Around the Green

Round of 32 Set for the Mid-Amateur Match Play Championship

Play began Thursday at Oak Hills Country Club in
San Antonio for the 2013 Mid-Amateur Match Play Championship. Day one brought
the qualifying round with players vying for one of 32 positions moving into the
match play portion of the event. The fast greens and warm temperatures at Oak
Hills were sure to make it an exciting day.

Clarke Kincaid of Trophy Club set the pace early going off in the
second group of the day. Clarke started on the front nine and made a quick bogey
on the second hole but was able to get it back with a birdie on the sixth hole
to shoot even-par on the front side. He would go on to make another birdie at
the par-5, 10^th hole, then finished his back side with 8 straight
pars to shoot a 1-under par round of 70 and take the lead in the clubhouse.
Shortly thereafter, Oak Hills Country Club member, Zan Terry, returned his
scorecard and joined Kincaid atop the leaderboard at 1-under par. Terry’s round
started on the back nine where he opened with birdies on 14 and 17 to turn in
2-under par. On the front side, Terry made three bogeys but added two more
birdies to finish at 1-under par. Clarke Kincaid and Zan Terry will share the
medalist honors for the qualifying round but the #1 seed will be given to
Kincaid since he was the first player the post the low round.

Aaron Hickman and Bobby Baugh finished tied for third, one shot back
at even-par for the qualifying round. Hickman’s round included three birdies
and three bogeys and Baugh managed 5 birdies to go along with three bogeys and
a double bogey. Mark Macejewski and Ron Kilby each finished two shots back of
the leaders at 1-over par, 72.

At the end of the day, there were eight players left tied for the
last three spots at 7-over par, 78, confirming those with rounds of 77 or
better spots in the match play bracket. With only 32 spots available, a
sudden-death playoff was needed to determine the final match play participants.
The eight players were split into two groups of four and returned to the
difficult par-3, 18^th. In the first group, Chris Germann and Kip
Estep managed pars with Trey Wilkinson and Trent Brown making bogeys. In the
second group, Jed Shreve made a rare birdie while Bob Kearney, Bill Odom, and
Chris Payne made bogeys. One playoff hole was all that was needed with Jed
Shreve, Chris Germann, and Kip Estep filling in the final three spots going
into match play on Friday morning.

Round of 32 matches will start at 7:30 am on Friday, followed by the
Round of 16 matches in the afternoon starting at 1:00 pm. For more information
on scores, matches, and tee times, please visit www.txga.org.