Concord, NH – The road to the championship narrowed to four teams on Thursday as Quarterfinal matches at the Four Ball Match Play Championship at Beaver Meadow Golf Course delivered a day of tightly contested battles and dramatic finishes.
The biggest storyline of the day came as Nate Stevens and Jeremy Quelch knocked off defending champions Dan Mulkern and Brett Wilson, while Andrew Surprenant and James Shattuck upset the tournament’s 2-seeded team of Jim Cilley and Mike Mahan to punch their ticket to the semifinals.
Also advancing were Chris Moquin and Jeremy Duhamel, who defeated Cole Anderson and Shane Foye, and Craig and Matt Steckowych, who earned a hard-fought victory over Steve Lane and Ricky Dichard.
Stevens and Quelch controlled much of their match against the defending champions, holding either a 1-up or 2-up advantage for the majority of the morning. Mulkern and Wilson refused to go away, trimming the deficit to 1 down heading to the 18th hole, where they needed to win the hole to extend the match.
Facing the pressure, Mulkern buried a clutch birdie putt to put the match squarely on Stevens’ shoulders. Stevens answered in dramatic fashion, rolling in a matching birdie of his own to halve the hole and secure the victory, ending the champions’ title defense and sending Stevens and Quelch into the semifinals.
The closest match of the day came between the Steckowych father-son duo and the team of Lane and Dichard.
Craig and Matt Steckowych held a slim 1-up or 2-up lead for much of the round before Lane and Dichard squared the match by winning the 12th hole. The teams then traded pars over the next five holes, tying holes 13 through 17 to set up a winner-take-all finish on the closing hole.
Matt Steckowych delivered when it mattered most, sticking his approach shot close to the flagstick and applying immediate pressure. Dichard was left with a lengthy birdie attempt to keep his team’s hopes alive but was unable to convert, settling for par. Steckowych calmly rolled in his birdie putt to capture the match and send their team into the semifinals.
Surprenant and Shattuck continued their impressive run through the bracket by eliminating #2 seeds Cilley and Mahan, while Moquin and Duhamel rounded out the semifinal field with a victory over Anderson and Foye.
The four remaining teams will return to Beaver Meadow Golf Course on August 25th for the Semifinal matches and those advancing through that round will play again that afternoon for the title.
Four Ball Match Play | Championship Flight Bracket
