Eight Remain at 57th Nebraska Match Play
Rounds of 32 and 16 Conducted Wednesday at Country Club of Lincoln
LINCOLN (June 26, 2024) – Eight players remain at the 57th Nebraska Match Play Championship after two rounds of matches on Wednesday at the Country Club of Lincoln.
It was a day for upsets, as none of the top five seeds survived the day. Gretna's Beau Petersen (No. 6) and Omaha's Trevor Gutschewski (No. 8) are the only single-digit seeds left.
Omaha's Jake Boor was responsible for two of those upsets, defeating the Defending Champion Calvin Freeman in the Round of 32. Freeman had a 1-up lead through 11 holes, but rattled off wins in three of the next four holes to take the lead, including birdies on Nos. 14 and 15. He closed out a 2-and-1 win with another birdie on No. 17.
Boor then went on to defeat the No. 1 seed, Gavin Gerch of Lincoln, in one of the best matches of the day. Boor, a Creighton golfer, birdied No. 16 to take a 2-up lead, but Gerch won No. 17 with a birdie, and stuck his approach shot to two feet on No. 18 for another birdie to force extra holes. Boor eventually rolled in a birdie on No. 3 to win in 21 holes.
Gutschewski and Boor will face-off in the first Quarterfinal on Thursday morning. Gutschewski, the 2022 Nebraska Junior Amateur Champion, needed just 30 holes to get through his two matches. He defeated Omaha's Tommy Kelley, 6 and 4, in the morning and then won, 2 and 1, over Grand Island's Henry Kosmicki in the afternoon.
Husker golfer Hamish Murray and Omaha's Jackson Benge will meet in the second Quarterfinal. The highlight of Murray's day was a hole-in-0ne on No. 10 that helped him to win his Round of 32 match against No. 4 seed Luke Strako of Omaha, 3 and 2. Benge had a clutch finish in his Round of 16 match, birdieing the 18th hole to defeat Lincoln's Andy Gerch, 1 up.
The No. 31 seed Carson Kildow of Lincoln pulled off a couple upsets as well. The rising senior at Lincoln North Star outlasted the No. 2 seed Reed Malleck of York in his first match, getting up-and-down from the greenside bunker on No. 3 for birdie to win in 21 holes. He followed up with a 2-and-1 win over the 2021 Nebraska Amateur Champion David Easley of Lincoln.
Kildow will play Bennington's Glenn Bills, who defeated Johnny Williams of Waterloo, 3 and 2, despite Williams making a double-eagle on the par-5 13th hole.
The last Quarterfinal features Elkhorn's Dylan McCabe against Petersen. McCabe won the third extra hole match of the day, defeating Elkhorn's Danny Woodhead in 20 holes. He found the short par-4 second green with his tee shot, and two-putted for birdie to close out the Round of 16 match. Petersen, the two-time Nebraska Junior Amateur Champion, secured his spot by winning the 18th hole with a par to defeat Lincoln's Connor Vandewege.
The Quarterfinals begin at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, with the Semifinals to follow at 12:30 p.m. The updated match play bracket and more are available on the championship website below.
Nebraska Match Play Championship
About NebGolf
The Nebraska Golf Association (NebGolf), founded in 1966, is comprised of all members of public and private clubs and/or municipal or regional golf associations which utilize an approved handicap service recognized by the USGA and provided by NebGolf. Our mission is to uphold and promote the game of golf and its values to all golfers in Nebraska. Among the duties of the Association include governance of member clubs and service as their handicapping and course rating authority, conduct of state golf championships, local USGA qualifying & other notable competitions, promotion of junior golf, presentation of worthwhile educational programs and support of allied golf organizations in Nebraska. The Nebraska Golf Association is an Allied Golf Association of the USGA and carries out core services including Handicap Administration and Oversight, Course Rating, Rules of Golf and Rules of Amateur Status, Tournaments and USGA Championship Qualifiers and USGA Initiatives and Community Programs.
