4 Birdies in a Row KO McKenney/Strickler in U.S. Four-Ball

May 16, 2022 | 2 min.
By Michael R Fermoyle


BIRMIINGHAM, Ala. -- A first-round 70 had Tim McKenney and Will Strickler on the edge of elimination at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship. A second-round 63 at the Country Club of Birmingham on Sunday got them into a 10-for-9 playoff, which they survived by making a par on the first extra hole.

The former University of Florida teammates entered the first round of match play on Monday as the No. 28-seeded team, and once again they put themselves in jeopardy right away, losing the first two holes to pars by the No. 5 seeds, Evan Beck and Dan Walters. Undaunted, Mckenney, who now lives in Minnesota, and Strickler, who lives in Dallas, rallied again. They birdied the third hole, and after losing the seventh to a par, they won the eighth with a birdie and leveled the match by making an eagle at the 564-yard, par-5 10th. 

But then Beck and Walters, applied the match play version of a chain saw to the McKenney/Strickler combo. The two Wake Forest almuni rattled off four birdies in a row, beginning with the 349-yard, par-4 12th, and ending with the 613-yard, par-5 15th. That capped off a 5&3 victory and propelled Beck/Walters into Tuesday's Round of 16. 

The three teams that tied for medalist honors in stroke-play qualifying with 36-hole totals of 128 all won on Monday. Torey Edwards and Bret Parker had the closest match of those three teams, a 4&2 victory. Chad Wilfong and Davis Womble won 5&3, and Carter Loflin and Wells Williams needed only 14 holes in a 6&4 victory.

There was a second team besides McKenney and Strickler that qualified for the Four-Ball last fall in Minnesota, at Golden Valley G&CC -- Ryan Conn, a former Minnesota State Four-Ball champion (with Hunter Rebrovich), and Josh Persons, a former North Dakota state high school champ who played for the Gophers and then spent time on the Nationwide (now Korn Ferry) Tour before regaining his amateur status.

Conn and Persons shot a pair of 67's at the CC of Birmingham, but their 134 total was one too many to make the 10-for-9 playoff. 


U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship

At The Country Club of Birmingham 

East Course (par 70)

& West Course (par 71)

Birmingham, Ala. 

(Qualifying was played at both courses, but all matches will be played on the West Course.)

Stroke play (the top 32 teams advanced) 


T1. Torey Edwards/Bret Parker                    65-63--128

T1. Chad Wilfong/Davis Womble                 65-63--128

T1. Carter Loflin/Wells Williams                   61-67--128

T4. Matthew McLaughlin/Christian Vozza    64-65--129 

T4. Evan Beck/Dan Walters                          62-67--129

T4. Zach Kingsland/William Sides                 64-65--129

T24. Tim McKenney/Will Strickler              70-63--133

Missed cut (10 teams at 133 played off for nine spots)

T34. Ryan Conn/Josh Persons                   67-67--134

Match play

Round of 32 


(1) Edwards/Parker def. (32) Chad Branton/Kyle Hosick 4&2

(5) Evan Beck/Dan Walters def. (28) Tim McKenney/Will Strickler 5&3

(2) Carter Loflin/Wells Williams def. (31) Trey Diehl/Tyler Diehl 6&4

(3) Chad Wilfong/Davis Womble def. (30) Joseph Lloyd/Drew Mabrey 5&3 

 

Michael R Fermoyle

Mike Fermoyle’s amateur golf career features state titles in five different decades, beginning with the State Public Links (1969), three State Amateurs (1970, 1973 and 1980), and four State Four-Ball championships (1972, 1985, 1993 and 2001). Fermoyle was medalist at the Pine to Palm in 1971, won the Resorters in 1972, made the cut at the State Amateur 18 consecutive years (1969 to 1986), the last being 2000, and amassed 13 top-ten finishes. Fermoyle also made it to the semi-final matches at the MGA’s annual match play championship, the Players’, in 1982 and 1987.

Fermoyle enjoyed a career as a sportswriter at the St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch before retiring in 2006. Two years later he began a second career covering the golf beat exclusively for the MGA and its website, mngolf.org, where he ranks individual prep golfers and teams, provides coverage on local amateur and professional tournaments and keeps tabs on how Minnesotans are faring on the various professional tours.

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