The U.S. Senior Amateur is down to 32 players, and two of them happen to be Coloradans.
Stroke-play co-medalist Greg Condon from the southern Colorado town of Monte Vista and Scott Sullivan (left) of Grand Junction scored victories Monday in the match play round of 64 at Eugene Country Club in Oregon.
Condon, who qualified for the Senior Amateur in Sandia Park, N.M., defeated Kirk Wright of Oklahoma City, 4 and 3. And the 47th-seeded Sullivan won the 18th hole with a par to beat 18th seed Louis Brown of Marietta, Ga., 1 up.
Condon, competing in this national championship for the second time, lost the first hole with a bogey but led most of the day. He won four holes in a six-hole stretch starting on No. 4 to go 3 up after nine, then closed out the match with a birdie on No. 15. Condon finished 1 over par for 15 holes.
“Today, I was a little off,” Condon told the USGA. “I didn’t play very well. I would mess up and he would mess up. That’s how it went. I hit a couple good shots when I needed to. Sometimes, match play goes that way.”
Condon will face former PGA Tour player Buzz Fly of Memphis, Tenn., in the round of 32, one of two match play rounds scheduled for Tuesday. Fly went to the semifinals of the U.S. Senior Amateur in 2013.
Sullivan played in a match in which neither player was ever more than 1 up. Brown held that 1-up lead through 14, but Sullivan won Nos. 15 and 18 with pars to pull out the victory. Sullivan, who made one birdie on Monday, was 4 over par for the round.
In Tuesday’s round of 32, Sullivan will meet Jeff New of Scottsdale, Ariz.
Here are the results for the Coloradans competing this week in the U.S. Senior Amateur:
MATCH PLAY ROUND OF 64
Greg Condon, Monte Vista, def. Kirk Wright, Oklahoma City, 4 and 3
Scott Sullivan, Grand Junction, def. Louis Brown, Marietta, Ga., 1 up
STROKE PLAY
Advance to Match Play
T1. Greg Condon, Monte Vista 67-72–139
41. Scott Sullivan, Grand Junction 80-71–151
Failed to Advance to Match Play
93. Guy Mertz, Longmont 80-76–156
For all the results from the championship, CLICK HERE.
