Corey Conners
VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, N.C. (July 4, 2014) -- Top-seeded Rico Hoey was knocked off in Round 1, leading to a wild day as match play began at the 2014 North & South Amateur at Pinehurst.
Hoey, who claimed medalist honors following the event's 54-hole stroke-play qualifier, fell to Canadian Blair Hamilton in the first round and he wasn't the only low seed to go down early.
No. 3 Chris Hemmerlich, also of Canada, lost to No. 14 David Mills early on while No. 11 Corey Conners advanced past No. 6 Andrew Dorn, the event's defending champion.
In the quarterfinals of the 16-player match play bracket, Hamilton topped No. 8 Austin Connelly to continue his run. Hamilton won in 19 holes.
Michael Cromie, the No. 4 seed from the University of Georgia is also into Saturday's semifinals. He beat Jarrod Freeman in the first round before dispatching of No. 12 Carr Vernon in the afternoon quarterfinal.
The semifinal match between Cromie and Hamilton tees off Saturday at 7:30 a.m.
Conners, who plays at Kent State and has been on the rise since winning the prestigious Jones Cup earlier this year, is also into the semifinals. He knocked off Mills in the quarterfinal and will face Harley Abrams, who knocked off No. 2 Will Seger to advance to the semifinals.
Following Saturday morning's matches, the championship match will tee off at 1 p.m.
For a full look at the match play leaderboard, follow the link below.
ABOUT THE
North & South Amateur
The North & South Amateur Championship is the
longest consecutively run amateur tournament in
the
United States. Its past winners list includes names
like
Walter
Travis, Francis Ouimet, Billy Joe Patton, Jack
Nicklaus
and Curtis Strange. The field is made up of invited
players as well as open applications. Two rounds of
stroke
play are followed by five rounds of match play
(32
qualifiers) to determine the Champion. All stroke
& match play rounds are contested on
Pinehurst No. 2.
View Complete Tournament Information