Hitchner Wins on 21st Hole in Round of 16, But Loses 1 Down in Quarters

National

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. -- Derek Hitchner played 39 holes at Exmoor Country Club on Friday in two matches at the Western Amateur, and it wasn't until the 37th hole of the day that anyone in either of his matches managed to get a 2-up lead. Unfortunately for Hitchner, it was his quarterfinal opponent, William Mouw, who established that lead. Mouw, who was Hitchner's teammate at Pepperdine, won the 573-yard, par-5 15th with an eagle and the 434-yard, par-4 16th with a par to go dormie. Hitchner stayed alive with a birdie at the 17th (434 yards, par 4), but Mouw secured a 1-up victory by halving the 409-yard, par-4 18th. 

It was a day of first-rate golf.

In the Round of 16 Friday morning, Hitchner, who was the No. 6 seed, defeated No. 11 Connor Mckinney in 21 holes. They made 11 birdies between them, and tied three holes with birdies. 

Hitchner, the 2021 Minnesota State Amateur champion and MGA Player of the Year, took the first lead when he birdied the 192-yard, par-3 fifth hole. Mckinney, an Australian who won the St. Andrews Links Trophy tournament earlier this year, responded by winning the 543-yard, par-5 sixth with a birdie, and his birdie at the 211-yard, par-3 eighth gave him a 1-up lead. 

After they tied the par-4 10th (439 yards) with birdies, Hitchner leveled the match with a birdie at the 576-yard, par-5 11th. He birdied the par-5 15th, as well, but so did Mckinney. They were still tied, and so it remained until Hitchner ended the match with a birdie on the third extra hole (No. 3, 401, par 4). 

The top seven seeds all won in the Round of 16, and the No. 1 seed, medalist Ross Steelman, seemed well on his way to another victory in the quarterfinals. He was 4 up on No. 9 Travis Vick after eight holes, and Vick's tee shot at the ninth hole ended up closer to the tennis courts than to the fairway. But Vick, who got the winning point for Texas in the NCAA championship match against Arizona State this spring,  managed to make a scrambling par at the ninth, and he birdied five of the next eight holes to gain a 2&1 victory.

No. 15 Austin Greaser (he had to suvive a 7-for-2 playoff to get into the match-play part of the tournament)  was the only lower seed to win in the morning. He beat the No. 2 seed, Matthis Besard 3&2. And he did it again in the afternoon, beating No. 7 Kelly Chin 1 up. Chin took an early 2-up lead, but Greaser, a two-time All-American at North Carolina, won the par-5 sixth with a birdie, the par-3 eighth with a par, and eagled with 11th to go 1 up. Chin birdied the 13th to square the match. Just as in he Mouw-Hitchner match, Greaser went 2 up by winning the 15th with a birdie and the 16th with a par, then lost the 17th to Chin's birdie, but he sealed his 1-up victory by halving the 18th with a par. 

Mouw, the No. 3 seed, will play Greaser in one semifinal Saturday morning. 

Vick will play No. 4 Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira in the other. Fernandez de Oliveira, who won the South American Amateur earlier this year, won three of the first four holes in his quarterfinal against Vanderbilt All-American Cole Sherwood and never let the lead slip below 2 up on the way to a 3&1 victory.  


Western Amateur

At Exmoor Country Club

Par 71, 7,149 yards

Highland Park, Ill. 

Stroke play (72 holes -- the top 16 finishers qualified for match play)

1. Ross Steelman                             72-64-66-68--270 (14 under)

2. Matthis Besard                              72-66-68-66--272

3. William Mouw                                70-64-68-71--273

T4. Derek Hitchner                           67-71-71-66--275

T4. Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira      66-72-69-68--275

T4. Cole Sherwood                            68-70-70-67--275

T4. Kelly Chin                                    63-73-69-70--275

T4. Tommy Kuhl                                69-67-68-71--275

T9. Travis Vick                                  75-66-67-68--276

T9. Ricky Castillo                               69-71-70-66--276

T9. Connor Mckinney                        70-69-68-69--276

T12. Michael Thorbjornsen                69-71-66-71--277

T12. Yuxin Lin                                    70-72-65-70--277

T12. Spencer Tibbs                           70-69-70-68--277

T15. Austin Greaser                          71-69-69-69--278* (came out of 7-for-2 playoff)

T15. Adrien Dumont de Chassart      68-72-69-69--278* (came out of 7-for-2 playoff) 

Did not advance

Cohen Trollio                                      74-67-65-72--278

John Marshall Butler                           70-69-69-70--278

Patrick Welch                                      72-71-65-70--278

Gordon Sargent                                   69-68-66-75--278

Ian Siebers                                           69-67-68-74--278

Frankie Capan                                    68-71-71-68--279


Match play 

Round of 16

(1) Ross Steelman def. (16) Adrien Dumont de Chassart 5&4

(9) Travis Vick def. (8) Tommy Kuhl 2 up

(4) Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira def. (13) Yuxin Lin 6&4

(5) Cole Sherwood def. (12) Michael Thorbjornsen  

(15) Austin Greaser def. (2) Matthis Besard 3&2
  
(7) Kelly Chin def. (10) Ricky Castillo 6&5

(3) William Mouw def. (14) Spencer Tibbs 3&2

(6) Derek Hitchner def. (11) Connor Mckinney 21 holes

Quarterfinals

(9) Vick def. (1) Steelman 2&1

(4) Fernandez de Oliveira def. (5) Sherwood 3&1

(15) Greaser def. (7) Chin 1 up

(3) Mouw def. (6) Hitchner 1 up