Colby Harwell
(Texas Golf Association Photo)
DALLAS, TX (July 23, 2016) -- Colby Harwell, San
Antonio, saw himself through to the finals after two
tough hard fought matches. In the quarterfinals in the
morning, Colby squared off against Dallas’ Andy
McCabe. Colby opened with two straight birdies that
helped him win the first three holes. However, the
momentum switched when McCabe poured in a birdie
on the 168 yard par three, 5th. With a par on the
difficult 6th, he battled back to just a one-hole deficit.
The pair would go on to halve the next seven holes
before Harwell’s birdie on the 530 yard, par five, 14th.
He closed the match with a birdie on the 17th, for a 3 &
1 victory.
Harwell’s time between his next match and his
previous was quite large as his opponent would have to
endure a grueling 24 holes before advancing to the
semifinals.
Gary Ezmerlian, Fort Worth, squared off against
Dallas’ Josh Irving in the other quarterfinal. The match
at one point got to where Ezmerlian was three down
after six holes. That gap was made up quickly when a
couple of pars brought him back to just one down. The
two traded victories on the 11th and 12th but it was
Gary’s birdie on the 14th that saw him go all square and
his par on the 16th that saw him take his first lead of
the day. Josh answered right back with a birdie on 17 to
begin a stretch of six straight holes in which not one
person could outperform the other. Ezmerlian’s par
though, on the 6th hole, was just enough to secure his
match up with Harwell in the afternoon.
Ezmerlian, undoubtedly exhausted from the
grueling playoff with Irving in the heat, halved Colby in
the first two holes. However, when Harwell stuck his
fairway bunker shot on the third to a few feet for birdie,
the San Antonio native stepped on the gas pedal. Pars
on the fourth and sixth holes saw his lead go to 3 up.
Despite his bogey on the ninth, Harwell turned at 4 up
and in command of the matchup. Harwell booked his
Championship Match ticket with three straight victories
between holes eleven through thirteen.
On the other side of the draw, Zach Atkinson,
Colleyville, faced off versus Christopher Wheeler of
Addison. The two fast paced players were out in hurry,
momentum that Atkinson took advantage of. Atkinson
took a 2 up lead through four and looked ready for a
semifinals match in the afternoon. Wheeler though
parred the sixth and brought the margin to just one.
Atkinson though birdied right back on the seventh and
took the 2 up lead which he quickly extended to a 6 & 5
victory in just six more additional holes.
James Glenn, Tyler, and Jay Reynolds’, Austin,
match featured a ton a swings in momentum and
numerous birdies. Glenn drew first blood with just a par
on the 2nd hole but Reynolds answered with back-to-
back birdies to get the advantage. However, James
answered with a birdie of his own to bring the match to
all square through five. Despite sharing par victories on
the sixth and eighth, it was Glenn’s par on the ninth
that got him a 1 up lead at the turn. The two remained
at that margin until a par on the 17th for Glenn saw him
claim a 2 & 1 victory.
Zach Atkinson and James Glenn’s match featured
four holes of victories, with Atkinson taking three of
them with just one birdie. His margin of 2 up though
was only good for one hole when Glenn birdied the
challenging par four sixth. Just as he had done earlier,
Atkinson extended his lead to 2 up on the ninth only to
have a Glenn birdie on the tenth bring the match back
to 1 up. For the third and final time in their semifinal
match, Atkinson birdied to bring the lead to 2 up and
Glenn answered with a birdie on the 13th. The
seventeenth though was the first time Glenn got to All
Square first time since the second hole. While there
was potential for the match to see extra holes, Atkinson
confidently poured in a 12 foot birdie to clinch his berth
into the Championship Match.
The final of the 2016 Texas Mid-Amateur Match
Play between Colby Harwell and Zach Atkinson not only
features two of the top Mid-Amateurs in the state, but
also represents two-thirds of the winning Texas
contingent from the USGA Men’s State Team
Championship in 2014. The Championship Match will be
contested at 7:30 am off the first tee at Northwood
Club.
View results for Texas Mid-Am Match Play
ABOUT THE Texas Mid-Am Match Play
Eligibility: Entries are open to male amateur golfers
with a GHIN handicap index of 5.4 or less, and who
are 25 years of age or older as of the first round of
the Championship.
Format/Field Size: Scheduled for 18 holes of stroke
play qualifying on Thursday. The low 32 players
advance to match play beginning on Friday. Round of
32 and 16 played on Friday, Quarter and Semifinal
matches played on Saturday, and Final match on
Sunday morning. The field is limited to 84 players.
View Complete Tournament Information