Upsets Abound in First Round at Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championship

Tournament News

BALL GROUND, Ga. – Upsets dominated the bottom half of the bracket after the first round of the Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championship at Hawks Ridge Golf Club in Ball Ground, Ga. Lower-seeded teams claimed three of the four matches in the bracket’s bottom half and one match in the bracket’s top half. Second-round matches are currently under way.

Top-seeded UCLA was one of three teams -Illinois and Duke were the others - to sweep all five matches against their first-round opponents. There were only six total 5-0 victories in the previous eight playings of the event. Gregor Main collected the largest margin of victory for the Bruins (4 and 2) while Patrick Cantlay (3 and 2), Mario Clemens (3 and 2) Connor Driscoll (1-up) and Alex Shi Yup Kim (2-up) also won their matches.

UCLA will face ninth-seeded Texas Tech who outlasted Georgia, 3-2. Both sides picked up big wins early with Harris English and Hudson Swafford both claiming 4 and 3 victories for Georgia and Chandler Rusk (5 and 4) and Will Griffin (4 and 3) with wins for Texas Tech. Matt Smith claimed the deciding match for the Red Raiders, 1-up, with a par on No. 18.

Illinois was the first team to advance to the second round when it won four of its five matches with 3 and 2 victories against Baylor. Luke Guthrie, Thomas Pieters, Chris DeForest and Mason Jacobs claimed points early for the fourth-seeded Illini while Scott Langley moved the final score to 5-0 when he won 2-up.

Fifth-seeded Texas A&M downed Pacific, 3-1-1, to advance to face Illinois. The Aggies John Hurley claimed the first match of the tournament when he beat Dan Garcia, 7 and 5. Conrad Shindler pushed Texas A&M’s lead to 2-0 with a 3 and 2 triumph. The remaining three matches all went 18 holes with each side claiming a match and one halved match.

Host school and third-seeded Georgia Tech was the lone better-seeded team to claim a victory in the bottom half of the bracket but needed the margin of victory tie breaker - five holes to two - after they won two matches, lost two matches and halved another against Washington State. James White gave Georgia Tech the early lead with a 4 and 2 win. The Yellow Jackets Richy Werenski claimed his match 1-up while Washington State’s Nick Ellis and Branden Dalton also won 1-up. Kyle Scott and the Cougars’ Trent Sanders halved the remaining match.

Southern California upset sixth-seeded Iowa and will battle Georgia Tech in round two. Iowa claimed the first point of the match with Vince India’s 4 and 2 victory but the Trojans claimed the remaining matches to win 4-1. Steve Lim, Jeffrey Kang and Sam Smith all downed their opponents 3 and 2 while Martin Trainer won his match 2 and 1.

Duke became the first team to post a “perfect” upset with its 5-0 triumph over Texas. Austin Cody (6 and 5) and Julian Suri (5 and 3) posted the largest victories for the Blue Devils while Wes Roach (2 and 1) and Tim Gornik (3 and 1) claimed their matches with one hole remaining. Paolini cinched the sweep with a 1-up win.

East Tennessee State pulled the biggest upset of the day when it downed second-seeded Alabama, 3 and 2. Lucas Armstrong and Patrick Spraggs led the charge for the Bucs posting 4 and 3 and 4 and 2 victories, respectively. Alabama cut the lead to 2-1 with Cory Whitsett’s 4 and 2 win but ETSU assured the upset when Devon Komline claimed his match, 2 and 1. Alabama’s Bud Cauley won 3 and 1 in the remaining match.

- Results Follow -

Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championship
First Round Results
March 20

Team Results
(1) UCLA def. (16) South Carolina, 5-0
(9) Texas Tech def. (8) Georgia, 3-2
(4) Illinois def. (13) Baylor, 5-0
(5) Texas A&M def. (12) Pacific, 3-1-1
(3) Georgia Tech def. (14) Washington State, 2-2-1*
(11) Southern California def. (6) Iowa, 4-1
(10) Duke def. (7) Texas, 5-0
(15) East Tennessee State def. (2) Alabama, 3-2

Individual Match Results
(1) UCLA def. (16) South Carolina, 5-0
Patrick Cantlay, UCLA def. Blaine Woodruff, South Carolina, 3 and 2
Gregor Main, UCLA def. Dean Hester, South Carolina, 4 and 2
Mario Clemens, UCLA def. Wesley Bryan, South Carolina, 3 and 2
Connor Driscoll, UCLA def. Logan Harrell, South Carolina, 1-up
Alex Shi Yup Kim, UCLA def. Clint Tolleson, South Carolina, 2-up

(9) Texas Tech def. (8) Georgia, 3-2
Matt Smith, Texas Tech def. Russell Henley, Georgia, 1-up
Harris English, Georgia def. Nils Floren, Texas Tech, 4 and 3
Hudson Swafford, Georgia def. Tyler Weworski, Texas Tech, 4 and 3
Chandler Rusk, Texas Tech def. T.J. Mitchell, Georgia, 5 and 4
Will Griffin, Texas Tech def. Michael Cromie, Georgia, 4 and 3

(4) Illinois def. (13) Baylor, 5-0
Luke Guthrie, Illinois def. Ryan O’Rear, Baylor, 3 and 2
Scott Langley, Illinois def. Jerry Ruiz, Baylor, 2-up
Chris DeForest, Illinois def. Payne Gniewek, Baylor, 3 and 2
Thomas Pieters, Illinois def. Cody Paladino, Baylor, 3 and 2
Mason Jacobs, Illinois def. Matthew Seligmann, Baylor, 3 and 2

(5) Texas A&M def. (12) Pacific, 3-1-1
T.J. Bordeaux, Pacific def. Jordan Russell, Texas A&M, 1-up
Conrad Shindler, Texas A&M def. Alex Johnson, Pacific, 3 and 2
Ignacio Elvira, Texas A&M halved Alex Edfort, Pacific
Cameron Peck, Texas A&M def. Patrick Kucich, Pacific, 1-up
John Hurley, Texas A&M def. Dan Garcia, Pacific, 7 and 5

(3) Georgia Tech def. (14) Washington State, 2-2-1*
James White, Georgia Tech def. Kent Hagen, Washington State, 4 and 2
Nick Ellis, Washington State def. J.T. Griffin, Georgia Tech, 1-up
Kyle Scott, Georgia Tech halved Trent Sanders, Washington State
Richy Werenski, Georgia Tech def. Hank Frame, Washington State, 1-up
Branden Dalton, Washington State def. Paul Haley, Georgia Tech, 1-up
*Georgia Tech wins margin of victory tiebreaker 5 holes to 2

(11) Southern California def. (6) Iowa, 4-1
Vince India, Iowa def. T.J. Vogel, Southern California, 4 and 2
Steve Lim, Southern California def. Brad Hopfinger, Iowa, 3 and 2
Martin Trainer, Southern California def. Barrett Kelpin, Iowa, 2 and 1
Jeffrey Kang, Southern California def. Chris Brant, Iowa, 3 and 2
Sam Smith, Southern California def. Jed Dirksen, Iowa, 3 and 2

(10) Duke def. (7) Texas, 5-0
Brinson Paolini, Duke def. Dylan Frittelli, Texas, 1-up
Wes Roach, Duke def. Bobby Hudson, Texas, 2 and 1
Tim Gornik, Duke def. Cody Gribble, Texas, 3 and 1
Julian Suri, Duke def. Julio Vegas, Texas, 5 and 3
Austin Cody, Duke def. Johnathan Schnitzer, Texas, 6 and 5

(15) East Tennessee State def. (2) Alabama, 3-2
Bud Cauley, Alabama vs. Paul O’Kane, East Tennessee State, 3 and 1
Cory Whitsett, Alabama def. Spencer Lawson, East Tennessee State, 4 and 2
Devin Komline, East Tennessee State def. Hunter Hamrick, Alabama, 2 and 1
Patrick Spraggs, East Tennessee State def. Trey Mullinax, Alabama, 4 and 2
Lucas Armstrong, East Tennessee State def. Scott Strohmeyer, Alabama, 4 and 3