Orlando's run in U.S. Mid-Amateur at Sankaty Head ends in quarterfinals; Hagestad reaches semifinals

   After storming into the quarterfinals, Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Gregor Orlando ran into a buzzsaw in Nicholas Maccario of Haverhill, Mass. and saw his bid for a U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship halted at Sankaty Head Golf Club in Siasconset, Mass. on Nantucket Island Wednesday.

   Orlando, who won the 2017 BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship at his home course, cruised to a 6 and 4 victory in Wednesday morning’s round of 16 over Hunter Hawkins of Fort Payne, Ala. to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.

   Making the quarterfinals will exempt Orlando into next year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Erin Hills in Erin, Wis. Pretty sure Orlando is the first Golf Association of Philadelphia representative to make the quarterfinals in the U.S. Mid-Am since Merion Golf Club’s Michael McDermott did it in 2016 at Stonewall.

   Orlando won the third hole with a par and Hawkins got back to even by taking four with a par. After that, it was all Orlando.

   Orlando won six of the next 10 holes, five of them with birdies, to earn a date in Wednesday afternoon’s quarterfinals. Orlando took the fifth hole with a birdie, eight with birdie, 10 with birdie, 12 with par, 13 with birdie and 14 with a birdie that closed out Hawkins. I’m sure a couple of them were conceded birdies, but still … pretty nice run by Orlando.

   As hot as Orlando was in the morning, the 29-year-old Maccario, the 2020 Massachusetts Golf Association’s Player of the Year, was equally scorching in the afternoon. Orlando never so much as won a hole as Maccario cruised to a 5 and 4 decision to earn a spot in Thursday morning’s semifinals against Mark Costanza of Morristown, N.J.

   Costanza rolled to a 5 and 4 decision over Andrew Bailey of Cleveland in another quarterfinal match.

   Maccario jumped in front of Orlando with wins at the second and third holes. Maccario went back-to-back again at the seventh and eighth holes to go 4-up and finished off Orlando with a birdie at 14.

   For the fourth time in his five U.S. Mid-Amateur starts, Stewart Hagestad, the winner in 2016 at Stonewall, will be a semifinalist after an epic victory over Stephen Behr Jr. of Atlanta in 23 holes in Wednesday morning’s round of 16 and a hard-fought 2-up decision over Christian Sease of Mt. Pleasant, S.C. in the quarterfinals.

   Any of us who got to watch Hagestad’s comeback from 4-down with five holes to play to defeat 2014 champion Scott Harvey in 37 holes on a gorgeous late summer day at Stonewall five years ago can’t help but root for the guy a little.

   The 30-year-old Hagestad of Newport Beach, Calif. ripped off wins at the sixth, seventh and eighth holes to take a 2-up lead on Behr in the round of 16, but Behr answered by taking nine and 10 to square the match. Hagestad picked up a win on the 14^th hole, but Behr evened the match again with a win at 15.

   And it was on. The two halved seven straight holes before Hagestad finally pulled out the win with a par on the 23^rd hole.

   Hagestad’s semifinal opponent will be the seemingly charmed Hayes Brown of Charlotte, N.C. The 32-year-old was the final survivor in a 13-man playoff for the final seven spots in the match-play bracket. Six players remained after the first hole of the playoff with just one more spot up for grabs when Brown made eagle on the par-4 15^th hole at Sankaty Head.

   The 64^th seed then proceeded to rally to stun qualifying medalist Yaroslav Merkulov in the opening round of match play and he hasn’t looked back.

   Brown had an easy day Wednesday, claiming a 4 and 2 verdict over Richard “Skip” Berkmeyer of St. Louis in the round of 16 in the morning and then rolling to a 6 and 4 decision over Colby Harrell of San Antonio, Texas in the afternoon quarterfinals.

   In the 34^th U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, being held concurrently at the Berkeley Hall Club’s North Course in Bluffton, S.C., a couple of 25-year-old “rookies,” Aliea Clark, a graduate student at New York University, and Blakesly Brock of Chattanooga, Tenn. will battle it out for the title in the 18-hole final Thursday morning.

   Much like Brown in the men’s Mid-Am, Clark, a native of San Diego who played collegiately at UCLA, survived a 5-for-1 playoff to earn the last spot in the match-play bracket and proceeded to stun the qualifying medalist Jennifer Peng, a pal of Clark’s from their days as junior golfers in the San Diego area.

   Clark cruised to a 4 and 3 victory over veteran Dawn Woodard of Greenville, S.C. in Wednesday morning’s quarterfinals before reaching the final with a 4 and 2 triumph over Amanda Jacobs of Portland, Ore. in the afternoon semifinals.

   Most of the drama occurred on Brock’s side of the bracket. The former Tennessee standout needed 19 holes to get by Clare Connally, a 28-year-old from Chevy Chase, Md. and a weekend looper at Congressional Country Club.

   Brock had a 2-up lead with two holes to play, but Connally wouldn’t go quietly, winning the 17^th and 18^th holes with birdies to send the match to extra holes. Brock, however, finally finished off Connally on the 20^th hole to advance to the semifinals.

   Brock’s semifinal opponent was 2018 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Shannon Johnson of North Easton, Mass., who had survived a battle with 2015 U.S. Women’s Mid-Am champion Lauren Greenlief of Ashburn, Va., 3 and 1, to advance to her meeting with Brock.

   Brock had a comfortable 4-up advantage on Johnson after winning the 10^th hole, but, playing like the champion she is, Johnson came storming back with wins at 13, 15, 16 and 18 to again force Brock to go to overtime. Brock, however, won the 19^th hole with a par to complete her journey to the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am final.

   A third former champion who had reached the quarterfinals, Ina Kim-Schaad of Rhinebeck, N.Y., who captured the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am title two years ago at Forest Highlands Golf Club in Flagstaff, Ariz., was ousted by Jacobs, 1-up, Wednesday morning.