis, Ore. (145) def. Paul Schlacter, Pittsburgh, Pa. (152), 1 up
Gary Wolstenholme, England (149) def. Jim Spagnolo, Fort Worth, Texas (150), 1 up
Tim Jackson, Germantown, Tenn. (147) def. Rick Reinsberg, Moraga, Calif. (151), 7 and 5
Shawn McCaskey, Cincinnati, Ohio (150) def. Bert Atkinson, Charleston, S.C. (148), 2 and 1
Paul Simson, Raleigh, N.C. (152) def. Brad Hardin, Martinsville, Ind. (145), 19 holes
Mark Wagner, Statesville, N.C. (149) def. Kemp Richardson, Laguna Niguel, Calif. (150), 20 holes
John Kemp, England (147) def. Robert Sheats, Atlanta, Ga. (151), 1 up
Arnold Cutrell, Greensburg, Pa. (150) def. Jim Roy, Syracuse, N.Y. (148), 1 up
Lower Bracket
Tim Hogarth, Northridge, Calif. (152) def. Patrick Dean Carter, Lesage, W.Va. (142), 1 up
Jeff Wilson, Suisun, Calif. (149) def. Haymes Snedeker, Oxford, Miss. (149), 6 and 4
Chip Travis, Hinsdale, Ill. (147) def. Wes Christopher, Kingwood, Texas (151), 5 and 4
Brendan Hester, Sutton, Mass. (148) def. Randy Mahar, Portland, Ore. (150), 7 and 5
Trey Lewis, Hendersonville, Tenn. (152) def. Danny Green, Jackson, Tenn. (145), 1 up
Terrence Miskell, New Braunfels, Texas (149) def. Gary Lucas, Topeka, Kan. (150), 1 up
David Nocar, Severna Park, Md. (151) def. Patrick Pierson, Central Nyack, N.Y. (146), 3 and 2
Greg Ott, Des Moines, Wash. (149) def. Matthew Clarke, Loudonville, N.Y. (150), 1 up
George Zahringer, New York, N.Y. (142) def. Scott Hardy, Pleasant Hill, Calif. (152), 1 up
Joseph Taylor, West Islip, N.Y. (149) def. Michael McDermott, Broomall, Pa. (150), 20 holes
David Herzog, Palmdale, Calif. (147) def. Peter McCarthy, Canada (151), 3 and 2
Ryan Nietfeldt, Omaha, Neb. (148) def. Dan Jennings, Los Angeles, Calif. (150), 1 up
James Scorse, Rochester, N.Y. (152) def. Kyle Coody, Plano, Texas (145), 24 holes
Austin Eaton, Stamford, Conn. (149) def. Gene Elliott, West Des Moines, Iowa (150), 3 and 2
Chris Jenkins, Little Rock, Ark. (146) def. Tim Sheppard, East Peoria, Ill. (151), 5 and 3
Trip Kuehne, Dallas, Texas (149) def. Titus Harris III, Houston, Texas (150), 5 and 4
