The pairings of Brandon Cigna-Ben Warnquist and Eric Hall-Rij Patel each recorded 9-under-par totals of 63 to claim two of the three available places during qualifying at Worthington Manor Golf Club in Urbana for the second annual U.S. Four-Ball Championship, September 15.

With a crowded leaderboard and darkness looming, officials postponed the necessary playoff to sort out the one remaining national qualifier and the two alternates from among five teams at 64. Play will resume September 16 at 7:30 a.m.

The five teams poised for this action are Lee Flemister-Don Phattiyakul; Doug Gentilcore-Ben Ricker; Chris Baloga-Jeff Castle; Nathaniel Hoopes-Brian O’Toole, and Sam Jung-Yoojin Kim.

Warnquist and Cigna, Manor Country Club members and paired competitively for the first time, combined for 10 birdies, 1 bogey in their tour of the 6,896-yard, par-72 Frederick County layout in Urbana. Warnquist, 22, medalist and champion of the 2015 Maryland State Golf Association Amateur, had eight of the birds, including two “bombs” on the front nine, a 25-footer at No. 6 and a 40-footer at No. 8. His two on the back included one at the 18th, the team’s final hole.

In a coupling of 17-year-old high school seniors, Hall (Severn) highlighted the round with an eagle-3 at the 536-yard ninth, chipping in from the edge of the green, then watching his ball as it rolled into the collar, before trickling down to the cup. Finishing on the back side, Hall birdied from 20 feet at the 17th and Patel (McDonogh) from three feet at the par-5 18th.

Gentilcore, 35, and Ricker, 37, both from Glenn Dale GC, and who had teamed together in the past, each had three birdies in dipping 6 under on the back nine after getting to the turn 2-under. “Ben kept us in it at the start, I woke up in the middle, and Ben finished it off,” Gentilcore said of an effort that included birdies on all four par-5’s and birdies on five of the last six holes.

Baloga-Castle, who survived a playoff last year to qualify for the 2015 tournament, held in the spring, find themselves in another playoff after starting on 10 and following three successive pars, Castle took charge with birdies on five of the next six holes on that nine. Coming back, Baloga birdied the fourth and Castle clinched a playoff berth with birdies at the eighth and ninth.

Flemister, 55, runner-up in the Maryland State Seniors championship last week, continued his fine play with three birdies, while Phattiyakul, 39, eagled the 533-yard fifth (short in 2 and chipped in) and added four birdies. A missed green led to the their only bogey. Starting on No. 1, at one point, Phattiyakul faced a tricky 12-foot downhill putt and just as it was starting to veer off line, it fell in the hole. Flemister took care of the final birdie with a 16-foot putt.

Hoopes-O’Toole started on 10, and Hoopes went out and birdied five holes in a row, helping them to turn 6-under. Each then got one birdie on the front — at Nos. 7 and 8.

Kim-Jung started on No. 1, and Kim eagled the ninth (driver, 3-iron short and chipped in). Birdie putts of 30 feet at the 16th and four feet at the 18th got them the day’s final 64.

Notes: Trevor Randolph, winner of five of the last six Congressional CC club championships, including one earlier this month, eagled the ninth with a driver-7-iron to two feet, as he and Keith Unikel went on to finish at 66. . .John Eades, a former University of Maryland teammate of Tim Kane’s, came up from Charlotte, N.C. to partner his buddy and sparked their 65 with nine birdies, two bogeys. . .Among those with eagles were Ryan Richardson, Christopher Hoffman, Adam Gray, and Serge Hogg. . .The MSGA conducted the event for the USGA.

Jeff Castle, from Parkville and Eagle’s Nest, won the third playoff hole with a par to lift himself and partner Chris Baloga, from Baltimore and Hillendale CC, into the final available place in sectional qualifying for the 2d annual U.S. Four-Ball championship at Worthington Manor Golf Club in Urbana, September 16.

The playoff was necessitated when five teams tied at 64 in the regulation round on September 15, and the early evening time forced Maryland State Golf Association officials to postpone the scheduled action. All were on hand for a 7:30 a.m. start and although it took three holes to sort out the order of finish, much of the work was done on the first playoff hole (No. 15).

At the par-3, 170-yard test, Dan Phattiyakul, from Gaithersburg, and Baloga each made birdie, the former from two feet and the latter from seven feet. When the other three teams failed to birdie the hole, that left University of Maryland Golf Club members Phattiyakul and partner Lee Flemister and the Baloga-Castle entry to battle for the Championship place and first alternate.

The two teams parred the 16th hole (Phattiyakul needed to make it from 18 feet to keep his side alive) and at the 188-yard, par-3 17th, Castle was the only one on the green off the tee. By the time it came his turn to putt, the others were lying 4. From eight feet, he narrowly missed his birdie, then tapped in for the win.

Last year, the Baloga-Castle pairing was in a playoff in this event and Castle birdied the first hole at Argyle CC to get the spot.

Among the others, Glenn Dale GC members Dan Ricker (with Doug Gentilcore) and Washington residents Nathaniel Hoopes (with Brian O’Toole) each made 3 at 15 and continued on to determine the second alternate, while Centreville (Va.) residents Sam Jung and Yoojin Kim made 4 and were eliminated. The other two sides parred 16 and all four hit the green at 17, with Hoopes, at three feet, the closest. The first three missed their birdie bids and Hoopes took his time and tapped in to close out the Ricker-Gentilcore team.

With three places available for the Championship, two were decided in regulation when Manor CC members Brandon Cigna, from Arlington, Va., and Ben Warnquist, from Olney, and 17-year-olds Rij Patel, from Hunt Valley and Hayfields CC, and Eric Hall, from Harwood and Old South CC, tied for the medal with 63’s.

-Reported By: John Stewart