Seven days ago, Drew Stoltz was preparing to fly to the PGA Championship in Tulsa, Okla., to host his SiriusXM Radio show, and Drew Kittleson was scheduled to be in Austin, Texas, for business. But one phone call from the USGA changed their itineraries, and on Wednesday, their lives could significantly change as well.
The two last-minute alternates from Scottsdale, Ariz., have taken full advantage of their unexpected entry in the 7th U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at the Country Club of Birmingham. Kittleson, 33, and Stoltz, 37, won two more matches Tuesday on the West Course, including a dramatic 1-up quarterfinal win over co-medalists and top seeds Torey Edwards and Bret Parker, to put them two wins away from a national championship.
“We qualified in Arizona, and it was like in September,” said Stoltz of being second alternates from their site. “It was so far [ago] that you just forget. You don’t put it on your calendar because you’re an alternate, and then Tuesday I was like oh, my God, that's this week. Here we go.”
They are joined in the semifinals by the other two co-medalist sides from stroke play, No. 2 seeds Carter Loflin, 18, of Duluth, Ga., and Wells Williams, 18, of West Point, Miss., and No. 3 Davis Womble, 28, of Winston-Salem, N.C., and fellow Wake Forest alum Chad Wilfong, 41, of Charlotte, N.C.
One quarterfinal match was suspended due to darkness on the 17th tee with No. 5 seeds Evan Beck and Dan Walters holding a 1-up lead over University of Cincinnati teammates Tyler Gingerich and Cole Harris. That match will resume at 7 a.m. CDT, with the winners facing Kittleson and Stoltz, who partners with two-time USGA champion and current CBS analyst Colt Knost on his SiriusXM show.
Stoltz and Kittleson saw a 2-up lead after 12 holes evaporate when Edwards, a left-hander from Long Beach, Calif., who has advanced to final qualifying for this year’s U.S. Open, converted back-to-back winning birdie putts on the par-3 13th (2 feet) and par-4 14th holes (20 feet). The sides traded wins on Nos. 15 and 16 to set up a dramatic finish.
Kittleson ripped a 357-yard drive on the 447-yard closing hole, leaving him only 90 yards – “my favorite number” – to the flagstick. His 56-degree wedge approach bounced once and stopped 3 feet from the hole for a match-winning birdie.
Fourteen years ago, Kittleson, a former All-American at Florida State, was on the verge of a title before losing to future PGA Tour winner Danny Lee in the 36-hole final of the U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst No. 2.
“It was a long time ago,” said Kittleson, when asked if some of those vibes have returned this week. “I don't even know what I felt like then, but I know that winning a USGA championship would be awesome for anybody on the planet.”
This is new territory for Loflin, who is headed to the University of Georgia this fall, and Williams, a three-time American Junior Golf Association All-American who will play for Vanderbilt this fall. Neither has advanced this far in a USGA championship, but they have looked like seasoned veterans, starting with a first-round 61 on Saturday that set the 18-hole championship record.
The two future Southeastern Conference rivals were a combined 10 under par in 33 holes over their two matches on Tuesday, which included a 3-and-2 quarterfinal victory over 2018 runners-up Marc Dull and Chip Brooke. In the morning, they dispatched Towson University alums Jeffrey Castle and William Wingerd, 2 and 1, in their toughest match to date.
“Honestly I don't know how to explain this, but I would say we're not really nervous,” said Williams, a member of the 2021 USA Junior Ryder Cup Team. “We feel really settled. I'm not going to treat it any different than I've been treating all the other ones.”
Added Loflin: “We lost last year [in the Round of 32] just because we got super wound up in playing the other people. This year, we've [learned] … if you just stick to your game plan, then stuff will work out how you want it to.”
Wilfong and Womble had not played the last three holes of the West Course since Sunday’s final round of stroke play, when they carded an 8-under 63 to share medalist honors. After a comfortable 5-and-4 win in the Round of 16 on Tuesday morning over Blake Humbles and Connor Reis, two Southern Methodist University signees – Zach Kingsland, of Austin, Texas, and William Sides, of Tulsa, Okla. – took the duo to 18 in the quarterfinals before the No. 3 seeds prevailed, 1 up.
Wilfong and Womble built as much as a 3-up lead only to see Kingsland and Sides trim it to 1 hole with consecutive birdies on 15 and 16. A par by Womble on 17 preserved their lead, and on No. 18, Womble hit a sand-wedge approach from 110 yards to 12 feet and converted the birdie putt with Kingsland facing a 5-footer to possibly force extra holes.
“The energy bar on 17 was the key,” said Womble. “I was out of food. [My partner] gave me a bar.”
Added Wilfong, whose side played 7-under golf and didn’t make a bogey in two matches on Tuesday: “I don't think we did anything poorly. They made two really good birdies. So, you just kind of claw back … and it was good enough to just kind of squeeze them down.”
One of the longest matches in championship history occurred on Tuesday morning. Gingerich and Harris needed 24 holes to oust ex-University of Michigan teammates Matthew McLaughlin and Christian Vozza. Twice, the sides tied holes with birdies (Nos. 19 and 23) before Gingerich’s two-putt par on the 420-yard sixth hole ended the marathon.
The match was one hole shy of the longest in championship history, which was established last year at Chambers Bay when Blake Hathcoat and Michael Slesinski defeated Cole Berman and Mike Davis. In 2018 at Jupiter Hills, Wilfong and Womble lost in 24 holes to Steven Groover and M. Tyler McKeever.
What’s Next
One semifinal match on Wednesday will commence at 7 a.m. CDT (Loflin/Williams vs. Wilfong/Womble) with the second semifinal starting shortly after the suspended quarterfinal match concludes. The 18-hole championship match will follow at approximately 1 p.m. The public is welcome to attend, and admission is free.
Notable
- The sides who lost in the quarterfinals are exempt from qualifying for the 2023 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, which will be contested at Kiawah Island (S.C.) Club from May 20-24. The Cassique and River courses will be used for stroke play, with the matches contested on the former. Each of the semifinal losers will receive a two-year exemption, while the runners-up get three years. The champions are exempt for 10 years, provided the side remains intact.
- In 2011, Drew Kittleson and Evan Beck were on the All-Atlantic Coast Conference first team with future two-time U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka. Koepka and Kittleson were teammates at Florida State, while Beck played at Wake Forest. In 2008, Kittleson help lead the Seminoles to their first-ever ACC title.
- No. 4 seeds Matthew McLaughlin and Christian Vozza went extra holes in each of their two matches, winning in 20 on Monday in the Round of 32, and losing the marathon 24-holer on Tuesday in the Round of 16.
- This is the second consecutive year a player from West Point, Miss., is in the semifinals of a USGA championship. Last July, Cohen Trolio advanced to the 36-hole final of the U.S. Junior Amateur at The Country Club of North Carolina, and now his friend and fellow Old Waverly member Wells Williams has made a final four. Williams’ grandfather, George Bryan, founded Mossy Oak Golf Club and Old Waverly Golf Club, site of three USGA championships, including the 1999 U.S. Women’s Open.
- Floridians Chip Brooke and Marc Dull were the last of the nine surviving sides from Monday’s 10-for-9 playoff to be eliminated. They were runners-up in 2018 to Cole Hammer and Garrett Barber at Jupiter Hills and semifinalists in 2017 at Pinehurst, losing to the eventual champions Frankie Capan and Shuai Ming Wong. Dull also was the runner-up in the 2015 U.S. Mid-Amateur to Sammy Schmitz.
Quotable
“The last time I played 36 [holes] without a cart was probably college [at Texas Christian University in 2007]. I’m dragging right now.” – Drew Stoltz on playing two matches on Tuesday totaling 33 holes with partner Drew Kittleson
“They wouldn't let us extend our stay, so we have to go find a hotel, and we're going to ‘Postmates’ Chick-Fil-A or Chipotle and get a bottle of wine and that will be our evening.” – Kittleson
“I feel great. I'll be honest with you, when you're out there and you're in the fight, you don't have time to be tired. I've got all day Thursday [after the championship] to be tired. We're still young enough, especially Davis. We can figure out how to get through 36 more holes.” – Chad Wilfong (with partner Davis Womble) after playing 33 holes
“We've known each other for as long as I can remember, and I think we probably have as good of a relationship as anybody else in this field.” – Wells Williams on the chemistry with partner Carter Loflin
“It would have been fun to keep it going, for sure. We had some unbelievable holes coming in. The putt I made on the 19th hole [for birdie] was insane. You don't expect that to go in. … We get over to the 22nd hole and made a great [birdie] putt, but then they made an awesome putt. We were doing what we needed to do, but they were just strong, strong players.” – Christian Vozza (with partner Matthew McLaughlin) after the 24-hole marathon loss in the Round of 16
David Shefter is a senior staff writer for the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.
The Social Scene
Honestly might be the best “gravy and the sleeze” ever! He might need to take up a full time playing schedule! https://t.co/qB2CJe5vRH
— Colt Knost (@ColtKnost) May 17, 2022
It’s getting real Sleezy out there at the Country Club of Birmingham. @thesleezyman is on to the quarterfinals after a 4&3 W in the round of 16 today. #getamongstit @USGA @DrewKittleson https://t.co/oloNJyq9SG
— Subpar (@golf_subpar) May 17, 2022
After a hard fought match that went to 24 holes, the team of Cole Harris and Ty Gingerich are victorous and move on to the Round of 8 this afternoon in @usga #USFourball! Click here for live scoring: https://t.co/hp3h7CEuRy pic.twitter.com/iXXDadSQoq
— Indiana Golf (@IndianaGolf) May 17, 2022
