Branton-Hosick fall in match play at U.S. Amateur Four Ball Championship
It took 21 holes Monday, but Cartersville’s Chad Branton and Kyle Hosick of Calhoun were eliminated in the opening round of match play at the 6th U.S. Amateur Four Ball Championship at Chambers Bay in Washington.
Branton and Hosick were one of 128 sides to qualify for the U.S.G.A. national event and earned a spot in the Round of 32 match play portion of the tournament by shooting rounds of 65 Saturday at The Home Course in DuPont, Washington and 69 Sunday at Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington.
Seeded 25th after stroke play, the local duo took on 8th seeded Kiko Francisco Coelho and Leopoldo Herrera III of Florida in the first round bracket.
Branton and Hosick took an early lead Monday with back-to-back birdies at the par-5 fourth hole and the par-4 fifth. Their 2-up lead held until their opponents narrowed the advantage to 1-up with a birdie at the par-4 tenth hole.
The two sides then matched birdies at No. 12 and bogies at No. 13 and went all the way through No. 17 with Branton and Hosick holding a 1-up lead.
Coelho and Herrera knotted the match on the 18th hole with an eagle on the 600-yard, par-5 to send the match into extra holes.
Starting again at No. 1 in the playoff, both teams birdied the par-5 and parred the par-4 second hole. The Florida duo then made birdie on the third extra hole to defeat Branton and Hosick 1-up in 21 holes.
The Four Ball Championship continues match play through Wednesday.
Coelho and Herrera will play Matt Boyd and Blake Redmond of Texas in the second round Tuesday morning. The quarterfinal matches will be played Tuesday afternoon.
The national semifinals are scheduled for Wednesday morning with the championship match Wednesday afternoon. All rounds in the match play portion will be played at Chambers Bay.
