Panziale, Nichols will fight it out for U.S. Mid-Amateur title

   Matt Panziale, a 30-year-old firefighter from Brockton, Mass., and Josh Nichols, a 26-year-old wedding caterer from Kennersville, N.C., will meet Friday morning in the scheduled 36-hole final with the U.S. Mid-Amateur championship on the line at the Capital City Club’s Crabapple Course in Atlanta.

   The winner has traditionally received an invitation to play in the Masters. The USGA upped the ante when it recently announced it would give the winner of the U.S. Mid-Am a berth in next year’s U.S. Open, which will be played at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, the William Flynn gem on the end of Long Island.

   The USGA is also giving a U.S. Open exemption to U.S. Junior Amateur champion Noah Goodwin. U.S. Junior Girls’ champion Erica Shepherd and the winner of next month’s U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur championship will receive berths in next year’s U.S. Women’s Open at Shoal Creek.

   I bailed on the U.S. Mid-Am after the two remaining Golf Association of Philadelphia representatives, Michael R. Brown Jr. of Lu Lu Country Club and Gregor Orlando of Philadelphia Cricket Club, were knocked out in the first round of match play Tuesday. I haven’t missed many District One Championships over the years and I couldn’t resist the urge to go check out the action at Turtle Creek and do a little live-blogging.

   Panziale and Nichols are, in many ways, what the Mid-Am is all about, guys who have jobs and responsibilities that make it tough to fit golf in. But they manage to continue to play at a high level and you’re bringing some game if you can get to the final of the U.S. Mid-Am.

   “It would be the biggest thing I could ever imagine,” Nichols told the USGA website when asked about the potential exemptions that would come his way were he to win the U.S. Mid-Am. “But the only thing I’m focusing on is the drive on No. 1 (Friday). That’s all I’ve got in my mind right now.”

   Panziale and Nichols will have a tough job matching the drama of last year’s final at Stonewall’s North and Old Courses when Stewart Hagestad rallied from 4-down with five holes to play to defeat Scott Harvey on the 37^th hole.

   But Panziale, a reinstated amateur, already had that kind of rally in a stunning victory on the 20^th hole over Bradford Tilley, the 34-year-old from Easton, Conn. who was the qualifying medalist, in Thursday morning’s quarterfinals.

   Panziale was 5-down with eight holes to play and fought his way all the way back to send the match to extra holes before winning it on the 20^th hole.

   In the afternoon Panziale knocked off Dan Sullivan, a 50-year-old from Pasadena, Calif., 5 and 4.

Sullivan reached the semifinals a year ago at Stonewall, falling in 19 holes to Harvey in a match I blogged about. My bag in qualifying for the Mid-Am at Stonewall, Michael Mitani of Irvine, Calif., told me to watch out for Sullivan. Two straight trips to the U.S. Mid-Am semifinals would seem to validate Mitani’s opinion of Sullivan, a veteran of the Southern California amateur scene.

   Nichols, who played collegiately at Appalachian State, cooled off probably the hottest player remaining in the bracket when he edged Mark Harrell, a 32-year-old from nearby Lookout Mountain, Ga., 1-up, to earn his spot in the final.

   Harrell had stunned Michael Muehr of Potomac Falls, Va. in the round of 16, 1-up, with a round of 7-under 63 with the usual match-play concessions. Muehr was one of three qualifying co-medalists a year ago at Stonewall.

Earlier Thursday, Nichols went the distance in his quarterfinal match before pulling out a 2-up victory over Scott Anderson of Columbus, Ohio.

   I had mentioned in my post Tuesday that the second-round match I was most interested in was one that pitted two reinstated amateurs that three-time BMW Philadelphia Amateur champion Michael McDermott got past on his way to the quarterfinals at Stonewall.

   Joseph Ida of Overland Park, Kan., whom McDermott went 20 holes to beat in the opening round, claimed a 3 and 2 victory over Joe Alfieri of Lutz, Fla., whom McDermott edged, 1-up, in the second round.

   Ida, however, suffered a 6 and 5 setback to Tyler Crawford, a 44-year-old from Indio, Calif., in the round of 16.

   Crawford was ousted on the 19^th hole in a tough battle with Harrell in Thursday morning’s quarterfinals.