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U.S. AMATEUR FOUR-BALL

Notre Dame Duo Among Semifinalists at Chambers Bay

By David Shefter, USGA

| May 25, 2021 | University Place, Wash.

The good vibes kept rolling for Notre Dame teammates Davis Chatfield (left) and Palmer Jackson on Tuesday at Chambers Bay. (Robert Beck/USGA)

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What Happened

Davis Chatfield and Palmer Jackson continued to advance past better-known foes in the 6th U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Chambers Bay. A day after eliminating the defending champions, the University of Notre Dame teammates who survived an 11-for-6 playoff on Monday just to get into the match-play draw took out a couple more USGA champions on Tuesday en route to a spot in the semifinals.

Chatfield, 21, of Attleboro, Mass., and Jackson, 20, of Murrysville, Pa., needed 21 holes to eliminate 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Preston Summerhays, 18, of Scottsdale, Ariz., and 17-year-old Luke Potter, of Encinitas, Calif. That came hours after they defeated 2015 champions Nathan Smith, 42, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and Todd White, 53, of Spartanburg, S.C., 3 and 2.

Of the eight USGA champions in the draw – which includes the three sides – Palmer and Jackson have eliminated five.

“We’re trying to be one,” said Jackson, a quarterfinalist in the 2019 U.S. Amateur. “In order to be a USGA champion, you’ve got to beat some.”

They need two more wins on Wednesday to achieve that goal.

The first obstacle will be a pair of Florida teens. Portuguese-born Kiko Francisco Coelho, 18, of Lake Mary, Fla., who is headed to Arizona State this fall, and his partner Leopoldo Herrera III, of Doral, Fla., a rising sophomore at Central Florida, ousted the stroke-play medalists and No. 1 seeds Kelly Chinn, 18, of Great Falls, Va., and David Ford, 18, of Peachtree Corners, Ga., 3 and 1.

In the lower bracket, Loyola University Chicago teammates Tyler Anderson, 21, of Mundelein, Ill., and Devin Johnson, 22, of Elburn, Ill., birdied the 18th hole to knock out No. 2 seeds Brent Ito, 22, of Ardsley, N.Y., and Patrick Sullivan, 21, of Grosse Pointe, Mich., 1 up.

Their semifinal opponent won’t be known until Wednesday morning as darkness halted the quarterfinal between Blake Hathcoat and Michael Slesinski versus Canadians Brendan MacDougall and Sam Meek. MacDougall and Meek, University of Nevada teammates, were 1 up playing the 16th hole when the match was suspended. It will resume at 6:45 a.m. PDT on Wednesday.

The suspension was all but assured when history was made earlier in the day in the Round of 16. Hathcoat, 23, of Fresno, Calif., and Slesinski, 23, of Fremont, Calif., teammates at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif., outlasted 25-year-olds Cole Berman, of Bryn Mawr, Pa., and Michael Davis, of Philadelphia, in 25 holes. The longest match in U.S. Amateur Four-Ball history took just under eight hours (7:54) and ended when Hathcoat two-putted for birdie on the par-5 first hole. It was the third time the sides had played that hole.

The previous longest match was 24 holes in 2018 when Steven Groover and M. Tyler McKeever, who failed to make the cut this week, defeated Chad Wilfong and Davis Womble in the Round of 32 at Jupiter Hills Club’s Hills Course.

Chatfield and Jackson rallied from an early 2-hole deficit to tie the match with a birdie on No. 14. They each had putts of 6 feet or less on No. 18 to close out Summerhays and Potter but failed to convert. On the 151-yard, par-3 21st hole – the third at Chambers Bay – Jackson’s tee shot with a pitching wedge stopped 9 feet from the flagstick. After Summerhays missed from 15 feet, Jackson calmly converted to end a marathon day along Puget Sound.

“It's been super long,” said Jackson. “We're both exhausted, but right now it's all worth it, and we've got to do the same thing tomorrow. It'll be exciting.”

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Devin Johnson (right) and Tyler Anderson have advanced to the semifinals in their first start in a USGA competition. (Robert Beck/USGA)

Coelho, the 2020 Florida State Golf Association Junior Player of the Year, and Herrera broke open a tight match against Chinn-Ford with a birdie at the 290-yard, par-4 10th hole and an eagle 2 on the drivable par-4 12th. Herrera holed a 30-foot putt after reaching the green with his drive.

“Twelve was the biggest moment,” said Herrera, who formed a partnership with Coehlo after Coelho won last summer’s FSGA Junior. “I made a big putt to get 3 up with six to play.”

Johnson, the 2021 Missouri Valley Conference champion, and Anderson had a nip-and-tuck quarterfinal with Michigan teammates Ito and Sullivan. Neither side led by more than one hole, and they tied Nos. 12-17 before Johnson made a 3-foot birdie after reaching the green in two with a 3-wood from 256 yards out.

“Once [Anderson] made par I wasn't as nervous,” said Johnson of the clinching putt. “It was just firm and center the whole way.

“It's pretty surreal for our first time,” added Johnson. “To go this far is pretty spectacular in my opinion.”

The 25-hole match wasn’t the only exciting extra-hole battle in the Round of 16. Summerhays and Potter rallied for a 20-hole victory over 2017 champions Frankie Capan, 21, of North Oaks, Minn., and Shuai Ming Wong, 21, of The Woodlands, Texas. The sides combined for 17 birdies – and one eagle by Wong – with Summerhays deciding it by draining a 25-foot birdie on the par-4 second hole. Summerhays and Potter wound up playing 41 holes on Tuesday.

Capan and Wong, who had a 4-up lead through seven holes, were the equivalent of 28 under par – with concessions – over 52 holes at Chambers Bay in stroke and match play.

“It definitely stings a little bit right now,” said Capan, a rising senior at Florida Gulf Coast University. “But all in all, I feel like we played pretty solid.”

What’s Next

The semifinals and 18-hole championship match will take place on Wednesday at Chambers Bay. The semifinal contests are scheduled for 7:20 a.m. and 7:40 a.m. PDT, followed by the championship match at 1 p.m.

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Florida teens Leopoldo Herrera III (left) and Kiko Francisco Coelho have every reason to smile after reaching the semis. (Robert Beck/USGA)

Notable

  • The four quarterfinal losers are exempt from qualifying for the 2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at the Country Club of Birmingham (Ala.), provided the side stays intact. This exemption was added starting this year. Previously, semifinalists received a one-year exemption, the runners-up a three-year exemption and the champions a 10-year exemption.

  • Medalists/No. 1 seeds are now 0-for-6 in the championship.

  • Everyone knows about Sister Jean’s love for Loyola University Chicago that helped carry the Ramblers to an improbable Final Four run three years ago, and the Sweet 16 this past March. The 101-year-old nun’s enthusiasm for the school extends beyond men’s basketball. When Tyler Anderson and Devin Johnson helped Loyola win the MVC team title this spring, she sent the team a video message.

  • East Carolina University alums Logan Shuping and Blake Taylor saw their bid for a repeat run to the final end with a 5-and-4, Round-of-16 defeat to Canadians Brendan MacDougall and Sam Meek. The 2020 graduates lost in the 2019 final at Bandon Dunes to Scott Harvey and Todd Mitchell. Taylor is planning to turn professional in the fall while Shuping provides advisor support for a brokerage company

  • After being eliminated in the Round of 16, Todd White, who won at The Olympic Club with Nathan Smith in 2015, took a red-eye flight home so he could help administer final exams at Spartanburg (S.C.) High School. White, 53, is a history teacher.

  • ·No mid-amateurs (25 and older) advanced past the Round of 16. Blake Hathcoat, 23, and Michael Slesinksi, 23, were the oldest side to reach the final eight. The youngest side was Luke Potter, 17, and Preston Summerhays, 18. The average age of the eight quarterfinalists was 19.81.

  • Although Doug Jackson played baseball at the University of Pittsburgh, he grew up as a big fan of legendary golfer Arnold Palmer, which is why he named his son Palmer. Palmer played some baseball growing up just outside Pittsburgh, but golf landed him a scholarship to Notre Dame. 

Quotable

“We're ready to take on whatever they've got and go at them.” – Davis Chatfield on the fact there are no more USGA champions left to face

“I mean, as long as you just keep looking at the ocean (actually Puget Sound), there's no problem.” – Leopoldo Herrera on the physical grind of multiple rounds in match play

“All my thoughts have been, just play like it's your practice. I've prepared well enough for this, and it's good to see something good finally come out of it.” – semifinalist Tyler Anderson when asked about his side’s mindset for their first USGA championship

“He was at Pinehurst in the final eight of the U.S. Amateur [in 2019] at such a young age. That kind of speaks to the player he is. Todd and I have no reason to hang our heads. We played great, and they played incredible. They just went on a run there … and sank [four] birdies in a row.” – Nathan Smith on fellow Pittsburgh native Palmer Jackson after he and partner Todd White lost in the Round of 16

“When we were out here putting before they closed everything up [Monday night], we were just so thankful to be here. It’s such a neat championship, something we cherish. I hope to be back.” – Frankie Capan when asked if he and partner Shuai Ming Wong will compete in the 2022 championship if their college schedules permit it

David Shefter is a senior staff writer for the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.

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