Four Left at Nebraska Senior Match Play
Rounds of 16 and Quarterfinals Conducted Thursday at Oakland Golf Club
OAKLAND (September 19, 2024) - The 14th Nebraska Senior Match Play Championship is down to four players for the title, after two rounds of matches at Oakland Golf Club on Thursday.
The Semifinals feature a rematch from 2023, and two first timers in the last four. The No. 1 seed and two-time defending champion is still alive with Gretna's Brian Csipkes picking up two more wins. That pushes his win streak to 10 straight matches, just two shy of the record, held by Mike Krumland of Columbus.
Csipkes rolled to a 6-and-4 win over Omaha's Gregg Vonnahme in the Round of 16, and survived a battle against Elkhorn's Steven Ritzman in the Quarterfinals. Ritzman went bogey-free over the 18-hole match, while Csipkes made just one bogey. However, Csipkes made two clutch birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 to flip the match and win, 1 up.
It will be a rematch of last year's Semifinals between Csipkes and Bellevue's Matt Haynes, the 2018 Champion. Csipkes cruised to win that match, 6 and 5, on his way to a second-straight title.
Haynes defeated Oakland native Steve Peterson of Lincoln in the Round of 16, 2 and 1, before facing a battle of his own in the Quarterfinals. Omaha's Ryan Knispel watched Haynes birdie No. 14 to take the lead, and roll in another birdie on the par-5 17th. Knispel had to make his birdie putt, and rolled it in to push the match to No. 18. Haynes made a clutch up-and-down there and Knispel's birdie attempt to extend the match rolled by, giving Haynes the 1-up victory.
On the other side of the bracket, a pair of former club professionals, Oakland's Nathan Anderson and Omaha's Kevin Sullivan, will square up in their first Semifinal appearances. Anderson, a member at Oakland Golf Club, defeated four-time Champion Mike Krumland of Columbus in the Round of 16. Anderson then breezed into the Semifinals with a 5-and-4 win over Bennington's Steve Buroker.
Sullivan needed just 29 holes to get through his two matches, winning 6-and-4 over Fremont's Keith Fink, another Oakland Golf Club member. He then faced 2019 Champion Ed Wyatt of Lincoln in the Quarterfinals, and closed out that match early as well, winning 4 and 3.
Csipkes and Haynes will face-off at 9:30 a.m., while Anderson and Sullivan play at 9:40 a.m. Semifinals in the other three brackets will precede those matches, and Finals will follow in the afternoon.
The updated brackets are available on the championship website below, along with additional information.
Nebraska Senior 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.
