MI sophomore Nick Carlson won two matches on the 19th hole Thursday at Oakland Hills to advance to the U.S. Amateur quarterfinals.
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HILLS, Mich. – Brad Dalke was halfway to becoming the 2016 U.S. Amateur Sunday afternoon at the South Course at Oakland Hills.
Dalke defeated Jonah Texeira 3 and 2 in the other semifinal on the South Course at Oakland Hills.
Carlson, a local favorite who is entering his sophomore year at MI, fell onto his back in despair after missing the last putt, then quickly got up to congratulate Luck.
All-square after 18, Luck lost the 19th hole with a bogey to trail for just the second time in the match. His shot from there caromed off a utility box that was a few feet in front of him, and Luck needed only a par to win that hole.
Heading down 18 Carlson had only to halve the hole to win the semifinal match, but his tee shot settled under a blue spruce and he had to chip out left handed just to have a third shot at the long par 4.
Carlson never trailed in regulation against Luck. “It was just something that I didn’t even know of, in a better way”.
I drew an unbelievable lie, Carlson said.
Smalley pulled even with the 38-year-old Harvey with a birdie on the par-4 11th and won the par-4 14th and 16th with pars in the match that was interrupted for more than an hour because of rain.
Dalke had posted a birdie-three at the opening hole to temporarily move one ahead, but Luck won the next eight holes to reach the turn seven clear. “Someone told me yesterday that their ticket sales were up because of me, and that’s pretty incredible to me”. “I think it’s pretty unlikely for an Aussie to win a USGA event and have a lot of their family here to support them and be here and experience it with them, so yeah, just so grateful that they could come here, and it’s just been such a great week. Curtis had to make five basically, and he kind of knew it”. Additionally, rising senior Max McGreevy advanced to match play at the elite Western Amateur earlier this month.
However, an eagle at the par-5 2nd hole put the Australian back on level footing and from there he began to dominate.
“One of the reasons I played so well this week was because I felt like I was at home”.
As a finalist, Dalke will receive an invitation to the U.S. Open, which will be played at Wisconsin’s Erin Hills next year.
“It’s still sinking in”, Dalke said in a release.
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Dalke birdied Nos. 13 and 15 and closed out the match with a par on 16.
