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98th Arizona Amateur Championship Quarterfinals Set

For Immediate Release
August 11, 2022

Contact:

David Bataller
[email protected]
(602) 944-3035

SCOTTSDALE – The Quarterfinals are is set after an outstanding day of golf at the 98^th Arizona Amateur Championship, after Thursday morning’s Round of 32 play and then the afternoon’s Round of 16 matches at Desert Mountain Club’s Outlaw Course. Notable names to advance include Sean O’Donnell, the reigning AGA Player of the Year, and Camden Braidech, who beat defending champion Kristoffer Marshall in the Round of 16.

“I was pretty hot this morning – I think I was six-under through 11 or something like that so I’m just going to kind of build on that momentum,” said O’Donnell, a 4 & 3 winner over Brian Thompson in the Round of 16. “I’ve hit a ton of really good wedge shots in. This course gives up a lot of wedge shots so that kind of fits nicely. I holed out on one this afternoon for eagle so I’m just going to keep riding that momentum and keep making birdies.”

Up next for O’Donnell in the Quarterfinals is Matt McDougall, who needed 20 holes to get past Nick Beach in the Round of 16. Beach made a 50-foot putt on 18 to force extra holes, but McDougall’s birdie putt on the 20^th hole was conceded after Beach’s bogey putt missed.

“I’m not sure what to think – it was quite a match,” said McDougall, a 2 & 1 winner over Brad Wayment in the Round of 32. “[Beach] hit a lot of really good putts all day. Obviously you’re never expecting your opponent to make a 50-footer. That was a little kick to the gut, but just happy to get out on top after 20 holes.”

Paradise Valley’s Max Schwarz cruised in his Round of 16 match against Jon Lindquist, winning seven of the first nine holes en route to the 7 & 6 win. Schwarz called the afternoon a “perfect storm” of events to get the win.

“I played some really good golf,” said Schwarz, who will play golf at the University of Wisconsin this fall after transferring from Emory University. “I went out and felt pretty comfortable, had a really good range session between sessions this morning. Drove the ball nicely which had been a point of emphasis for the last couple days to start correcting that. And then got a couple putts to roll in.”

Marshall was eliminated by the 17-year-old Braidech of Scottsdale, 6 & 5. Marshall needed a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18^th hole of his morning match against Rayce Mathews, and went on to win in 19 holes. But after tying through the first six holes, Braidech made his move, finishing with five birdies through 13 holes and closing out the match.

“[Marshall] would make a birdie, I would make a birdie the next hole,” said Braidech, who made his first career hole-in-one in his morning match on the 206-yard 4^th hole with a five iron. “I think we were all square through six holes and then I just started putting it close and I was winning holes with birdies and he was making pars. It kind of steamrolled from there and it just felt like I was really burning the course down today.”

Quarterfinal matches begin at 7:30 a.m. off the first tee at the Outlaw Course, with Stroke Play Qualifying Medalist Rylan Johnson battling Schwarz. At 7:38 it’s Braidech against Nick Kling. 7:46’s match features second-seeded Joe Neuheisel versus Tanner Olson. And the 7:54 match features O’Donnell taking on McDougall.  Final Four matches will be contested afterward, with the last two players remaining in field squaring off in Saturday’s Championship Match.

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