Gross grinds out a pair of match wins to reach quarterfinals in U.S. Junior Amateur at Trinity Forest

 

   In his final appearance in the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, Nick Gross, the former Downingtown standout who is coming off a solid freshman season at Alabama, reached the quarterfinals with a pair of hard-fought match wins Thursday at the Trinity Forest Golf Club in sweltering Dallas, Texas.

   It is the deepest run Gross, the 2021 PIAA Class AAA champion as a sophomore at Downingtown West, has made in his fourth appearance in the most prestigious event for junior golfers.

   Gross pulled out a 2 and 1 decision over Sage Bradshaw of Bluffton, S.C. Thursday afternoon in a round of 16 match, Gross’ second win in a long day in the unrelenting heat of north Texas in July.

   It will take two more match wins Friday to earn a spot in Saturday’s scheduled 36-hole final.

   Gross will take on Nguyen Anh Minh of Vietnam in a quarterfinal match Friday morning at 8:06 Central time (9:06 Eastern).

   Minh, No. 52 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and who will join the program at Oregon State later this summer, reached the quarterfinals with a 2 and 1 victory over Ayden Fynaut of Fresno, Calif. in another round of 16 match Thursday afternoon.

   Gross got off to a good start against Bradshaw, winning the first two holes with birdies.

   Bradshaw, who will join the program at the College of Charleston in the Coastal Athletic Association next summer, cut his deficit in half by taking the third hole with a birdie, but Gross struck back with a win at five that restored his 2-up advantage.

   Bradshaw, however, picked up wins at the 10^th and 12^th holes with pars to even things up.

   Gross moved back in front by winning the par-5 13^th hole with an eagle and increased his lead to 2-up again by taking 15 with a par. The pair halved the 16^th and 17^th holes with pars to send Gross to the quarterfinals.

   It was the first time in three matches that Gross was able to finish off his opponent before the 18^th hole.

   Earlier Thursday, Gross made a birdie at the par-5 16^th hole to pull ahead in a 1-up victory over Adam Villanueva of Austin, Texas, who will join the program with his hometown Longhorns later this summer, in a second-round match.

   After Gross took the second hole with a birdie, Villanueva evened the match with a win at six with a birdie.

   Gross built a 2-up advantage by winning the sixth and ninth holes with pars, but Villanueva made back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13 to win those two holes and even the match again.

   Gross’ win at 16 with a birdie proved decisive as Gross grinded out halves at 17 and 18 with pars to reach the round of 16.

   Bradshaw had reached the round of 16 with a convincing 6 and 5 decision over Brooks Simmons, a Dallas homeboy.

   In the top half of the bracket, Miles Russell, the 16-year-old phenom from Jacksonville Beach, Fla. who is No. 18 in the WAGR, marched into the quarterfinals with a pair of match wins.

   Russell’s day began with a 3 and 2 victory over Lucas Latimer of Rockwall, Texas. Russell reached the quarterfinals with a 4 and 2 verdict over Miguel Garcia of Mexico.

   Tyler Watts of Huntsville, Ala. and No. 42 in the WAGR was probably the hottest player in junior golf coming into the U.S. Junior Amateur, but his run at Trinity Forest came to an end when he was upset by Hamilton Coleman of Augusta, Ga., who used a late surge to rally for a 2 and 1 win.

   Watts, the runnerup in the U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. a year ago, was coming off a record-breaking performance in beating a top field of amateurs in last month’s Sunnehanna Amateur at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown. He plans to join the program at Tennessee, another SEC power, at the end of next summer.

   Watts appeared to be headed for the quarterfinals when he took a 3-up lead after winning the 10^th hole with a birdie and 11 with a par.

   That’s when Coleman, who will join the program at Georgia -- in the SEC, of course -- at the end of next summer, went off.

   Coleman made a birdie at 12 to cut his deficit to 2-down. He then won the 14^th and 15^th with birdies to draw even with Watts before closing out the match by taking 16 with a third straight birdie and 17 with par.