Mike Booker
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (July 27, 2013) — Overnight showers brought close to an inch of rain to Oak Hills Country Club prior to the start of the quarterfinals for the Mid-Amateur Match Play Championship on Saturday. The slightly softer golf course paired with the cooler temperatures provided a perfect stage for some exciting golf. Eight players survived the first two rounds on Friday and returned to the host site with hopes of surviving two more matches and advancing to the finals on Sunday.
Off in the first match of the morning and looking to continue his consistent and solid play from Friday was Oak Hills employee, John Perez. For the third straight match, Perez would be facing off against an Oak Hills member. Saturday’s opponent was qualifying round co-medalist, Zan Terry. Perez got things started early with a birdie on the 1st to take a quick 1-up lead. Terry went on to square the match with a par on the 3rd, but would lose the 4th and 9th holes to head to the back nine 2-down. The two halved the 10th hole with birdies and moved on to the 11th. With a par on the par-4, 11th, Perez extended his lead to 3-up and would never look back. The two players matched pars for the next five holes and Perez would emerge victorious once again with a 3&2 win. The third match of the quarterfinals featured Gene Williams and Colby Harwell. A birdie at the 1st gave Harwell the quick 1-up lead. The two would then go back and forth for the next eight holes making the turn at all square. Harwell made another birdie at the par-5, 10th, but gave it back at the 11th with a bogey to even the match once again. A conceded birdie at the 13th, and another birdie at the 15th quickly gave Harwell the 2-up lead going into the 17th hole. With matching pars on the 17th, the match was over with Harwell winning 2&1. Also advancing from the quarterfinals were Mike Booker, who defeated Michael Pruitt in 20 holes, and Ron Kilby, who defeated Matt Wernecke by a margin of 4&3.
Semifinal matches started Saturday afternoon with John Perez facing Mike Booker. With a fast start that included two birdies in his first six holes, Booker took a commanding 4-up lead going to the 8th tee. Perez, who has been known to wear people out with his consistent play, made a par on the 8th to get back to 3-down, and another par at the 9th to halve the hole. The players went on to halve the 10th with birdies but with another par on the 11th, Perez cut into the lead again moving him to 2-down. Sensing a change in momentum, Booker picked up the pace and won holes 12 and 13 to retake the 4-up lead. Making another birdie on the 15th, Booker closed out John Perez 5&3 to claim his spot in the final match on Sunday.
In the last semifinal match, Ron Kilby, who was the college roommate of Mike Booker, faced off against Colby Harwell. Kilby took a quick 2-up lead with wins on the first two holes and would manage to hold on to that lead through the first 13 holes. Kilby made a solid par on the 14th to win another hole and extend his lead to 3-up. With a birdie at the par-5, 15th, and a par at the 16th, Harwell quickly got two holes back to move to 1-down with two holes to play. The players halved the 17th with pars and headed to the 18th with Harwell in a win-or-go home situation. Harwell’s tee shot on the par-3, 18th, left him with a very difficult two-putt that he was unable to convert. Kilby’s chip from short of the green was enough for a concession and a victory of 2-up.
With that, the final match for the 2013 Mid-Amateur Match Play Championship is set for Sunday morning at Oak Hills Country Club with former college roommates Mike Booker and Ron Kilby battling for the title. The pair will tee off at 7:30am. For live scoring and other information, please visit WWW.TXGA.ORG.
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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.
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