When a player gets to the match play portion of the U.S. Amateur, it’s often an imperative to step up his game if he wants to make a run deep into the championship.
That goes with the territory when everyone left in the field has made the cut from the original 312 golfers to the 64 match play qualifiers.
Dan Erickson (left) of Loveland played solid in Wednesday’s round-of-64 match, but he didn’t go several under par at Pebble Beach Golf Links — which is what he would have needed to advance.
Erickson, a Texas A&M golfer whose family moved to Colorado earlier this year, fell to Pepperdine player Joshua McCarthy of Danville, Calif., 3 and 2 on Wednesday, seeing his run at the championship end.
Erickson was 1 over par for the 16 holes of the match, but McCarthy was 3 under.
The Coloradan, who shot a course-record 61 at Fort Collins Country Club in qualifying for the championship last month, was 1 up after making a birdie on No. 4 on Wednesday. And the match was all quare after nine.
But McCarthy, playing in his third straight U.S. Am, won 10 and 13 with birdies and 12 with a par to go 3 up with five holes left. After Erickson took 14 with a par and McCarthy 15 with a birdie, the latter closed out the match with a halved par on 16.
Here are the results for the local players who competed at the U.S. Amateur:
MATCH PLAY ROUND OF 64 (Wednesday)
Joshua McCarthy of Danville, Calif., def. Dan Erickson of Loveland, 3 and 2
STROKE PLAY (Monday and Tuesday)
Advanced to Match Play
24. Dan Erickson of Loveland 73-71–144
Failed to Advance to Match Play
182. CSU golfer Cullen Plousha 78-75–153
197. Austin Hardman of Highlands Ranch 78-76–154
210. AJ Ott of Fort Collins 79-76–155
257. Kyler Dunkle of Parker 78-80–158
280. Coby Welch of Highlands Ranch 82-79–161
For complete results, CLICK HERE.
