Michael Muehr, from Potomac Falls, Va., was the last Middle Atlantic entry still standing after he won two matches to reach the quarter-finals of the U.S. Mid-Amateur championship at Stonewall in Elverson, Pa., about an hour south of the Allentown/Bethlehem area.
Muehr defeated Gregor Orlando, Philadelphia, Pa., 2 and 1, and Claudio Consul, of Germany, also 2 and 1.
He had qualified for match play as a co-medalist at 138, and been placed at the top of the draw. In his first match he defeated Kyle Elliott, Lincoln, R.I., 3 and 2. This marked the fourth time in five tries that the former pro (2001-04) reached match play and the first time in the quarters since 2011.
In another second round pairing, Chip Mason, Ashburn, Va., downed Chris Noel, Broken Arrow, Okla., 3 and 2, then lost in the round of 16 to David May, Auburn, N.Y, 3 and 2.
The only other one to make it to the second round was Trevor Randolph, a Congressional CC member from Franklin Lakes, N.J., who lost to Joshua Irving, Dallas, 2 and 1. The only Marylander to make match play, Mike Stackus, Ellicott City, Md., challenged Scott Harvey, Greensboro, N.C., also a co-medalist, before bowing, 2 and 1. Stackus was 1 up after 10, but Harvey rallied with a birdie-par-birdie run early on the second nine. Stackus had qualified with 148.
Muehr will play Scott Strickland, Birmingham, Mich., in the quarterfinals Wednesday morning (September 14), with semifinals listed for the afternoon and a scheduled 18-hole final set for September 15.
September 12
Eleana Collins, of Baltimore, was the only Maryland woman resident to win an opening-round match, as play in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur continued in Erie, Pa., and Elverson, Pa., respectively, September 12.
Collins, who qualified with 77-77–154, defeated Stacey Camara, Windsor, Calif., 6 and 4. The winner was 2 up at the turn and won four of the first five holes on the back nine to reach the second round.
In other women’s first-round matches, Olivia Herrick, Roseville, Minn., defeated Andrea Kraus, Baltimore, 4 and 3; Carmen Titus, Kansas City, Mo., defeated Jane Fitzgerald, Kensington, 1 up, and Kim Benedict, Bonita Springs, Fl., defeated Lauren Greenlief, Reston, Va., the defending champion, 1 up. No more than one hole separated the players after the third hole in the Titus-Fitzgerald and Benedict-Greelief matches. Both winners won the 18th hole to score 1-up victories.
For the men, Michael Muehr, Potomac Falls, Va.; Trevor Randolph, a Congressional CC member from Franklin Lakes, N.J., and Chip Mason, Ashburn, Va., a co-medalist in sectional qualifying at Hobbit’s Glen Golf Club, each won in the first round. Muehr, another of the co-medalists at 138, stopped Kyle Hoffman, Lincoln, R.I., 3 and 2; Randolph, 3 up after five holes, breezed past Matt Parziale, Brockton, Mass., 4 and 3, and Mason won the 18th with a par to edge Eugene Elliott, West Des Moines, Iowa, 1 up.
Middle Atlantic area players failing to advance to match play were Andrew Rice, Parkton, 151; Matt Sughrue, Arlington, Va., and Bethesda CC, 156, and David Nocar, Millersville, 159.
Reported by John Stewart
