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Medalist Tim Jackson felt queasy making the turn in his match against John Kostis, but pulled it together by the 11th hole. (John Mummert/USGA)

By Pete Kowalski, USGA

Tulsa, Okla. – The top seven seeds from stroke play, including 50-year-old medalist Tim Jackson, highlighted the list of 32 winners Wednesday in the first round of match play at the 2009 U.S. Amateur at Southern Hills Country Club’s par-70, 7,093-yard layout.

Jackson, of Germantown, Tenn., the oldest remaining player in the field, moved into the second round with a 5-and-4 decision over John Kostis, 21, of Paradise Valley, Ariz. The two played their stroke-play rounds together. Jackson never trailed and closed out Kostis with a conceded birdie on the par-3 14th hole.

“For the most part, mission accomplished,” said Jackson, a two-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion. “The medalist, traditionally, has had a tough go in the first round from what my memory serves.I remember a lot of medalists that got beat, so I was a little bit uptight, a little bit nervous this morning but once I got down that first hill down in that first fairway I was fine.”

The last two medalists to win the U.S. Amateur are Tiger Woods in 1996 and Ryan Moore in 2004.

Jackson was the low amateur at the 2009 U.S. Senior Open, where he led after 36 holes. He was aggressive in his stroke play rounds but changed his game plan for match play.

“You try to avoid having expectations,” Jackson said. “I’ve tried to put out of my mind that I played with him the first two rounds. We’re starting all over and I know what he’s capable of doing. So, I got myself into that mindset, ‘Be prepared to play a really tough match today.’ But the goal and objective is just to get through the first day, advance, and tomorrow is a whole other animal.”

It wasn’t the brightest day for the 2009 USA Walker Cup team, which entered match play with five members. Four lost, including one team member ousting another.

In that teammate-vs.-teammate match, in which both players are first-team All-Americans, Bud Cauley, 19, of Jacksonville, Fla., defeated Rickie Fowler, 20, of Murrieta, Calif., 3 and 1, birdieing the final two holes.

“It came as a little bit of a shock,” said Cauley about learning of his first-round opponent. “You don’t expect to finish fifth or whatever I did in stroke play and have to play Rickie Fowler. Obviously, I had to change my game plan a little bit, I wasn’t going to be able to go out and make pars and play as conservatively as I had initially planned to do.”

Fowler, who fell two holes down with a bogey and double bogey on the first two holes, admitted he had a difficult first-round draw.

“I feel like even par out here today would have won just about any other match,” said Fowler, the 2008 college player of the year. “Two Walker Cup guys together – we’re on the Walker Cup for a reason, two good players, so I knew it was going to be a good match. We had a good time, and Bud just made a few more putts than me.”

Charlie Holland, 23, of Dallas, Texas, eliminated another Walker Cup team member, Morgan Hoffmann, 20, of Saddle Brook, N.J., in 19 holes despite a 3-down deficit through 12 holes.

“I was 3 down after 12 holes in the first round last year,” said Holland, a quarterfinalist in 2008. “I don’t freak out. Last year definitely helped.”

Brian Harman, 22, of Savannah, Ga., and Nathan Smith, 31, of Pittsburgh, Pa., were the other USA Walker Cup players who did not advance.

But a pair of 16 year olds did: Cameron Wilson of Rowayton, Conn., and Marcel Puyat of the Philippines.

A playoff with 27 golfers for the final four places in the match play field of 64 ended after four holes. Match play continues Thursday with second- and third-round matches and ends with Sunday’s scheduled 36-hole championship final.

Begun in 1895, the U.S. Amateur is the oldest of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

Pete Kowalski is a Manager of Communications for the USGA. E-mail him with questions or comments at pkowalski@usga.org.

First-Round Match-Play Results

Tulsa, Okla. - Wednesday's first-round match-play results at the 2009 U.S. Amateur Championship, being played at the 7,093-yard, par-70 Southern Hills Country Club:

Tim Jackson, Germantown, Tenn. (140) def. John Kostis, Paradise Valley, Ariz. (148), 5 and 4
Charlie Holland, Dallas, Texas (146) def. Morgan Hoffmann, Saddle Brook, N.J. (146), 19 holes
Christopher Ross, Canada (147) def. Corey Nagy, Charlotte, N.C. (144), 5 and 4
Travis Woolf, Fort Worth, Texas (144) def. Brady Johnson, Canada (147), 4 and 3
Peter Uihlein, Orlando, Fla. (147) def. James Sacheck, The Woodlands, Texas (142), 19 holes
Connor Driscoll, Encinitas, Calif. (146) def. Jonathan Randolph, Brandon, Miss. (145), 3 and 1
Dodge Kemmer, Wichita, Kan. (147) def. Eric Steger, Noblesville, Ind. (143), 6 and 5
Connor Arendell, Cape Coral, Fla. (146) def. David Chung, Fayetteville, N.C. (145), 2 and 1
Ben Martin, Greenwood, S.C. (141) def. Tyson Alexander, Gainesville, Fla. (148), 21 holes
Chris Ward, McKinney, Texas (146) def. Brian Harman, Savannah, Ga. (145), 19 holes
Nico Geyger, Chile (143) def. Derek Ernst, Clovis, Calif. (147), 1 up
Matt Smith, Australia (147) def. Andrew Funk, Scottsdale, Ariz. (145), 4 and 3
Bud Cauley, Jacksonville, Fla. (142) def. Rickie Fowler, Murrieta, Calif. (147), 3 and 1
David Lingmerth, Sweden (145) def. Scott Strohmeyer, Auburn, Ala. (146), 3 and 2
Cameron Tringale, Laguna Niguel, Calif. (143) def. John Peterson, Fort Worth, Texas (147), 2 up
Bronson Burgoon, The Woodlands, Texas (146) def. Joe Juszczyk, Dearborn Heights, Mich. (145), 5 and 4
Mark Anderson, Beaufort, S.C. (141) def. Justin Bardgett, Chesterfield, Mo. (148), 2 up
Zach Barlow, Percy, Ill. (145) def. Nathan Smith, Pittsburgh, Pa. (146), 2 up
Phillip Mollica, Anderson, S.C. (147) def. Travis Ross, Crookston, Minn. (144), 2 up
Cameron Wilson, Rowayton, Conn. (144) def. Matt Thompson, Battle Creek, Mich. (147), 19 holes
Scott Langley, St. Louis, Mo. (142) def. David Sheman, Canada (147), 2 and 1
Marcel Puyat, Philippines (145) def. Fielding Brewbaker, Salem, Va. (146), 3 and 1
Brad Revell, Canada (147) def. Matthew Broome, Barrington, R.I. (143), 19 holes
Bhavik Patel, Bakersfield, Calif. (145) def. Patrick Rada, Anderson, S.C. (146), 3 and 2
Will Strickler, Gainesville, Fla. (141) def. Brenton Flynn, Nashville, Tenn. (148), 2 and 1
Steve Ziegler, Broomfield, Colo. (145) def. Jackson Beindorf, Vero Beach, Fla. (146), 5 and 3
Dan Woltman, Beaver Dam, Wis. (144) def. Talor Gooch, Midwest City, Okla. (147), 3 and 2
Glenn Northcutt, Dothan, Ala. (147) def. Jonathan Fly, Memphis, Tenn. (144), 2 and 1
Trent Whitekiller, Sallisaw, Okla. (142) def. Wesley Bryan, Chapin, S.C. (147), 19 holes
Mike Van Sickle, Wexford, Pa. (145) def. John Murphy, Wilton, Conn. (146), 6 and 4
Brett Kanda, La Crescenta, Calif. (147) def. Kevin Tway, Edmond, Okla. (143), 1 up
Byeong-Hun An, Korea (145) def. Alex Moon, Dallas, Texas (146), 2 and 1

Second-Round Match-Play Pairings

Tulsa, Okla. - Thursday's second-round match-play pairings at the 2009 U.S. Amateur Championship, being played at the 7,093-yard, par-70 Southern Hills Country Club:

7:30 a.m. - Tim Jackson, Germantown, Tenn. (140) vs. Charlie Holland, Dallas, Texas (146)
7:40 a.m. - Christopher Ross, Canada (147) vs. Travis Woolf, Fort Worth, Texas (144)
7:50 a.m. - Peter Uihlein, Orlando, Fla. (147) vs. Connor Driscoll, Encinitas, Calif. (146)
8:00 a.m. - Dodge Kemmer, Wichita, Kan. (147) vs. Connor Arendell, Cape Coral, Fla. (146)
8:10 a.m. - Ben Martin, Greenwood, S.C. (141) vs. Chris Ward, McKinney, Texas (146)
8:20 a.m. - Nico Geyger, Chile (143) vs. Matt Smith, Australia (147)
8:30 a.m. - Bud Cauley, Jacksonville, Fla. (142) vs. David Lingmerth, Sweden (145)
8:40 a.m. - Cameron Tringale, Laguna Niguel, Calif. (143) vs. Bronson Burgoon, The Woodlands, Texas (146)
8:50 a.m. - Mark Anderson, Beaufort, S.C. (141) vs. Zach Barlow, Percy, Ill. (145)
9:00 a.m. - Phillip Mollica, Anderson, S.C. (147) vs. Cameron Wilson, Rowayton, Conn. (144)
9:10 a.m. - Scott Langley, St. Louis, Mo. (142) vs. Marcel Puyat, Philippines (145)
9:20 a.m. - Brad Revell, Canada (147) vs. Bhavik Patel, Bakersfield, Calif. (145)
9:30 a.m. - Will Strickler, Gainesville, Fla. (141) vs. Steve Ziegler, Broomfield, Colo. (145)
9:40 a.m. - Dan Woltman, Beaver Dam, Wis. (144) vs. Glenn Northcutt, Dothan, Ala. (147)
9:50 a.m. - Trent Whitekiller, Sallisaw, Okla. (142) vs. Mike Van Sickle, Wexford, Pa. (145)
10:00 a.m. - Brett Kanda, La Crescenta, Calif. (147) vs. Byeong-Hun An, Korea (145)