Following increases for Greensburg's Mark Goetz at U.S. Amateur match play
Even though Greensburg native Mark Goetz lost in the Round of 64 at the U.S. Amateur on Thursday at Oakmont Country Club, hundreds followed him around the course.
Goetz was carrying the flag not only for Greensburg and Westmoreland County, he was doing it for Western Pennsylvania.
He teed off at 7:30 a.m,. and by time he made the turn, his gallery grew.
About 75 friends, family and golf fans followed up No. 9, and by the time he reached No. 12, that crowd doubled.
It continued to grow as he continued, and more than 300 fans watched him on his final five holes.
“That was awesome,” Goetz said. “I had a big Hannastown crowd following me. I could name you most of those guys in that crowd. I wish I could have made it to the afternoon.”
Among the group were Hannastown Country Club pro Craig Mankins, David DeNezza, Sean Knapp, Palmer Jackson, Kevin Fajt, Chuck Moore, Dean Miler, Katie Miller-Gee and Devin Gee.
Oakmont slays the beast
Only two golfers in the top 15 of the World Amateur Rankings advanced to the tournament’s match play phase.
The course that has held 17 USGA events continued to bring the top golfers in the world to their knees.
No. 4 Alex Fitzpatrick and No. 5 Ricky Castillo advanced to the Round of 64, and both collected wins to make the Round of 32 on Thursday.
Castillo defeated Donald Kay, 5 and 4, and Fitzpatrick was a 3 and 2 winner over Chase Sienkiewicz.
Family style
Goetz and Miller-Gee are cousins and share something else in common: They are medalists in USGA events.
Miller-Gee received one with for winning the U.S. Mid-Am in 2017, and Goetz received his Wednesday for winning the stroke play portion of this year’s U.S. Amateur.
Slight delay
For the third consecutive day, thunderstorms delayed play. This time, instead of a nearly a four-hour delay, no rain fell and the storm missed Oakmont, so play was stopped at 1:15 p.m. and resumed at 1:45.
Play was a halted for a second time at 6:35 p.m. because of a thunderstorm.
Fire alarm
The Oakmont Fire Department responded to a smell of smoke in the Champions Grill at Oakmont Country Club.
The fire alarm sounded but no fire was found.
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
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