Elliott-Powell, Pry reach second round in U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur at Forest Highlands

   Merion Golf Club’s Catherine Elliott-Powell finally made the match-play bracket in her third straight appearance in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship this week at Forest Highlands Golf Club’s Meadows Course.

   Monday, Elliott-Powell, who helped Penn win an Ivy League championship in 2010, won in her first shot at a U.S. Women’s Mid-Am match, claiming a 3 and 2 victory over Cali Hipp of Caldwell, Idaho.

   Elliott-Powell, a Philadelphia resident, will be joined in the second round by Coatesville’s Kelli Pry, a 3 and 2 winner over Mari Miezwa of Brooklyn Park, Minn., eight-time Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Match Play Championship winner and four-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Am champion Meghan Stasi, who claimed a 4 and 3 victory over Christina Proteau of Canada, 4 and 3, and three-time Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur champion Katie Miller, who knocked off Amanda Jacobs of Portland, Ore., 5 and 3.

   Elliott-Powell won the second hole with a par and never trailed in her match. She finished off Hipp by winning the 15^th and 16^th holes with pars.

   Elliott-Powell, who came out of a Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier at Whitford Country Club, gets a tough assignment in the second round as she’ll take on third-seeded Michelle Butler of Columbia, Mo.

   Butler, a semifinalist in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am a year ago at Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis, advanced with a 4 and 3 victory over Erin Packer of Peachtree City, Ga.

   Pry was locked in a tight battle with Miezwa before Pry won the 14^th hole with a par and the 15^th hole with a birdie. Pry closed it out with an eagle on the 16^th hole.

   Pry will take on Ket Preamchuen Vanderpool of Thailand, a 4 and 3 winner over Tina Popatolis of Canada, in Tuesday’s second round.

   Stasi, an Eastern High product who starred collegiately at Tulane, also faces a tough second-round assignment when she squares off against second-seeded Heather Wall of Lakeland, Fla. Wall, who shared second in qualifying for match play with Butler at even-par 144, rolled to a 5 and 4 decision over Susan Curtin of Westwood, Mass. in her first-round match.

   Miller, a three-time PIAA champion at Hempfield Area before going on to an outstanding college career at North Carolina, will face Old Dominion women’s golf coach Mallory Hetzel in the second round. Hetzel advanced with a 3 and 1 victory over Julia Hodgson of Canada.

   Defending champion Shannon Johnson of Easton, Mass. survived the opening round as she sent her match with Noelle Maertz of Clark, N.J. to extra holes by winning the 18^th hole with a par before finally putting Maertz away on the 22^nd hole.

   That sets up an intriguing second-round match between Johnson and Ellen Port, a four-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Am and three-time U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion from St. Louis. Port advanced with a 2 and 1 victory over Sydney Ramskill of Salinas, Calif.

   Qualifying medalist Julia Potter-Bobb, a two-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Am winner, reached the second round with a hard-fought 2-up victory over Whitney French of Monarch Beach, Calif. Potter-Bobb will take on Marilyn Hardy of Magnolia, Texas, a 2 and 1 winner over Michelle Jarman of Wilmington, N.C., in the second round.

   Potter-Bobb defeated Johnson in the final to win the second of her two U.S. Women’s Mid-Am crowns in 2016 at The Kahkwa Club in Erie.

   The winners of Tuesday morning’s second-round matches will turn right around and play the round of 16 Tuesday afternoon. Weather permitting, only eight players will be left standing by the end of the day Tuesday.

   The local contingent at the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Colorado Golf Club in Parker, Colo. did not fare as well as the ladies did.

   Brandon Dalinka, a member of Council Rock North’s 2008 PIAA championship team, made a stirring comeback to send his opening-round match against David Noll Jr. to extra holes before falling on the 21^st hole.

   Dalinka, a New York City resident who plays out of The Ridge at Back Brook, was 2-down when he launched his comeback, winning the 14^th and 16^th holes with birdies to square the match. Noll pulled out the victory with a birdie on the 21^st hole.

    Will Davenport, who captured the GAP Middle-Amateur Championship at Rolling Green Golf Club last spring, had the misfortune of drawing Stewart Hagestad, the winner of the 2016 U.S. Mid-Am at Stonewall, in his opening-round match.

   Hagestad, who has risen to No. 6 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), won five straight holes on the front nine on his way to a 4 and 3 victory over Davenport, who plays out of Whitemarsh Valley Country Club. Hagestad helped the United States rally to retain possession of the Walker Cup at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England earlier this month.

   Michael R. Brown Jr., owner of three GAP major championships (2009 Middle-Amateur, 2010 Philadelphia Open, 2018 Patterson Cup), suffered a 3 and 2 setback at the hands of Alejandro Villavicencio of Guatemala in his opening-round match.

   Villavicencio built an early 3-up lead and never allowed Brown, a Maple Shade, N.J. resident who plays out of LuLu Country Club, to get back in the match.

   Yaroslav Merkulou of Penfield, N.Y., who, like Davenport, punched his ticket to Colorado out of the GAP-administered qualifier at Indian Valley Country Club, advanced with a 1-up victory over Brett Boner, the runnerup a year ago at his hometown Charlotte Country Club. Merkulou rallied from a 2-down deficit after 10 holes with a back-nine surge.

   Nathan Smith, a four-time U.S. Mid-Am champion from Pittsburgh, saw his bid for a fifth title stopped with a 5 and 4 loss to Stephen Hale of Bakersfield, Calif.

   The match of the day saw Derek Busby of Ruston, La. oust Scott Harvey, the 2014 U.S. Mid-Am champion at Saucon Valley Country Club and the runnerup to Hagestad in 2016 at Stonewall, in a 23-hole thriller. Busby squared the match with a birdie at the 16^th hole before finally pulling out the victory on the fifth extra hole.

   Another former champion to get sent packing was Matt Parziale, the Brockton, Mass. firefighter who claimed the title in 2017. Parziale suffered at 4 and 3 setback at the hands of Jeremy Gearheart of Atascadero, Calif.

   Defending champion Kevin O’Connell of Jacksonville, Fla. advanced with a 4 and 3 victory over Andrew Wyatt of Midland, Texas.

   Ben Warnquist, the qualifying medalist from Gaithersburg, Md., survived with a 2-up victory over Joey Savoie of Canada. It was a long day for Savoie, who was the final survivor of an 18-man playoff for the final six spots in the match-play bracket. It took Savoie nine holes to earn the right to face Warnquist, who played collegiately at Maryland.

   Like the women, two rounds of match play are scheduled for Tuesday at the U.S. Mid-Amateur. The quarterfinals should be set by the end of the day.