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Vardaman
Eliminates
Defending Champ
At
2004 USGA
Senior
Amateur
Los
Angeles, Calif.
- Jack
Vardaman,
64, of Washington,
D.C.,
ended defending champion Kemp
Richardson's
quest to repeat during Wednesday's third round at the 2004
USGA Senior Amateur, being conducted at the par-70, 6,491-yard
Bel-Air Country Club.
Vardaman
took the lead immediately against Richardson,
winning the par-5 first hole when Richardson
bogeyed. Vardaman built
the lead to 4 up at the par-3 10th hole after another Richardson
bogey, and closed out
the match for a 4-and-3 victory when the two traded pars on
the 15th hole.
Despite
holding the lead throughout the entire match, Vardaman said
he never felt completely in control.
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| 2002 Senior Amateur champion Greg Reynolds
putts during his third-round victory Wednesday. (Sam Greenwood/USGA) |
"After
I made a birdie at 12, I was 4 up with six to play and I figured
all I had to do was to par out," Vardaman said. "But Kemp
is such a good player, you just never know. Everybody has
won matches when they were way down, and they have lost matches
when they were way up. It's a mistake to feel like you're
too much in control."
With
the usual match-play concessions, Vardaman was the equivalent
of two under par, with four birdies, while Richardson
was two over par.
"I
was very lucky to play well, and Kemp didn't play his best,"
said Vardaman. "But it is very satisfying."
Richardson,
58, of Laguna Niguel, Calif., who also won the 2001 USGA Senior
Amateur, was trying to become just the second person in the
championship's 50-year history to win a third Senior Amateur.
Lewis Oehmig,
with wins in 1972, 1976, and 1985, remains the only golfer
to win three.
Vardaman
will face another past champion in the quarterfinals - 2002
Senior Amateur winner Greg
Reynolds,
57, of Grand Blanc, Mich.
"Tomorrow
is going to be another tough match," said Vardaman, a past
member of the USGA Executive Committee. "It's just like today
- you just got to play your best and hope that's good enough.
That's all you can do. You can't control the way your opponent
plays. I'm sure I'm the underdog, but I feel like if I go
and play the way I did today, I have an excellent chance."
Reynolds
won the first five holes
against Steven Hakes of San Francisco and never trailed en
route to a 7-and-6 victory. In his first three matches, Reynolds
has yet to play past
the 15th hole.
"I'm
just trying to what my normal ability is, and hope that's
good enough," said Reynolds.
"You never can tell - there's got to be a little bit of luck
in the match play. If your opponent doesn't play so well,
then you don't have to play quite so well to win, but sometimes
you get somebody that gets on a roll and making a bunch of
birdies and then you've got to really play hard."
The
runner-up from the 2002 championship, Mark Bemowski, 58, of
Mukwonago, Wis., also advanced, with a 4-and-2 victory over
Tony Lehman of Santa Barbara, Calif. Bemowski will face two-time
USA Walker Cupper Marty West in Wednesday's quarterfinals.
West, 56, of Rockville, Md., moved on with a 2-and-1 victory
over Edward Fletcher of Mashpee, Mass.
Other
third-round winners were Ted
Lyford,
60, of Redlands,
Calif.,
Alan Foster,
61, of Manilus,
N.Y.,
Greg Shaw,
55, of Little Rock,
Ark.,
and Michael Walters,
56, of Tampa,
Fla.
Earlier
in the day, stroke-play medalist Ronald
Vannelli,
58, of Edison,
N.J.,
was ousted by West in the second round, 3 and 1. Vannelli
was trying to become the first stroke-play medalist to win
the title since Richardson's
late father, John,
did so in 1987. Vannelli took a brief lead when West
bogeyed the second hole,
but West
won the fourth and fifth holes with pars and never trailed
again en route to a 3-and-1 victory.
"You
can't play bad and keep winning in this world," said Vannelli,
who had four bogeys and one birdie in the match. "You have
to play solid."
The
championship continues with the quarterfinal and semifinal
matches Wednesday. The 18-hole championship final will be
held Thursday.
The USGA Senior Amateur is one of 13 national championships
conducted annually by the United States Golf Association,
10 of which are strictly for amateurs.
Story
written by Beth
Murrison
of USGA media relations.
You can reach
her at bmurrison@usga.org.
Los
Angeles, Calif.
- Results from the Tuesday's
second and third rounds of match play at the 2004 USGA Senior
Amateur Championship, being conducted at the par-70, 6,491-yard
Bel-Air Country Club.
Round
of 32
Upper
Bracket
Martin
West,
Rockville,
Md.
(152) def. Ronald Vannelli,
Edison,
N.J.
(144), 3 and 1
Edward
Fletcher,
Mashpee,
Mass.
(150) def. Roger Gunderson,
Aurora,
Colo.
(154), 3 and 2
Tony
Lehman,
Santa Barbara,
Calif.
(153) def. David Boesel,
Winter Park,
Fla.
(149), 4 and 3
Mark
Bemowski,
Mukwonago,
Wis.
(149) def. Spencer Sappington,
Alpharetta,
Ga.
(151), 3 and 1
Stephen
Yavorsky,
Capistrano Beach,
Calif.
(152) def. Timothy Miller,
Kokomo,
Ind.
(155), 3 and 2
Ted
Lyford,
Redlands,
Calif.
(154) def. Chip Stewart, Dallas,
Texas
(149), 1 up
Alan
Foster,
Manlius,
N.Y.
(153) def. Roy Smethurst,
England
(155), 3 and 2
Kent
Christopher,
Farmington,
Utah
(149) def. Gregory Scurlock,
Augusta,
Ga.
(154), 3 and 2
Lower
Bracket
Ernie
Newton,
High Point,
N.C.
(145) def. Jim Ruschioni,
Leominster,
Mass.
(152), 3 and 2
Greg
Shaw,
Little Rock,
Ark.
(155) def. Rick Weihe,
Bellingham,
Wash.
(151), 3 and 2
Alex
Tarumianz,
Lookout Mountain,
Tenn.
(155) def. Joseph Keller,
Osterville,
Mass.
(153), 19 holes
Michael
Walters,
Tampa,
Fla.
(149) def. David Brookreson,
Huntingdon Valley,
Pa.
(151), 3 and 2
Kemp
Richardson,
Laguna Niguel,
Calif.
(146) def. Van Salmans,
Chicago,
Ill.
(152), 1 up
Jack
Vardaman,
Washington,
D.C.
(154) def. Joseph Cristillo,
Crystal River,
Fla.
(155), 3 and 2
Steven
Hakes, San Diego, Calif. (147) def. Steven Hoffman, Savannah,
Ga. (151), 19 holes
Greg
Reynolds,
Grand Blanc,
Mich.
(151) def. Ronnie Tumlin,
Saint Augustine,
Fla.
(149), 4 and 3
Round
of 16
Upper
Bracket
West
def. Fletcher, 2 and 1
Bemowski
def. Lehman, 4 and 2
Lyford
def. Yavorsky, 1 up
Foster
def. Christopher,
4 and 2
Lower
Bracket
Shaw
def. Newton,
5 and 3
Walters
def. Tarumianz, 5 and
4
Vardaman
def. Richardson,
4 and 3
Reynolds
def. Hakes, 7 and 6
Los
Angeles, Calif.
- Pairings for Wednesday's
quarterfinal round of match play at the 2004 USGA Senior Amateur
Championship at the par-70, 6,491-yard Bel-Air Country Club.
Round
of 8
Upper
Bracket
8:00
a.m. Martin
West,
Rockville,
Md.
(152) vs. Mark Bemowski,
Mukwonago,
Wis.
(149)
8:10
a.m. Ted
Lyford,
Redlands,
Calif.
(154) vs. Alan Foster,
Manlius,
N.Y.
(153)
Lower
Bracket
8:20
a.m. Greg
Shaw,
Little Rock,
Ark.
(155) vs. Michael Walters,
Tampa,
Fla.
(149)
8:30
a.m. Jack Vardaman, Washington, D.C. (154) vs.
Greg Reynolds, Grand Blanc, Mich. (151)
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