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50-Year-Old
George Zahringer
Wins Another Match At The U.S.
Amateur
Oakmont,
Pa. – Don’t tell 50-year-old
George Zahringer
he can’t keep up with the kids.
The
reigning U.S. Mid-Amateur champion (age 25 and older) from New
York City has already beaten two opponents
whose combined ages don’t add up to his. Zahringer advanced to the
third round of match play at the U.S. Amateur at Oakmont Country
Club Thursday morning by beating 19-year-old Korey
Mahoney
of East Lansing, Mich.,
4 and 3.
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| Gregg
Jones was a runaway winner in his second-round match.
(John Mummert/USGA) |
He
now faces J.J. Killeen of Lubbuck,
Texas, Thursday afternoon,
another opponent less than half his age.
"It
doesn’t even enter my mind,” said Zahringer, an investment planner
and father of five, whose ages range 2 to 20. “I compete against
college kids all the time. They all look the same to me… With the
driver, I can’t keep up with them, but my iron game is on the level.”
Zahringer
was one of four mid-amateurs to advance. Jerry
Courville,
44, of Milford, Conn.,
Todd White,
37, of Moore, S.C.,
and Pat Carter,
35, of Lesage, W.Va.,
also advanced. White is perhaps the most surprising. He’s a high
school history teacher who is carrying his own bag.
Another
mid-amateur wasn’t so lucky. Trip Kuehne, 31, of Dallas,
Texas, lost in his bid
to return to the finals. He was beaten by David
Oh,
a senior at Southern Cal,
3 and 1. Oh won four of the first eight holes and played the difficult
Oakmont course to 2-under par, with the usual concessions of match
play. Kuehne was the 1994 Amateur runner-up to Tiger Woods and was
the low amateur at this year’s U.S. Open.
Gregg
Jones won by the most lopsided margin, defeating 16-year-old Tom
Glissmeyer of Colorado Springs, Colo., 7 and 5. Jones
is hoping that his wins help him earn a spot
on the USA Walker Cup team for next month’s Match versus an amateur
team from Great Britain
and Ireland . Two spots
are still up for grabs.
Eight
golfers have already been named to the team, and three of them advanced
to the third round. Eighteen-year-old Casey
Wittenberg
of Memphis, Tenn.,
re-grouped to win, 2 and 1. Adam
Rubinson of Ft. Worth,
Texas, and Bill
Haas
of Greer, S.C.,
were also winners.
But
don’t forget the old man. He was a quarterfinalist at Ganton Golf
Club, the last time the British Amateur was played at the English
course that will be host to the Walker Cup Match, in 1991.
"If
I have a good tournament and my record is good enough for consideration,
that would be great,” said Zahringer.
Play
continues Friday with the quarterfinal round of match play. Single
rounds are scheduled each of the next three days with the 36-final
set for
Sunday.
The
U.S. Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually
by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly
for amateur.
Second
Round
Upper
Half
Michael
McDermott,
Havertown, Pa.,
(32) def. John Holmes,
Campbellsville, Ky.
(1), 1 up.
Patrick
Carter,
Huntington, W.Va.
(16) def. Parker McLachlin, Honolulu,
Hawaii (17), 1 up.
Gregg
Jones,
Florence, S.C.
(8) def.Tom Glissmeyer, Colorado
Springs, Colo.
(40), 7 and 5.
Lee
Williams,
Alexander City,
Ala. (56) def. Chris
Botsford,
Pasadena, Calif.
(24), 4 and 3.
Casey
Wittenberg,
Memphis, Tenn.
(29) def. Camilo Villegas,
Colombia (4), 2 and
1.
Adam
Rubinson,
Fort Worth, Texas
(20) def. Stuart Moore,
Gainesville, Ga.
(13), 2 up.
J.J.
Killeen, Lubbock, Texas
(37) def. Brock Mackenzie,
Yakima, Wash.
(5), 4 and 3.
George
Zahringer,
New York, N.Y.
(53) def. Korey Mahoney,
East Lansing, Mich.
(44), 4 and 2.
Lower
Bracket
Jerry
Courville,
Milford, Conn.
(31) def. Billy Hurley,
Leesburg, Va.
(2), 1 up.
Todd
White,
Spartanburg, S.C.
(18) def. Peter Tomasulo,
Long Beach, Calif.
(50). 2 and 1.
Jason
Hartwick,
Sacramento, Calif.
(58) def. Travis Johnson,
Long Beach, Calif.
(39), 3 and 1.
Nick
Flanagan, Australia
(55) vs. Andrew Pratt,
Bartlett, Tenn.
(42), 2 and 1.
David
Oh, Cerritos,
Calif. (30) def. Trip
Kuehne, Dallas, Texas
(3), 3 and 1.
Matt
Kohn, Longwood, Fla. (51) def. Nate Lashley, Scottsbluff, Neb. (46),
1 up.
Zach Atkinson,
Coppell, Texas
(27) def. Steve
Slayden,
Charlotte, N.C.
(59), 2 and 1.
Bill
Haas,
Greenville, S.C.
(22) def. Josh
Persons, Fargo, N.Dak.
(11), 3 and 1.
Oakmont,
Pa. – Pairings for
Thursday’s third round of match play at the U.S. Amateur Championship
being played at the par 70, 7,171-yard Oakmont Country Club: (all
time EDT ):
Third
Round
Upper
Bracket
1:15
p.m. – McDermott vs. Carter
1:25
p.m. – Jones vs. Williams
1:35
p.m. – Wittenberg
vs. Rubinson
1:45
p.m. – Killeen
vs. Zahringer
Lower
Bracket
1:55
p.m. – Courville vs. White
2:05
p.m. – Hartwick vs. Flanagan
2:15
p.m. – Oh vs. Kohn
2:25
p.m. – Atkinson vs. Haas
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