After knocking off Golf Association of Philadelphia rival
Don Donatoni in the second round, Reading’s Chip Lutz saw his U.S. Senior
Amateur bid halted in the round of 16 Tuesday afternoon as another familiar
rival, Paul Simson of Raleigh, N.C., claimed a 6 and 4 victory at The Minikahda
Club in Minneapolis, Minn.
The 66-year-old Simson has a very similar senior resume to
that of the 62-year-old Lutz, who plays out of LedgeRock Golf Club in Mohnton.
Simson is a two-time U.S. Senior Amateur champion. The first of those titles
came in 2010 when he swept to wins in The Seniors Amateur Championship and the
Canadian Senior Amateur, in addition to his U.S. Senior Amateur victory.
And on this day, Lutz, the 2015 U.S. Senior Amateur
champion, ran into a tough customer in Simson, who was 4-under for his round
when the match ended on the 14th hole.
Simson jumped out to a quick 2-up lead by winning the third
and fifth holes with birdies. Lutz, the winner of three Seniors Amateur
championships, battled back by taking the sixth with a birdie, but Simson built
a 3-up advantage by taking the seventh with a birdie and the eighth with a par.
Lutz cut his deficit to 2-down by winning the ninth with a
birdie, but it turned out to be his last hurrah as Simson won the 10th
with a birdie, the 11th with a par and the 12th with a
par and was suddenly 5-up.
Lutz, GAP’s reigning seven-time Senior Player of the Year,
reached the round of 16 with a 5 and 4 win over Donatoni, GAP’s reigning
four-time Super-Senior Player of the Year. Lutz knew better than to underestimate
the 69-year-old Donatoni and jumped out to a quick 2-up lead by winning the
second and fourth holes with pars.
Donatoni cut the deficit to 1-down by taking the fifth hole
with a birdie. But Lutz put the hammer down by winning four straight holes, the
seventh with a birdie, the eighth with a par, the ninth with a birdie and the
10th with a par to take a 5-up lead.
Donatoni got one back with a birdie at the 12th,
but Lutz won the 13th with a par and closed out Donatoni when they
halved the 14th with pars.
It was a tremendous run for Donatoni, who looked like he
might have trouble making match play when he opened qualifying with a 79 over
the par-72 Donald Ross design before bouncing back with a 1-under 71 in Sunday’s
second round.
And Lutz remains in the discussion when it comes to the top
senior amateur players in the world after a whirlwind month during which he was
the low amateur at the Senior Open Championship, finished tied for eighth in defense
of his Seniors Amateur championship and came up just short of a berth in the
quarterfinals in the U.S. Senior Amateur.
Carrying the Pennsylvania banner into the quarterfinals is
Oakmont’s Sean Knapp, who at 55 is playing in his first Senior Amateur,
although it is his 42nd USGA championship.
Knapp rolled to a 6 and 5 victory over Scott Thomas of
Chesterfield, Mo. Tuesday morning and reached the quarterfinals with a 2 and 1
win over Doug Hanzel of Savannah, Ga.
Knapp’s pal, David Brown of Ligonier, had claimed medalist
honors in qualifying with a 6-under 138 total. Brown’s bid was halted in the
second round Tuesday morning by John McClure of Los Angeles, a quarterfinalist
a year ago at Old Warson Country Club in St. Louis. McClure claimed a 3 and 2
victory over Brown.
McClure was then ousted a match short of the quarterfinals
when he dropped a 2-up decision to David Nocor of Millersville, Md., another
55-year-old first-timer in the Senior Amateur.
Knapp and Nocor will battle in the first of Wednesday
morning’s quarterfinals. The winner of that match will take on the winner of
another quarterfinal between defending champion Dave Ryan of Taylorville, Ill.
and Ken Lee of Franklin, Tenn. in the semifinals Wednesday afternoon.
Matt Sughrue of Arlington, Va., who fell to Ryan in last
year’s final, is still alive with a chance to return to the final. He’ll take
on Simson in Wednesday morning’s quarterfinals. The winner of that match will
face the winner of a quarterfinal match between John Pierce of San Antonio,
Texas and Frank Vana of Boxford, Mass., the youngest player in the field,
having turned 55 five days before the start of the championship.
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