Golfers warm up at the range prior to the second round of stroke play at Jefferson City Country Club (photo/Missouri Golf Association)
After two rounds of stroke play and a playoff of 11-golfers for the final seven spots, the 2016 Missouri Amateur Golf Championships now moves onto the field of 64. Match play begins Wednesday morning with a Mizzou golfer sitting on top with the overall number one seed.
Luigi Botta, who came to Mizzou via Italy, fired a 66 in the second qualifying round to grab the first tee time for match play.
“My game is very good overall right now,” said Botta, an upcoming junior at Mizzou. “I’m hitting good drives, I was always in the fairway, which meant I had a lot of chances to be aggressive with my approach shot. That turned into a lot of birdie opportunities.”
Defending champion Mitch Mather struggled putting the first two days, but managed to grab a spot in match play making the cut by one stroke. Mather, a native of Lebanon who just finished his college career at Missouri State, shot 78-75 to qualify.
“I’m hitting the ball just as well as I did last year,” said Mather, who made just one birdie in the 36 holes of qualifying. “But last year, I was putting really well. And when you’re putting well, it takes a lot of pressure off the rest of your game.”
Derek Reynolds shot even par (72) to stay one-under for the two-day total (143). Past Amateur Champion, Brad Nurski, shot two-under to be two-under (142) total after the second round. Preston Fleenor is also two-under total after scoring three-under (69).
After Wednesday’s round, the field was a cut to 64 players to start Match Play on Thursday. There will be one round of match play Thursday, followed by two rounds of match play on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The champion will be declared on Sunday after the two finalists play 36 holes.
| SC | Match | Hole | |||||
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1 | Botta, Luigi, Columbia, Missouri | Brown, Devin, Mount Vernon, Missouri | 8:00 am | |||
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2 | Windsor, Brett, Boonville, Mo. | Wheeler, Gabe, Sikeston, Mo. | 8:09 am | |||
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3 | Fredrick, Wayne, Springfield, Mo. | Denton, Drew, Jackson, Missouri | 8:18 am | |||
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4 | Cahill, Jason, St. Louis, Mo. | Litzelfelner III, Jack, Jackson, Mo. | 8:27 am | |||
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5 | Kesterson, Walker, Hartsburg, Mo. | Hatten, Drew, Leawood, Kan. | 8:36 am | |||
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6 | Jones, Teddy, Wildwood, Mo. | Migdal, Sam, Ballwin, Mo. | 8:45 am | |||
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7 | Niezing, Chad, Manchester, Mo. | Farmer, Kirk, Jefferson City, Mo. | 8:54 am | |||
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8 | Echelmeier, Matt, Columbia, Mo. | Ciaramitaro, Alex, St. Peters, Mo. | 9:03 am | |||
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9 | Nurski, Brad, St. Joseph, Mo. | Dixon, Brady, Mounds, Illinois | 9:12 am | |||
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10 | Carpenter, Brad, Washington, Mo. | Holmes, Sam, Springfield , Missouri | 9:21 am | |||
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11 | Franks, Kory, Jefferson City, Mo. | McCulloch, John, Jefferson City, Mo. | 9:30 am | |||
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12 | Strickland, David, Fenton, Mo. | Szyhowski, Kyle, St. Charles, Mo. | 9:39 am | |||
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13 | Reynolds, Derek, Springfield, Mo. | Dixon, Brad, Lake Ozark , Mo. | 9:48 am | |||
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14 | Carter, Jack, Sunrise Beach, Mo. | Silberberg, Michael, Wildwood, Mo. | 9:57 am | |||
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15 | Mays, Travis, Overland Park, Kansas | Obert, Christopher, Ozark, Mo. | 10:06 am | |||
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16 | Groom, Steve, Raytown, Mo. | Knoesel, Jack, Columbia, Mo. | 10:15 am | |||
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17 | Johnson, Joey, Springfield, Mo. | Reidelberger, Jeremy, Saint Charles, Missouri | 10:24 am | |||
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18 | Sheppard, Nick, Kansas City, Mo. | Echelmeier, Will, Columbia, Mo. | 10:33 am | |||
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19 | Hughes, Jon, Gardner, Kan. | Yates, Colby, Tonganoxie, Kan. | 10:42 am | |||
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20 | Rutledge, Mitch, Saint Peters, Missouri | Giebler, Brevin, Cape Girardeau, Mo. | 10:51 am | |||
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21 | Hanna, Chase, Leawood, Kansas | Johnson, Jeff, Ballwin, Mo. | 11:00 am | |||
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22 | Caravia, Phil, Saint Louis, Mo. | Stalker, Tyler, Springfield, Mo. | 11:09 am | |||
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23 | McClain Jr, Marc, Kansas City, Kansas | Mather, Mitchell, Lebanon, Mo. | 11:18 am | |||
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24 | Locke, Griffen, Joplin, Missouri | Britt, Patrick, St. Louis, Mo. | 11:27 am | |||
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25 | Fleenor, Preston, Mission Hills, Kan. | Cutler, Zach, O Fallon, Mo. | 11:36 am | |||
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26 | Cronin, Trevor, Lake Saint Louis, Missouri | Haltom, Tristan, Thornfield, Mo. | 11:45 am | |||
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27 | Eaton, Dillon, Wildwood, Mo. | Johnson, Adam, Ozark, Mo. | 11:54 am | |||
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28 | Holmes, Tim, Springfield, Mo. | Johnson, David, Kirkwood, Mo. | 12:03 pm | |||
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29 | Haskell, Brian, St. Joseph, Mo. | Martin, Chris, Rolla, Mo. | 12:12 pm | |||
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30 | Macha, Kaden, Iola, Kan. | Locke, Alex, Springfield, Mo. | 12:21 pm | |||
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31 | Parrish, Hunter, Washington, Mo. | Horner, Andrew, Saint Louis, Missouri | 12:30 pm | |||
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32 | Allen, Buddy, Pevely, Mo. | Thomas, Frankie, Chesterfield, Missouri | 12:39 pm |
