Around the Green

Booker and Kilby in the Final at the Mid-Amateur Match Play

San Antonio — Overnight
showers brought close to an inch of rain to Oak Hills Country Club prior to the
start of the quarterfinals for the Mid-Amateur Match Play Championship on
Saturday. The slightly softer golf course paired with the cooler temperatures
provided a perfect stage for some exciting golf. Eight players survived the
first two rounds on Friday and returned to the host site with hopes of
surviving two more matches and advancing to the finals on Sunday.

Off in the first match of the morning and looking to
continue his consistent and solid play from Friday was Oak Hills employee, John
Perez. For the third straight match, Perez would be facing off against an Oak
Hills member. Saturday’s opponent was qualifying round co-medalist, Zan Terry.
Perez got things started early with a birdie on the 1^st to take a
quick 1-up lead. Terry went on to square the match with a par on the 3^rd,
but would lose the 4^th and 9^th holes to head to the back
nine 2-down. The two halved the 10^th hole with birdies and moved on
to the 11^th. With a par on the par-4, 11^th, Perez extended
his lead to 3-up and would never look back. The two players matched pars for
the next five holes and Perez would emerge victorious once again with a 3&2
win. The third match of the quarterfinals featured Gene Williams and Colby
Harwell. A birdie at the 1^st gave Harwell the quick 1-up lead. The
two would then go back and forth for the next eight holes making the turn at
all square. Harwell made another birdie at the par-5, 10^th, but gave
it back at the 11^th with a bogey to even the match once again. A conceded
birdie at the 13^th, and another birdie at the 15^th
quickly gave Harwell the 2-up lead going into the 17^th hole. With
matching pars on the 17^th, the match was over with Harwell winning
2&1. Also advancing from the quarterfinals were Mike Booker, who defeated
Michael Pruitt in 20 holes, and Ron Kilby, who defeated Matt Wernecke by a
margin of 4&3.

Semifinal matches started Saturday afternoon with John Perez
facing Mike Booker. With a fast start that included two birdies in his first
six holes, Booker took a commanding 4-up lead going to the 8^th tee.
Perez, who has been known to wear people out with his consistent play, made a
par on the 8^th to get back to 3-down, and another par at the 9^th
to halve the hole. The players went on to halve the 10^th with
birdies but with another par on the 11^th, Perez cut into the lead
again moving him to 2-down. Sensing a change in momentum, Booker picked up the
pace and won holes 12 and 13 to retake the 4-up lead. Making another birdie on
the 15^th, Booker closed out John Perez 5&3 to claim his spot in
the final match on Sunday.

In the last semifinal match, Ron Kilby, who was the college
roommate of Mike Booker, faced off against Colby Harwell. Kilby took a quick
2-up lead with wins on the first two holes and would manage to hold on to that
lead through the first 13 holes. Kilby made a solid par on the 14^th
to win another hole and extend his lead to 3-up. With a birdie at the par-5, 15^th,
and a par at the 16^th, Harwell quickly got two holes back to move to
1-down with two holes to play. The players halved the 17^th with pars
and headed to the 18^th with Harwell in a win-or-go home situation.
Harwell’s tee shot on the par-3, 18^th, left him with a very
difficult two-putt that he was unable to convert. Kilby’s chip from short of
the green was enough for a concession and a victory of 2-up.

With that, the final match for the 2013 Mid-Amateur Match
Play Championship is set for Sunday morning at Oak Hills Country Club with
former college roommates Mike Booker and Ron Kilby battling for the title. The
pair will tee off at 7:30am. For live scoring and other information, please
visit WWW.TXGA.ORG.