It'll be Donatoni vs. Lutz in a U.S. Senior Amateur second-round match

   Don Donatoni won’t be sneaking up on anybody in the second round of match play at the U.S. Senior Amateur at The Minikhada Club after the 69-year-old Malvern resident and White Manor Country Club member parred an unsuspecting Larry Clark of Kingston, Ga. to death in a 4 and 2 victory in the opening round Monday.

   The problem for Donatoni is that his opponent, 2015 U.S. Senior Amateur champion Chip Lutz of Reading and LedgeRock Golf Club, knows exactly what he’s up against when he takes on his longtime Golf Association of Philadelphia rival.

   They have been two of GAP’s best senior players for a while now. Donatoni is GAP’s four-time reigning Super-Senior Player of the Year. Lutz is GAP’s seven-time reigning Senior Player of the Year. There’s a decent chance they’ll both have a place of honor at GAP’s annual year-end banquet – again.

   The 62-year-old Lutz, arguably the best senior amateur golfer on the planet, advanced with a hard-fought 1-up decision over David Nelson of Reno, Nev.

   Merion Golf Club’s two entries did not survive Monday’s play. Buddy Marucci, who won the 2008 U.S. Senior Amateur title in between captaining the U.S. to Walker Cup victories in 2007 and 2009, fell, 1-up, in a terrific opening-round match with Keith Decker of Martinsville, Va.

   Marucci’s clubmate, William Charpek of Red Bank, N.J., was part of a group of 12 players vying for the last seven berths in match play the first thing Monday morning and was eliminated on the first hole. Charpek had carded an 8-over 152 in qualifying to earn a spot in the playoff.

   It was pure Donatoni in his opening-round win over Clark. After Clark pulled even in the match by winning the sixth hole with a par, Donatoni proceeded to par all but one of the remaining holes of the match.

   Donatoni took a 3-up advantage by winning nine, 10 and 11 with pars. The one hole Donatoni bogeyed, the 14^th, Clark couldn’t take advantage, also making bogey for a half. Donatoni closed out the match with a par at 16.

   Lutz’s experienced hand showed in his win over Nelson. After Nelson pulled even in the match by winning the ninth with a par, the two halved the next six holes. Nelson blinked first, losing 16 to a par by Lutz, who then proceeded to par the last two holes to protect his 1-up advantage.

   It is not the first time a couple of GAP rivals have met on a national stage. Won’t be the last. The good folks of Minneapolis might not quite appreciate the Main Line vs. Reading on a Donald Ross course. Just perfect, that’s what it is.

   The 65-year-old Marucci, whose amateur record in the last, oh, 40 years or so, might be second only to that of his good friend Jay Sigel, came out throwing haymakers in his match with Decker. Marucci grabbed a 3-up lead by winning the first, third and fifth holes with birdies.

   But Decker battled back, winning the sixth with a par, the seventh with a birdie, the 10th with a par, and the 12^th with a birdie to take a 1-up advantage. Marucci got even with a birdie at the 14^th, but Decker won the 17^th with a par and made his 1-up advantage hold up at the last.

   Speaking of friends, a couple of western Pennsylvania pals advanced to the second round of match play with opening-round wins Monday.

   David Brown of Ligonier, who captured medalist honors over the weekend with a spectacular 6-under performance, claimed a 3 and 2 victory over Scott Smith of Houston. Brown earned a date in Tuesday morning’s second round with John McClure of Los Angeles, who rolled to a 4 and 3 decision over Robert Polk of  Parker, Colo. McClure is one of five of the quarterfinalists from last year’s U.S. Senior Amateur at Old Warson Country Club in St. Louis who reached the second round with wins in Monday’s opening round.

   Brown was the runnerup to four-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Nathan Smith in the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship (named for the aforementioned Jay Sigel, arguably America’s second greatest amateur golfer ever behind only Bobby Jones), earlier this summer and was the co-medalist in a qualifier for the U.S. Senior Amateur at LedgeRock.

   Brown’s pal, Sean Knapp, at 55 making his Senior Amateur debut, reached the second round with a 2 and 1 victory over Duke Delcher of Bluffton, S.C. Delcher was a fixture on the GAP circuit as a younger player at Sandy Run Country Club and still makes it home for a round of golf here and there.

   Knapp, playing in his 42^nd USGA championship, takes on Scott Thomas of Chesterford, Mo. after Thomas eliminated one of the great names in golf, Buzz Fly of Memphis, Tenn., 1-up.

   The second-round winners Tuesday morning turn right around and play a round-of-16 match Tuesday afternoon. A pair of wins each for Brown and Knapp would set up a quarterfinal matchup between the two that would be the Pittsburgh version of Donatoni vs. Lutz.