Carr Defeats Hitchner in U.S. Am Semis, Will Play Bennett in Final

View full size image

PARAMUS, N.J. -- All good things must come to an end, although Derek Hitchner would have prefered that the end of his run in the U.S. Amateur not come in the Saturday in the semifinals. Unfortunately, it did. Hitchner won two of the first six holes against Ben Carr, but Carr played the next 10 holes in 2 under, and won four of those holes.  The result was a 3&2 victory for the Georgia Southern fifth-year senior.

In the other semifinal, Sam Bennett transformed 17th-hole crisis into a 1-up victory over Dylan Menante, thanks mainly to one great 7-iron shot -- and a 12-foot birdie putt.

So it will be Bennett vs. Carr in the 36-hole final on Sunday at Ridgewood Country Club. It will begin at 8 a.m., Eastern Time.

It was said by several times by players during the course of the week that seedings are irrelevant in this tournament, because the guys who qualify for it, and then make it through 36 holes of stroke play just to get into the match-play part of the tournament are all really good. And the match-play results would seem to bear that out. 

None of the top 15 seeds made it through the first four matches into the quarterfinals, and neither of the two finalists was seeded in the top 30. Carr and Bennett both shot 144 (1 over) during the stroke-play part of the tournament. Carr got the No. 34 seed. Bennett got No 36.

But Bennett, who is No. 3 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, has been the best player in the tournament since the matches began. Basically, he's had to be, because all five of the opponents he's faced has been ranked in the top 27 by the WAGRs. He was even par on Wednesday against WAGR No. 13 Nick Gabrelcik in the Round of 64, and won that match in 19 holes. There were two rounds of matches on Thursday, and Bennett was 5 under in both of them -- a a 6&5 victory over co-medalist Fred Biondi (No. 27 in the WAGRs), and a 4&2 victory over No. 10 David Puig in the Round of 16.

In the quarterfinals, he was 3 under in a 3&2 victory over Stewart Hagestad (No. 9). On Saturday, he was 1 under against Menante, who is No. 8 in the WAGRs.

Bennett, a Texas A&M All-American who has decided to go back for a fifth year of eligibility rather than turn pro, went 2 up on Menante when he made a 4-foot putt for a birdie at the 269-yard, par-4 12th hole. But Menante, a Pepperdine All-American who is tranferring to North Carolina for his fifth year of eligibility, won the 14th (415 yards, par 4) with a par, and he squared the match at the 159-yard, par-3 15th by making a 12-foot putt for a birdie. It was his fifth birdie in the six times that he played Ridgewood's 15th hole during the tournament. (Each player in the U.S. Am played one of the two stroke-play rounds at Arcola.)

Menante appeared to be on the verge of going 1 up at the 17th when Bennett blocked his drive well right of the fairway and into some fescue, not far from a tree. From there, he hit his second shot into a bunker, 175 yards from the green. Meanwhile, Menante had hit his drive into the fairway and smacked a 3-wood to within a few yards of the green. But the advantage was reversed when Bennett hit a sensational 7-iron shot to within 12 feet of the pin -- and Menante hit throroughly mediocre chip that ended up 20 feet from the cup.

Menante didn't do all that much better with his birdie putt, which slid 5 feet past the hole. But he didn't need to hit another putt --  because Bennett made his 12-foot birdie putt.

He then secured the victory by halving the 18 hole with a par.

Hitchner has been a teammate of Menante's at Pepperdine for the last four years, and he received All-American honorable mention for his play during the 2021-22 season. Unlilke Menante, he is going back for a fifth year with the Waves. Hitchner is also a former Minnesota state high school champion (as a sophomore at Blake, he shot a tournament-record score of 134 at Ridges at Sand Creek) and the 2021 Minnesota State Amateur champ. On Saturday, he grabbed the initial lead over Carr by winning the 580-yard, par-5 third hole with a par. Carr, who is No. 70 in the WAGRs, made a double bogey at the third, but he came right back with a birdie at the long, 492-yard, par-4 fourth. 

The sixth is a 212-yard par 3, and Hitchner (No. 51 in the world rankings) won it with a par. But Carr didn't lose another hole, and he won four more, beginning with the 466-yard, par-4 eighth, which he won with a par. He also won the par-3 11th (211 yards) with another par, and he sealed Hitchner's fate by winning the 13th and 14th with birdies. At the 13th, a 596-yard par 5, he stiffed a wedge from 107 yards, and he made a monster 50-foot putt for the birdie at the 415-yard, par-4 14th.

He and Hitchner then halved the 15th and 16th with pars. 

This was the fourth consecutive 3&2 result in matches that Hitchner played, but this time it went the wrong way. 

Carr was even par for the 16 holes they played. Hitchner was 2 over.

"It was an unbelievable week," he said afterward. "Obviously, it stings quite a bit, and it's hard not to let that kind of dominate the other, I guess, five or six days I've been here. But still, it was all just a fantastic experience. I'm so grateful to have gone through all this."     


U.S. Amateur

At Ridgewood Country Club (par 71, 7,403 yards) 

& at Arcola (par 70, 7,251 yards)

Paramus, N.J. 

Stroke play (the top 64 finishers advance to match play on Wednesday)

Final results

T1. Fred Biondi                              69A  69R -- 138 (-5)

T1. Luke Gutchweski                     68R  70A -- 138

T1. Hugo Townsend                      71-R  67A -- 138

T1. Michael Thorbjornsen              68R  70A -- 138

5. Gordon Sargent                        74R  65A -- 139

T6. Adrien Dumont de Chassart    70R 70A -- 140

T6. Luke Potter                              71A 69R -- 140

T6. Christo Lamprecht                   68A 72R -- 140

T9. Rasmus N. Peterson               73R 68A -- 141

T9. Benjamin James                      71R 70A -- 141

T9. Mark Power                             73R 68A -- 141

T9. Cohen Trolio                           71R 70A -- 141

Playoff (15 players will vie for the last 11 spots in match play Wednesday morning) 

T54. Derek Hitchner                    72R 74A -- 146 (made it out of the playoff with a par on the first extra hole) 

T54. Frankie Capan                    74R 72A -- 146 (also made par on the first extra hole)

Missed cut 

Carson Herron                             76A 75R -- 151

Connor Schubring                      76R 75A -- 151

Samuel Storey                             79A 73R -- 152

Owen Mullen                                77A 78R -- 155

Cecil Belisle                                 73A 83R -- 156

Gunnar Broin                               78A 80R -- 158

Jacob Pedersen                           82A 79R -- 161


Match Play (all matches are being played at Ridgewood)

Round of 64

(64) Payton Snowberger def. (1) Luke Gutschewski 20 holes

(8) Luke Potter def. (57) Nicolas Cassidy 19 holes

(56) Nicholas Gross def. (9) Cohen Trolio 3&1

(4) Fred Biondi def. (61) Frankie Capan 1 up

(36) Sam Bennett def. (29) Nick Gabrelcik 19 holes 

(60) Ford Clegg def. (5) Gordon Sargent 21 holes

(63) Andrew Von Lossow def. (2) Michael Thorbjornsen 3&2

(7) Christo Lamprecht def. (58) Garrett Wood 1 up

(26) Alex Price def. (39) Wenyi Ding 23 holes

(23) Ricky Castillo def. (42) Ludvig Aberg 1 up

(3) Hugo Townsend def. (62) JonErik Alford 4&3

(59) Derek Hitchner def. (6) Adrien Dumont de Chassart 1 up 

(38) Josh Gilege def. (27) Pietro Bovari 1 up 

Round of 32

(33) Maxwell Moldovan def. (64) Snoeberger 2&1

(16) Dylan Menante def. (17) Carson Lundell 1 up

(8) Luke Potter def. (40) Bartley Forrester 3&2

(56) Nicholas Gross def. (41) Chris Francoeur 3&2

(36) Sam Bennett def. (4) Fred Biondi 6&5

(45) David Puig def. (52) Bryce Lewis  2 up

(37) Hayden Hopewell def. (60) Ford Clegg 2&1

(21) Stewart Hagestad def. (12) Benjamin James 6&4

(34) Ben Carr def. (63) Andrew Von Lossow 1 up

(18) Nathan Franks def. (15) Connor McKinney 1 up

(26) Alex Price def. (7) Christo Lamprecht  1 up

(23) Ricky Castillo def. (55) Owen Avrit 2&1

(3) Hugo Townsend def. (30) Campbell Kremer 1 up

(51) Shea Lague def. (19) Yuxin Lin 3&2

(59) Derek Hitchner def. (38) Josh Gliege 3&2

(22) Justin Biwer def. (54) Walker Isley 2&1

Round of 16

(16) Menante def. (33) Moldovan 1 up

(56) Gross def. (8) Potter 4&3

(36) Bennett def. (45) Puig 4&2

(21) Hagestad def. (37) Hopewell 2&1

(34) Carr def. (18) Franks 19 holes

(26) Price def. (23) Castillo 3&2

(51) Lague def. (3) Townsend 19 holes

(59) Hitchner def. (22) Biwer 3&2

Quarterfinals

(16) Menante def. (56) Gross 4&3

(36) Bennett def. (21) Hagestad 3&2

(34) Carr def. (26) Price 2&1

(59) Hitchner def. (51) Lague 3&2

Semifinals 

(36) Bennett def. (16) Menante 1 up

(34) Carr def. (51) Hitchner 3&2