Dunlap Rolls on, But Fords Won't Collide in U.S. Am Quarterfinals

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CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. -- In big amateur tournaments, the second round -- aka the Round of 32 -- tends to be a mine field for the favorites. That was the case last week in the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship, where four of the top five seeds lost in the second round. And it was more of the same on Thursday in the Round of 32 at the U.S. Men's Amateur, as the No. 1, 2, and 3 seeds all lost. So did Nos. 6 and 9.

The only top-10 seeds left were No. 4 Maxwell Ford and No. 7 Andi Xu, and Ford was gone by the end of the day. He shot 40 on the front nine at Cherry Hills Country Club in the Round of 16 Thursday afternoon, and that helped the No. 52 seed, Parker Bell, beat him 5&4. 

One of the hot topics at the Am for the last two days was the possibility that Ford and his identical twin brother, David, could play each other Friday morning in the quarterfinals. Both of the Ford brothers -- they are actually two of three triplets, their sister having seniority, because she was born a few minutes ahead of them -- made it through the Round of 64 and the Round of 32 comfortably. Neither was pushed past the 16th hole in either of those rounds. But Maxwell was dispatched by Bell, a sophomore to be at the University of Florida, in the Round of 16, and No. 28 David, who was a first team All-American as a sophomore at North Carolina, also lost. (Maxwell is transferring from Georgia to North Carolina this summer.) David won the par-5 17th hole with a par to go 1 up on fellow first-team All-American Ben James, a sophomore to be at Virginia and the No. 12 seed this week. But Ford bogeyed the daunting, 487-yard, par-4 18th and lost it, then lost the first extra hole (No. 1, a par 4) to James' birdie.

The top three seeds were the co-medalists -- Blades Brown, Jackson Buchanan and Sampson Zheng. They all shot 136s in the 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying Monday and Tuesday at two courses: Cherry Hills and Colorado Golf Club. (Only Cherry Hills will be used for match play.) Brown, a 16 year old who shot  a course-record, 8-under 64 at Colorado GC in the second round of qualifying, was 2 under and 1 up after seven holes in his match against No. 32 Jackson Koivun. But Koivun, an Auburn recruit who is considered the top prospect from the high school class of '23, won three of the next four holes, two of them with birdies, and beat Brown 4&3.

Buchanan, who will be a junior at Illinois this fall, is the No. 2 seed, and he was 1 under in a 2-up victory over No. 63 Karl Vilips in the first round on Wednesday. Thursday morning, he was 1 under after four holes -- and 2 down. His opponent, No. 31 Cooper Jones, matched Buchanan's birdie at the first hole and won the third and fourth holes with birdies. Buchanan won the par-5 fifth with a birdie, matched Jones' birdie at the par-3 sixth, and he pulled even with Jones by winning the 232-yard, par-3 eighth with a par.

But Jones, who will start his freshman year at BYU in a few weeks, proceeded to win the next four holes, the 484-yard, par-4 ninth with a par, and the 10th (440 yards, par 4), 11th (639, par 5) and 12th (191, par 3) with birdies, his fourth, fifth and sixth of the round. Jones halved the next three holes and came away with a 4&3 victory. 

No. 3 Zheng, an All-American who will be a senior at Cal, won the first two holes in his Round of 32 match against No. 30 Jose Islas with a birdie and a par. He birdied the par-5 third, but Islas did, too, and Islas then made three 3s in a row, winning the seventh and eighth holes to go 1 up. Pars were good on the back in this match, but Islas did win the 460-yard, par-4 16th with a birdie, and the Oregon junior (for 2023-24) secured a 2-up victrory by halving the 17th with a par.  

All of that notwithstanding, the star of the show so far has been Nick Dunlap. He was the No. 1-ranked junior in the high school class of 2022, and a third-team All-American as a freshman at Alabama during the 22-23 college season. This summer, he's won two major amateur tournaments -- the Northeast Amateur and the North & South -- and although he made it through the stroke-play qualifying this week with only one shot to spare (72-70--142) and got the No. 41 seed, he's played better than anyone else since the match-play portion started. Dunlap, who is No. 9 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, took out No. 1 Gordon Sargent 2&1 in the Round of 64, and was 5 under par in the process. 

On Thursday morning, he started birdie-birdie-birdie-par-birdie in his Round of  32 match against No. 9 Connor Jones, and concluded his 4&2 victory by going eagle-birdie-birdie on the 14th, 15th and 16th holes -- and was 5 under once again.

Then, in the Round of 16, he took on another of the 16-year-old prodigies in this tournament, Bowen Mauss, the Nol. 57 seed. Mauss, who went 78-65 in qualifying and made it on the number to get into match play, was a little shaky coming out of the blocks. Dunlap was able to win the first two holes with. pars, and he went 4 up when he won the ninth hole with a par. Mauss won the 639-yard, par-5 11th with an eagle to Dunlap's par, and he cut the deficit to 2 down by winning the par-3 12th with a par. But that was as close as it got. Dunlap won the par-3 13th with a par, the 519-yard, par-4 14th with a par and closed Maus out, 4&3, by winning the 143-yard, par-3 15th with birdie.

For the three matches he's played thus far, Dunlap is 13 under par.   

As for the last survivor from the top 10 seeds, No. 7 Xu, he was 2 over par and 2 down after the first four holes in his first match, against No. 58 Matthew McClean. But he birdied three of the next nine holes and was able to win 1 up despite playing the last four holes in 2 over. The University of San Diego senior to be dispatched No. 26 Cole Anderson 2 up on Thursday morning, and was 3 under in that match. In his afternoon Round of 16 match, Xu defeated the No. 42 seed, Connor Gaunt, 2 up. But this one, like his win over McClean in the Round of 64, was something less than an artistic masterpiece. Xu was 4 up with six holes to go. He then tied the 13th hole with a bogey, lost the 14th with a double and  lost the 15th to a birdie. The match should have ended at the par-5 17th. Gaunt made a bogey there, but Xu made another double. He did manage to secure the victory, somewhat belatedly, by winning the perilous 18th hole with a par. 


U.S. Amateur Championship

At Cherry Hills Country Club (par 71, 7,368 yards)

Cherry Hills Village, Colo. 

& Colorado Golf Club (par 72, 7,642 yards)

Parker, Colo. 

Stroke play

Final results (the top 64 finishers advance to match play on Wednesday)

T1. Blades Brown, Nashville, Tenn.               72 CH-64 CGC -- 136

T1. Sampson Zheng, China                            66 CGC-70 CH -- 136

T1. Jackson Buchanan, Dacula, Ga.              69 CH-67 CGC -- 136

T4. Piercen Hunt, Canada                              66 CGC -71 CH -- 137

T4. Maxwell Ford, Peachtree Corners, Ga.    71 CH-66 CGC -- 137

T4. Caleb Surratt, Indian Trail, NC                  70 CGC-67 CH -- 137

T4. Andi Xu, China                                           69 CGC-68 CH -- 137

T8. Connor Jones, Denver                               68 CGC-70 CH -- 137

T8. Nicholas Gross, Downington, Pa.              71 CH-67 CGC -- 137

Missed cut -- 143 (15 players tied for 50th; so there was no playoff required)

Brett Reid, Spicer                                            75 CH-72 CGC -- 147

Cecil Belisle, Red Wing                                   77 CH-73 CGC -- 150

Sam Foust, Edina                                             81 CGC-73 CH -- 154

Nate Adams, Maple Grove                               79 CGC-76 CH -- 155

Carson Herron, Wayzata                                  79 CGC-78 CH -- 157


Match play

Round of 64

No. 1 Blades Brown def. No. 64 Benton Weinberg 1 up

No. 2 Jackson Buchanan def. No. 63 Karl Vilips 2 up

No. 3 Sampson Zheng def. No. 62 Preston Summerhays 1 up

No. 4 Maxwell Ford def. No. 61 Brian Stark 4&3

No. 60 Grant Smith def. No. 5 Piercen Hunt 1 up

No. 6 Caleb Surratt def. No. 59 Dylan Menante 6&5

No. 7 Audi Xu def. No. 58 Matthew McClean 1 up

No. 8 Bowen Mauss def. No. 8 Nicholas Gross 2 up

No. 9 Connor Jones def. No. 56 Vocemte Marzilio 4&3

No. 55 Austin Greaser def. No. 10 Jonas Baumgartner 6&4

Round of 32

No. 32 Jackson Koivun def. No. 1 Brown 4&3

No. 31 Cooper Jones def. No. 2 Buchanan 4&3

No. 30 Jose Islas def. No. 3 Zheng 2&1

No. 4 Maxwell Ford def. Nick Gabrelcik 3&2

No. 28 David Ford def. No. 60 Smith 5&4

No. 38 Paul Chang def. No. 6 Surratt 22 holes

No. 7 Andi Xu def. No. 26 Cole Anderson 2 up

No. 57 Mauss def. No. 25 Brenden Valdes 1 up

No. 41 Nick Dunlap def. No. 9 Connor Jones 4&2

No. 42 Connor Gaunt def. No. 55 Greaser 3&2

Round of 16

No. 32 Koivun def. No. 40 Matthew Sutherland 19 holes

No. 47 Neal Shipley def. No. 31 Jones 3&2

No. 30 Islas def. No. 51. Carson Bacha 3&2

No. 52 Parker Bell def. No. 4 Maxwell Ford 5&4

No. 12 Ben James def. No. 28 David Ford 19 holes

No. 38 Paul Chang tied with No. 11 John Marshall Butler through 18 holes

No. 7. Andi Xu def. No.42 Gaunt 2 up

No. 41 Dunlap def. No. 57 Mauss 5&3