Blanchard, Engel Reach Last 16 at Desert Mountain in Battle of Past Champs

As Brian Blanchard and Sam Engel know from winning the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship two years ago, any opponent, no matter the round or situation, is going to be a challenging match.

It just so happened that the two Scottsdale, Ariz., residents drew a fellow past champion for their Round-of-32 match on Monday at Desert Mountain Club’s Cochise Course.

What figured to be a down-to-the-wire affair against Wake Forest graduates and 2022 champs Davis Womble, 32, of Winston-Salem, N.C., and 45-year-old Chad Wilfong, of Charlotte, N.C., played out like a perfect script.

Neither side held more than a 1-up lead until Blanchard, 33, ended the festivities on the 210-yard 17th hole, hitting a 6-iron that found a backboard and trickled to 10 feet, setting up the match-clinching birdie. Engel, a 31-year-old left-hander who played at Cal State Northridge, had birdied the previous two holes: a brilliant up-and-down from a tricky spot behind the green on the par-5 15th green (15 feet) and then a pitching wedge to 10 feet on No. 16 that gave the side a 1-up advantage.

Of the eight holes played on the inward nine, seven were birdied by at least one member of either side, including matching 4s on the par-5 12th hole. Blanchard and Engel won the 14th with a par.

It was the kind of high-quality golf one would expect from past USGA champions.

“I try not to look too much into who we’re playing,” said Engel. “We know these guys have great pedigrees and are champions, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to go play great golf to win. I think they pushed us to be as great as we could be.”

Added Blanchard: “We’re playing a USGA championship. These are [some of] the best amateurs in the world. You have to hit good shots or anything can  happen. It doesn’t really matter who you are playing.”

Two years ago at Philadelphia Cricket Club, the two software guys enjoyed a memorable championship-match victory over Tennessee teens Blades Brown and Jackson Herrington. Brown, who eschewed multiple Division I offers to turn professional at 18, is enjoying huge success on the Korn Ferry Tour, while Herrington, a University of Tennessee sophomore, reached the final of the U.S. Amateur last August and teed it up in this year’s Masters and will play in next month’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.

Both Engel and Blanchard don’t go a day without thinking about what transpired in suburban Philadelphia.

“We hope he (Brown) becomes the greatest player ever,” said Blanchard.

Interjected Engel: “We said it then, it was an honor to share the course with those guys. And for Jackson to be runner-up in the U.S. Amateur … it shows how talented those boys are. Obviously, we’re always rooting for Blades. He couldn’t have been nicer. You could definitely tell he has huge potential.”

Speaking of talented teens, U.S. National Junior Team members Tyler Mawhinney, 18, of Fleming Island, Fla., and fellow 2026 Vanderbilt signee Luke Colton, 18, of Frisco, Texas, rolled into the final 16 on Monday. Mawhinney, who captured this title a year ago with current Vanderbilt freshman Will Hartman, and the lefty Colton birdied three of their last five holes in posting a 4-and-3 victory over 2024 semifinalists Mac Scott and Trey Diehl.

Mawhinney is bidding to become the first back-to-back champion in the event’s history.

Both players became familiar with Desert Mountain two months ago when the USNJT held its spring camp at the Outlaw Course. They had opportunities to play four-ball against 2025 USGA champions Mason Howell (U.S. Amateur) and Hamilton Coleman (U.S. Junior Amateur) during an informal practice session.

“For sure, being able to play Outlaw,” said Colton. “There are a lot of things you wouldn’t notice just playing it once or twice. Getting used to the different elevation and temperature, knowing how the ball flies out here has helped a lot.”

The day wasn’t so fortunate for medalists Liam Eyer and Kailer Stone, a pair of 18-year-olds from Northern California. After posting 16-under 127 in stroke play, the duo headed to the University of the Pacific (Eyer) and Pepperdine (Stone) made a valiant comeback run, only to fall short on the 18th green against a side that appears to have karma.

On Sunday, Jacob Beckman holed out a chip for birdie on the 18th hole of Cochise to get he and University of Wisconsin teammate Charlie Erlandson into a playoff for the last three spots. Then on Monday morning, they birdied the par-3 11th, the second extra hole, to land a spot in the draw.

No problem.

Beckman and Erlandson became the fourth No. 32 seed – and second in a row – to eliminate a top seed with a hard-fought, 1-up victory. The duo, which held a 3-up lead on the 16th tee and barely held on, registered eight birdies to reach the Round of 16, where they will play Big Ten rivals Drew Miller and Lorenzo Pinili, of Michigan State.

The other two sides from Monday’s 8-for-3 playoff also took their higher-seeded foes to 18 or beyond. No. 2 seeds and two-time runners-up Drew Kittleson and Drew Stoltz won the 18th hole with a par to oust Charles Breeson and Nicholas Canitano. The two Scottsdale residents were 2 up through 14, only to see their foes win 15 and 16 to tie the match. They failed to get up and down, despite both hitting the flagstick with their third shots before each failed to convert their par putts.

“If you make it out of [a playoff], you’re already riding high,” said Stoltz, the co-host of a Sirius/XM Radio show with two-time USGA champion Colt Knost as well as the Subpar Podcast. “Now we get bonus golf. I didn’t necessarily see anything early on, but I said something to Drew, ‘Dude, we got to look out for these guys.’ They were playing with house money. They were ready to get on a plane yesterday and now they’re in a match. It starts at zero, doesn’t matter if you beat them by 15 in stroke play, it’s a match. It’s 18 holes of golf so anything can happen.”

No. 3 seeds and former University of Georgia teammates Zach Healy and Jack Larkin Jr. needed 19 holes to beat Mark Benevento Jr. and Andrue Nicholas, registering a birdie-3 on No. 19. Larkin is the son of 1979 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Jack Larkin Sr., who is on the bag this week.  

How would you like to shoot 6 under and lose? That was the case for No. 4 seeds and fellow Floridians Will Davenport and Mike Smith. They ran into a hot duo from Wales in 38-year-old Jonathan Bale, a 2012 Louisiana Tech graduate who is now the managing director for Goodwill Capital Management, and 23-year-old Tomi Bowen. Bowen and Bale produced seven birdies in a 1-up victory.

Five times, the sides had matching birdies, and just three holes were won over the 18 holes. A birdie on the par-5 15th tied the contest and then Bale/Bowen birdied the 210-yard, par-3 17th for what proved to be the decider.

Davenport and Smith had shot 63 at the Outlaw Course, the stroke-play co-host, on Saturday and followed with a 67 at Cochise on Sunday. Their good play continued  Monday, only to see the fickleness of match play trump the team’s best-ball 65.

Elite amateurs Evan Beck, 40, of Virginia Beach, Va., and Dan Walters, 40, of Winston-Salem, N.C., almost treat this championship as a “vacation” from the many individual competitions they’ll play in the summer. Neither competed much since last fall, with both teeing it up in the recent Giles Invitational at Kinloch Golf Club in suburban Richmond, Va. Beck got married in October to his fiancé. Alexis, and Walters’ two boys – ages 12 and 9 – keep him occupied, although both play golf with Dan.

But they sure enjoy the team aspect of the Four-Ball, having made a semifinal run in 2022 and getting to the final a year ago at chilly Plainfield Country Club, in northern New Jersey. Beck, the 2024 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion (and runner-up in 2023), and Walters, who coached him at Wake Forest, continued their fine play in the Round of 32, playing 5-under golf in a 3-and-2 victory over Max Ferrari and Nick Leibold, raising their U.S. Amateur Four-Ball match-play record to 10-4.

“It’s just a really fun tournament, and we get along really well,” said Beck. “We’re comfortable playing with each other. We don’t get to play many two-man deals and we look forward to this one every year.”

What’s Next

The Round of 16 and quarterfinal matches will take place on Tuesday, beginning at 7 a.m. MST. The first quarterfinal match is scheduled for 1 p.m. The semifinals and 18-hole final will be on Wednesday. Admission is free and the public is encouraged to attend.

Notable

• The 8-for-3 playoff for the final spots in the draw lasted two holes on Monday morning. Mark Benevento Jr. and Andrue Nicholas birdied the par-4 10th to grab the first spot. Charles Beeson and Nicholas Canitano, and University of Wisconsin teammates Jacob Beckman and Charlie Erlandson each birdied the par-3 11th to advance. Beckman chipped on No. 18 for birdie at Cochise late Sunday afternoon to get the side into the playoff.
  
  
• Erlandson and Beckman arrived at Desert Mountain at 5:30 a.m., had breakfast, warmed up and then qualified. They enjoyed some more food prior to the 12:12 p.m. start. And to make the day even crazier, Erlandson snapped his driver hitting a tee shot on No. 15, leaving him without the club for Nos. 16 and 18.
  
  
• Desert Mountain’s hope for a champion ended when member Charlie Allen and fellow Scottsdale resident Mikey Russello saw a 3-up lead evaporate over the final six holes in a 2-down loss to brothers Craig Long II and William Long, alternates who got into the field 11 days ago.
  
  
• The youngest and oldest sides to qualify for match play advanced into the final 16. William Lisle and Darren Zhou, both 16-year-olds from Hong Kong, China, knocked out No. 5-seeded Jared Abercrombie and Max Emberson, 1 up. Emberson, a 2026 University of Oklahoma signee, is a member of the USNDP’s Team Southern California. Meanwhile, No. 7 seeds Jared Defalco, 57, of Tucson, Ariz., a former star tennis player at the University of New Mexico, and his 57-year-old partner Bryan Hoops, of Scottsdale, Ariz., rolled to a 5-and-3 victory over Corey Schommer and Max Tylke. No senior side has ever claimed this championship.
  
  
• Four matches went extra holes with the longest going 20 holes. Torey Edwards and Bret Parker survived against Phillip Minnehan and Aidan Spampinato.
   
• The USGA opted to use the lower green on the par-4 sixth hole after utilizing the upper green during stroke play. The hole measured 304 yards.

Quotable

“It was definitely one of my favorite four-ball matches that we’ve had [together]. We didn’t have a ton of birdies on the front [nine]. Then things just got ignited on the back nine for both sides. It was a good battle.” – Sam Engel on the 2-and-1 victory over the 2022 Four-Ball champions

“We’ll get a little bit of practice in here on the range, then head back to the house and play some pool and get some dinner.” – Tyler Mawhinney on how the side will prepare for the Round of 16

“Work. I’m not like grinding on it. Once the springtime comes, I play with my 12- and 9-year-old boys. You keep your hands on [the game], but you have other life things going on. At the same time, I think that makes being here almost more special in a way. This is time to enjoy playing golf.” – Dan Walters on managing family life with elite amateur competition

“I’m going first, so my thought is always to put something up there. Then put it in the 20- 30- 40-foot range [on the green] so he can take a shot at it, because obviously if one of us is in play, if I’m in play, I’m on the green, he can go at it and get close.” – Jeremy Defalco on the match-play strategy with partner Bryan Hoops

“It wasn’t even like they were doing anything weird, we could weather that storm and just be like hey, knock a putt in, it was a no harm no foul type of deal. It was like the perfect storm of good chip, miss an 8-footer, or we have two looks from 10-feet, and they make it from 25 feet and neither of us make it. We had some losses on some holes that shouldn't have been losses. Props to them, they hit shots, up and downs, chipped in, hats off to them.” – Drew Stoltz on the 1-up victory against playoff survivors Charles Beeson and Nicholas Canitano

David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.