Jacques Wilson (Carolinas Golf Association Photo)
A field of 64 dwindled down to one at the 52nd South Carolina Amateur Match Play Championship held at Orangeburg Country Club in Orangeburg, S.C. Congratulations to Jacques Wilson of Charleston, S.C. for winning his championship match 4 & 3 after a long week of play.
“I am definitely going to be sore tomorrow morning,” Wilson said. “Mental toughness is a big thing out here…if you can eliminate mistakes out there, it definitely goes a long way.”
On Thursday and Friday, three rounds of Group Play matches were conducted, with the winner of each pod advancing to the Round of 16.
At the end of Group Play, Wilson was part of a three-man playoff to determine who would move on to Bracket Play over the weekend. It took six extra holes on Friday afternoon for him to punch his ticket to the weekend.
Saturday morning, the Round of 16 teed off with the Quarterfinals ensuing that same afternoon. Hot temperatures throughout the week tested players’ mental and physical endurance with multiple rounds played each day.
Wilson won both of his Saturday matches 4 & 3. Even with a break in between matches, he stayed hot with birdies on the first three holes of his Quarterfinals Match to take a fast lead over David Lott of Barnwell, S.C.
Adam Hunt of Columbia, S.C., also wrapped his Quarterfinals Match swiftly with a 5 & 4 win. Colt Ingram of Aiken, S.C., had a back and forth battle with Benton Leinster of Greenville, S.C. which lasted 18 holes before advancing with a one-up edge. Sam McMillan of Mount Pleasant, S.C., however, grinded back from three-down to advance to the Semifinals after 22 holes of play against Jack Wieler of Bluffton, S.C.
Hunt and Ingram got the action going Sunday morning. Warmth already hung in the air as temperatures continued to rise throughout the morning.
Ingram defeated Hunt on the 18th hole to move on to the Championship Match. His next opponent, Wilson, was already waiting after winning his match 4 & 3.
Throughout the week, Wilson relied on his experience. Last year, Wilson made it to the Semifinals before being knocked out.
“I’ve been doing this a long time,” Wilson said. “Learning a little bit from last year, some of the mistakes that I made, trusting my game and just kind of using that this year.”
At 11:15 a.m., the final match of the tournament was underway. By the fourth hole, Wilson was three-up over Ingram, but after nine holes and a front score of 34, his lead was only one.
Off the tee, Wilson excelled. His distance gave him comfortable shots into greens which gave him plenty of good looks. Ingram tried to respond down the stretch, but couldn’t get any of his putts to fall.
The wind provided an extra obstacle, which made the course harder to navigate, but Wilson embraced that challenge.
“I knew it was going to be hard out there, which kind of takes a lot of the nerves out of there,” Wilson said. “You know it’s going to play hard, you don’t need to be making birdies on every hole.”
With Wilson winning holes 11, 12 and 13, it created a deficit that Ingram couldn’t overcome and the match ultimately ended on the 15th hole.
Orangeburg Country Club has seen success from Wilson before. He holds the course record of 63.
“Back in 2016, we had a college day out here,” Wilson said. “I really like the golf course clearly so I was happy the match play was out here this year.”
View results for South Carolina Amateur Match Play
ABOUT THE
South Carolina Amateur Match Play
Championship format is 36 holes of stroke play to
determine 32 qualifiers for
match play. The defending champion is seeded
number one
for match play if otherwise eligible.
Entry is open to any male amateur golfer who has
reached his 13th birthday, is a legal resident of
South Carolina, is a member in good
standing of a club which is a member of the
Carolinas Golf Association (CGA)
and has an active GHIN® USGA Handicap Index® at
a CGA member club that
does not exceed 7.4.
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