The other two stroke-play medalists, Scott Harvey of Greensboro, N.C., and Tim Hogarth of Northridge, Calif., also won their first-round matches.

Smith, 32, who won the Mid-Amateur in 2003 and 2009, was the equivalent of 5 under par, with the usual match-play concessions, in his 5-and-4 victory over Spitz.

“I seemed to make the key putts out there,” Smith said. “If I got a look at some birdies and some clutch par saves, I seemed to capitalize and I was able to pull away.”

Smith, who was also co-medalist in stroke play and a USA Walker Cup team member last year, did not find out about the rematch until he arrived at the club for breakfast. Spitz, 34, earned the final place in match play in a morning playoff at The Bridge.

“I was at the barbeque last night and some of the guys were talking about a lot of great players in the playoff,” Smith said. “I thought there was a chance that I was going to get one of them.

“When I was eating breakfast this morning, I looked up at the (scoring) screen and I saw it. It was a little weird, kind of shocking. It’s a tough draw and he played great out there. I was surprised. I didn’t have too much breakfast.”

An investment specialist, Smith fully understands the difficulty of following up on last year’s victory.

“You have to get started,” Smith said of the first-round win. “It’s tough when you are defending. You have to keep playing hard. You are not going to sneak up on everybody. You have to go make your own luck.”

Harvey, 32, a driving range operator playing in his third Mid-Amateur, defeated Grady Brame of Hammond, La., 3 and 1.

“Hurdle one is cleared but I never won in the second round so that’s my next goal,” said Harvey, who advanced to match play in the 2010 U.S. Amateur. “I’d like to step up more than one this time and I want to keep going.”

Hogarth, 44, who won the 1996 U.S. Amateur Public Links, beat Ryan Zamorano of Dallas, Texas, 2 and 1.

Two-time champion Tim Jackson, 51, of Germantown, Tenn., earned his 28th win in 18 Mid-Amateur match-play appearances with a 2-and-1 victory over Jordan Nasser of Irvine, Calif. Kevin Marsh, 37, of Henderson, Nev., who won the 2005 Mid-Amateur, also won, beating Dan Dunkelberg of Fort Worth, Texas, 5 and 4.

Bridgehampton, N.Y. – Results following Monday’s first round of match play at the 2010 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, being played at the 7,044-yard, par-72 Atlantic Golf Club.

Round of 64 Upper Bracket

Nathan Smith, Pittsburgh, Pa. (144) def. Tim Spitz, Rochester, N.Y. (153), 5 and 4 John Engler, Augusta, Ga. (150) def. George J. Zahringer III, New York, N.Y. (151), 19 holes Kevin Pomarleau, E. Wenatchee, Wash. (152) def. Brad Wilder, Fort Wright, Ky. (148), 1 up Todd Mitchell, Bloomington, Ill. (148) def. Richie Taylor, Snellville, Ga. (152), 5 and 4 Steve Harwell, Mooresville, N.C. (152) def. Tripp Davis, Norman, Okla. (146), 6 and 4 Tom Krystyn, Denver, Colo. (151) def. Robert Leopold, England (149), 3 and 2 Anthony Barrera, San Jose, Calif. (147) def. Dan Emrick, St. Peters, Mo. (152), 1 up Brent Landry, Charlotte, N.C. (151) def. Michael Brown, Cheltenham, Pa. (149), 19 holes Todd Burgan, Knoxville, Tenn. (145) def. Richard Berkmeyer, St. Louis, Mo. (153), 5 and 4 Stephen Anderson, Hobe Sound, Fla. (151) def. Jordan Hawkinson, Grant, Minn. (150), 4 and 3 Tim Jackson, Germantown, Tenn. (152) def. Jordan Nasser, Irvine, Calif. (148), 2 and 1 Joe Jaspers, Huntersville, N.C. (152) def. Tom Werkmeister, Grand Rapids, Mich. (149), 3 and 2 Tim Mickelson, San Diego, Calif. (153) def. Mike McCoy, West Des Moines, Iowa (145), 2 and 1 Keith Humerickhouse, New Castle, Colo. (150) def. David Noll Jr, Dalton, Ga. (151), 4 and 3 R.J. Nakashian, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (148) def. Robbe Trout, Fort Worth, Texas (152), 2 and 1 Joseph Saladino, Huntington, N.Y. (149) def. Raymond Floyd, Old Greenwich, Conn. (152), 20 holes

Lower Bracket

Tim Hogarth, Northridge, Calif. (144) def. Ryan Zamorano, Dallas, Texas (153), 2 and 1 Nathan Colson, Milwaukee, Wis. (151) def. Casey Cusack, Anchorage, Alaska (150), 19 holes Patrick Duffy, Omaha, Neb. (152) def. Ryan Abbate, Weston, Fla. (148), 2 and 1 Lance Goodson, Birmingham, Ala. (149) def. James Scorse, Rochester, N.Y. (152), 2 up Kevin Marsh, Henderson, Nev. (145) def. Dan Dunkelberg, Fort Worth, Texas (152), 5 and 4 Robby McWilliams, Bossier City, La. (149) def. Jordan Mitchell, Atlanta, Ga. (151), 4 and 2 Joey Gullion, Humble, Texas (152) def. Gene Williams, Beeville, Texas (147), 4 and 2 Bill Jeremiah, West Grove, Pa. (149) def. Nolan Mills, Charlotte, N.C. (151), 6 and 5 Scott Harvey, Greensboro, N.C. (144) def. Grady Brame, Hammond, La. (153), 3 and 1 Tyler Sharpe, Greensburg, Ky. (151) def. Dick Engel, Quartz Hill, Calif. (150), 4 and 3 Brian Atkinson, Chicago, Ill. (148) def. Brian Harris, Kokomo, Ind. (152), 1 up Rick Cloninger, Fort Mill, S.C. (149) def. Robert Gregorski, Appleton, Wis. (152), 3 and 2 Sean Knapp, Oakmont, Pa. (145) def. Brian Grossman, Mansfield, Texas (152), 5 and 3 David Ujihara, Brea, Calif. (149) def. Samuel O'Dell, Hurricane, W.Va. (151), 2 and 1 Mike Calef, West Bridgewater, Mass. (152) def. Patrick Carter, Huntington, W.Va. (148), 2 and 1 Ben Hayes, Scottsdale, Ariz. (152) def. Robert F. Gerwin II, Cincinnati, Ohio (149), 19 holes

Bridgehampton, N.Y. – Pairings for Tuesday’s second round of match play at the 2010 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, being played at the 7,044-yard, par-72 Atlantic Golf Club.

Round of 32 Upper Bracket

7:30 a.m. Nathan Smith, Pittsburgh, Pa. (144) vs. John Engler, Augusta, Ga. (150) 7:40 a.m. Kevin Pomarleau, E. Wenatchee, Wash. (152) vs. Todd Mitchell, Bloomington, Ill. (148) 7:50 a.m. Steve Harwell, Mooresville, N.C. (152) vs. Tom Krystyn, Denver, Colo. (151) 8 a.m. Anthony Barrera, San Jose, Calif. (147) vs. Brent Landry, Charlotte, N.C. (151) 8:10 a.m. Todd Burgan, Knoxville, Tenn. (145) vs. Stephen Anderson, Hobe Sound, Fla. (151) 8:20 a.m. Tim Jackson, Germantown, Tenn. (152) vs. Joe Jaspers, Huntersville, N.C. (152) 8:30 a.m. Tim Mickelson, San Diego, Calif. (153) vs. Keith Humerickhouse, New Castle, Colo. (150) 8:40 a.m. R.J. Nakashian, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (148) vs. Joseph Saladino, Huntington, N.Y. (149)

Lower Bracket

8:50 a.m. Tim Hogarth, Northridge, Calif. (144) vs. Nathan Colson, Milwaukee, Wis. (151) 9 a.m. Patrick Duffy, Omaha, Neb. (152) vs. Lance Goodson, Birmingham, Ala. (149) 9:10 a.m. Kevin Marsh, Henderson, Nev. (145) vs. Robby McWilliams, Bossier City, La. (149) 9:20 a.m. Joey Gullion, Humble, Texas (152) vs. Bill Jeremiah, West Grove, Pa. (149) 9:30 a.m. Scott Harvey, Greensboro, N.C. (144) vs. Tyler Sharpe, Greensburg, Ky. (151) 9:40 a.m. Brian Atkinson, Chicago, Ill. (148) vs. Rick Cloninger, Fort Mill, S.C. (149) 9:50 a.m. Sean Knapp, Oakmont, Pa. (145) vs. David Ujihara, Brea, Calif. (149) 10 a.m. Mike Calef, West Bridgewater, Mass. (152) vs. Ben Hayes, Scottsdale, Ariz. (152)