U.S. Amateur finally catches break from weather, gets down to semifinals

It was catch-up day for the 121st U.S. Amateur.

Mother Nature final gave the tournament and Oakmont Country Club a break.

After delays and suspensions of play the past three days, all the golfers faced Friday during the finish of the Rounds of 32 and 16 and the quarterfinals were scorching temperatures.

Oakmont received 1.5 inches of rain Thursday, but the course, other than being a little softer, was ready for play when the Round of 32 resumed at 7:27 a.m.

Heavy thunderstorms hit the area around 7 p.m., but that was well after play had ended for the day.

And even though Greensburg native and stroke-play medalist Mark Goetz and Murrysville’s native Palmer Jackson no longer were competing, two of their college teammates were.

Former West Virginia golfer Matt Sharpstene, a teammate of Goetz, and Notre Dame’s Davis Chatfield, who teamed up with Jackson in the U.S. Four-Ball and reached the semifinals in May, reached the quarterfinals before losing.

Sharpstene, who transferred to Charlotte, dropped a 3 and 1 decision to James Piot of Canton, Mich.

Chatfield, who lives in Attleboro, Mass., lost 1-up to Nick Gabrelcik of Trinity, Fla.

“It’s awesome to see a lot of Notre Dame people out here,” Chatfield said. “Everything that coach (John) Handrigan and coach (Scott) Gump has done in the program the last four years that I’ve been there and going into my fifth year, it’s unparalleled.

“I know I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them. Just a shout out to them, I guess, and my teammates.”

Both won thrilling matches in the Round of 16 on the final hole. Chatfield won 1-up to eliminate Devon Bling of Ridgecrest, Calif., and Sharpstene edged Van Holmgren of Plymouth, Minn.

The other quarterfinal winners were Austin Greaser of Vandalia, Ohio, and Travis Vick of Houston.

Greaser defeated Ross Steelman, 2 and 1, and Vick nipped Brian Stark, 1-up.

Greaser is ranked 82nd in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and is a junior at North Carolina. He is the 2020 Ohio Amateur champion.

Vick is ranked 45th in the world and is a junior at Texas. He finished third at the Sunnehanna Amateur.

“It’s a pretty cool feeling,” Vick said. “There are a lot of great players I had to beat in order to get here. They’ve all done amazing things in the amateur world, so it boosts my confidence knowing I can play here and be in the semifinals.”

Vick defeated 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Preston Summerhays in the Round of 64 and Texas teammate Parker Coody in the Round of 32.

Piot is ranked 86th in the world and is a senior at Michigan State.

The semifinals begin at 2 p.m. Greaser battles Vick, then at 2:20 p.m., Piot faces Gabrelcik. Vick is the highest seeded golfer left in the championship.

Gabrelcik is ranked 28th in the world and is a sophomore at North Florida.