Blanchard & Engel Win U.S. Am 4-Ball 2 up over Brown & Herrington

FLOUTOWN, Pa. -- If you can't beat 'em, at least you can meet 'em.

That was the case for Nick Jarrett and Trent Peterson at the U..S. Amateur Four-Ball. They were the only Minnesota team to make it through the qualifying over the weekend and earn a spot in match play. Their reward was a first-round (Round of 32) encounter on Monday with Blades Brown and Jackson Herrington.

Herrington is the prize 2024 recruit for the University of Tennessee. As for the 17-year-old Brown, he is probably the most famous teenage golf prodigy since Tiger Woods in the early to mid-90s. Brown, who turned 17 last week (May 21), made the cut recently as a 16-year-old in a PGA Tour event, the Myrtle Beach Classic. (He wound up tied for 26th at 10-under-par 274.) Last summer, he broke a 103-year-old record that was held by Bobby Jones for being the youngest qualifier at the U.S. Amateur.

He and Herrington tied for 10th in the stroke-play qualifying portion of the Four-Ball, shooting an 8-under-par 64 Saturday at the Philadelphia Cricket Club's Militia Hills Course and a 68 Sunday at Wissahickon, the course where all of the matches took place, and they were seeded 11th.

Meanwhile, Zach Foushee and Robbie Ziegler, two former University of Oregon stars, were tying the record of lowest score in the Four-Ball qualifying. They blitzed Militia Hills with a 10-under 62 and came back on Sunday with a 6-under 64 at Wissahickon, and their 36-hole total of 126 earned them medalist honors with two strokes to spare.

The 37-year-old Peterson might be Minnesota's most under-appreciated golf champion, possibly because he's not a bomber in an age of 300-yard-plus bombers. He hits it far enough, averaging around 275 yards to 285, and he hits it where he's aiming. He also has a great short game, and what really matters is that he's won pretty much every tournament there is for an amateur to wiin around here. There really isn't an amateur with a resume that comes close to his. (The most successful old-timers, such as Al Clasen, Neil Croonquist, Gene Hansen, Chet Latawiec, Bill Israelson, Rick Ehrmanntraut, John Harris, Tom Lehman, Chris Perry and Dave Nordeen, didn't have nearly as many state championships to play in.) Peterson is the only player to have won Minnesota's Big 5 for amateurs -- State Amateur, State Open, State Publinx, Minnesota Golf Champions and the MGA Players -- plus the Mid-Am, the Mid-Players, the State Four-Ball, the State Publinx Four-Ball and the state high school championship. At last count, he had 34 state championships in all. Jarrett, 35, once shot 60 at Prestwick. He can make a lot of birdies, which makes him a very popular best-ball partner.

Peterson and Jarrett were the only Minnesota team to make match play at the Cricket Club. They shot 66 at Willahickon and 67 at Militia Hills, and their two-day tab of 133 put them in a massive, nine-way tie for 15th. They got the No. 22 seed, and a crack at the No. 11 seeds, Herrington and Brown, on Monday morning. But it didn't take long for Brown and Herrington to take control of that first-round match. They birdied the first three holes, made two more birdies at the 467-yard, par-4 sixth and the 563-yard, par-5 seventh, and made their sixth and seventh birdies of the round on the ninth and 10th holes. Three holes later, Herrington and Blades had a 6&5 victory.

Meanwhile, Fourshee and Ziegler had all they could do to survive their Round of 32 match with with the No. 32 seeds Chad Wilfong and Davis Womble, and they needed 20 holes to do it. But in the second round, they lost 1 down to Bradley Bastion and Anthony Sorentino.

Herriington and Blades, on the other hand, were cruising. The dismissed the No. 27 seeds, Javier Degadillo/Aiden Thomas 5&3 in the Round of 16. They had to go all the way to the 17th hole to finish off Evan Beck and Dan Walters, the No. 14 seeds, 2&1. They then rolled over their semifinal oppenents, Trey Diehl and Mac Scott, 4&3.

But their Magic Carpet Ride ended in the final, where they were beaten 2 up by the No. 9-seeded team, Brian Blanchard and Sam Engel, both of Scottsdale, Ariz. Needing a birdie on the 18th hole just to get the match into extra holes, Blades ripped a 350-yard drive, and hit a sand wedge that landed fairly close to the cup, but spun back to 16 feet. Herrington missed the green, which meant it was up to Blades to make the birdie they needed. But even that might not have been good enough, because Engel, an accountant at a software company (Blanchard is a software engineer), hit his second shot to 10 feet.

Blades putt looked good -- but ended up hanging on the front lip. So that was that, and the Four-Ball championship went to Team Software.


U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship

At Philadelphia Cricket Club

Wissahickon Course -- Par 70, 7,013 yards (all matches were played at Wissahickon)

Militia Hill Course -- Par 72, 7,230 yards

Floutown, Pa.

Match play

Final

No. 9 seeds Brian Blanchard/Sam Engel def. No. 11 Blades Brown/Jackson Herrington 2 up

Semfinals

Brown/Herrington def. No. 7 Trey Diehl/Mac Scott 4&3

Blanchard/Engel def. No. 20 Will Davenport/Mike Smith 1 up

Quarterfinals

Brown/Herrington def. No. 14 Evan Beck/Dan Walters 2&1

Blanchard/Engel def. No. 17 Bradley Bastion/Anthony Sorentino 5&4

Round of 16

Bastion/Sorentino def. Foushee/Ziegler 1 up

Brown/Herrington def. No. 27 Javier Degadillo/Aiden Thomas 5&3

Blanchard/Engel def. No. 8 Blanton Farmer/Ryan Terry 1 up

Round of 32

No. 1 Zach Foushe/Robbie Ziegler def. No. 32 Chad Wilfong/Davis Womble 20 holes

Brown/Herrington def. No. 22 Nicholas Jarrett/Trent Peterson 6&5

Blanchard/Engel def. No. 24 Owen Calvin-Smith/Andrew Ricci 1 up


Stroke play

Final results

1. Foushe/Ziegler 62W-64MH--126 (-16)

T2. Kenny Cook/Sean Rowan 62MH-66W--128

T2. Payne Denman/Brett Patterson 62W-66MH--128

4. Jack Cantlay/Jaden Huggins 66MF-63W--129

T5. Trey Diehl/Mac Scott 69MH-61W--130

T5. Jimmy Makloski/Colin Prater 63W-67MH--130

T5. Daniel McBrien/Smith Summerlin 63MH-67W--130

T8. BlantonFarmer/Ryan Terry 65MH-66W--131

T8. Brian Blanchard/Sam Engel 66W-65MH--131

T10. Evan Beck/Dan Walters 67W-65MH--132

T10. Blades Brown/J. Herrington 64MH-68W--132

T10. Drew Kittleson/Drew Stoltz 66MH-66W--132

T10. Tug Maude/John Sawin 65W-67MH--132

T10. Sam Braver/Ben Klaus 65W-67MH--132

T15. Nicholas Jarrett/Trent Peterson 66W-67MH--133

Missed cut -- 11-for-6 playoff at 135

Kane Hanson/Casey Nelson 68MH-70W--138

Brian Hickey/William HIckey 74W-69MH--143

Brian Hartzell/Wade Wawner 71MH-73W--144