Championship Match is Set for Texas Mid-Amateur Match Play Championship
HOUSTON – The Championship Match is set for the Texas Mid-Amateur Match Play Championship after Justin Kaplan and Ted Waldrip won their Semifinal matches Saturday afternoon at Houston’s Lakeside Country Club.
The morning’s Quarterfinal matches were full of upsets. Top seed Dru Fenimore and the remaining past Mid-Amateur Match Play Champion Terrance Miskell both took an early exit from Saturday’s match play.
No. 8 seed Scott Abbott upset the No. 1 seed Dru Fenimore in this morning’s first Quarterfinal match. Abbott, of Dallas, continued his impressive play and had his second 7 & 6 victory in a row. Scott would go on to face Justin Kaplan in his afternoon match. Kaplan, the No. 13, seed upset the No. 4 seed Eric Lodge with a 2 & 1 decision in the Quarterfinals.
Kaplan, of Houston, squared off against the red hot Scott Abbott in the first Semifinal match of the afternoon. Unlike Abbott’s previous two matches, this match would go the distance. Both players attempted to close the match on the last hole but neither was successful. Both players reached the par-five 18th in two but both Kaplan and Abbott two putted for birdie. Both players missed the green with their approach shots on the following hole. Abbott, put his approach in the bunker and could not get up and down. Kaplan hit his chip shot from the collar to a foot and tapped in to close the match.
Ted Waldrip, the No. 23 seed, advanced from his morning match with yet another upset. Waldrip beat Miskell 7 & 6. Waldrip also took down another past champion, Jess Bonneau, in the Round of 16 on Friday.
Waldrip, of Arlington, would go on to face John Derrick, the No. 27 seed, in the second Semifinal match. Derrick, of Waco, defeated the No. 3 seed Brooks Price on the 19th hole in his morning Quarterfinal match. Derrick got off to a hot start with a 3-up lead after five. Waldrip would battle back and shave Derrick’s lead to 1-up after ten holes. The pair would go on to halve the next four holes. Waldrip would close out the match by claiming holes 15 through 17 on his way to a 2 & 1 victory.
Kaplan and Waldrip will square off Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m.
Live hole-by-hole scoring will be available on the tournament scoring page.
For complete scoring from Saturday’s Quarterfinal & Semifinal matches, click here.
For more information on the 2015 Texas Mid-Amateur Match Play Championship, click here.