Zahringer and Courville Advance to the Quarterfinals in the 2003 U.S. Amateur Championship
OAKMONT, PA.-Two Met Area legends, George Zahringer and Jerry Courville Jr. advanced to the quarterfinal round of Match Play at the 103rd U.S. Amateur Championship at Oakmont Country Club, outside Pittsburgh, PA. The finalists from last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship both moved to the quarterfinals with solid victories in the third round.
Courville fired a 67 in the second round of stroke play qualifying on Tuesday to make match play for the 10th consecutive year, and then went on to beat Shawn Stefani of Baytown, TX, 2 & 1. Zahringer survived a twelve-man playoff (for the final ten spots) to advance to face Alex Hamilton of Aiken, SC. Zahringer won the last hole with a par to advance, one up.
In the second round Courville battled back from a two-hole deficit with four to play to defeat Billy Hurley of Leesburg, VA, 1 up. Zahringer quickly dominated his match against Korey Mahoney of East Lansing, Mich. as he won the 3rd, 4th, and 5th holes on the way to his 4 & 2 victory.
In Zahringer’s third round match against JJ Killeen of Lubbock Texas, he found himself one down after two, but quickly battled back to 2 up after 8. He held on to that lead for most of the match giving himself a 2 &1 victory and a quarterfinal match against Casey Wittneberg of Memphis Tenn.. Wittenberg, although only eighteen-years-old, has already secured his spot as the youngest member of the 2003 U.S. Walker Cup Team. Courville dominated his third round match against Todd White of Spartanburg, SC as he birdied four of the first seven holes to give himself a 4 up lead. He was able to hold off White for the remainder of the match and finish with a 4 & 3 victory. Courville faces Nick Flanagan of Australia in today’s quarterfinal match.
If Courville and Zahringer continue their solid play, they will meet each other in the finals, which would be a rematch of the 2002 U.S. Mid-Amateur finals, which Zahringer won at The Stanwich Club in Greenwich, CT.
Follow the progress of Courville and Zahringer on the MGA Website, by clicking on the link below:
