Cavaliere Ousts 3-Time Champion to Reach Quarterfinals in Arizona

Meet the 2025 U.S. Mid-Amateur Quarterfinalists

Playing and having success in big-time national events combined with the quality of talent he regularly sees in Metropolitan New York competitions has hardened Christian Cavaliere. Elite players don’t and won’t intimidate the 27-year-old from Katonah, N.Y.

So, seeing someone with the deep credentials of Stewart Hagestad at the first tee Tuesday afternoon for a Round-of-16 match in the 44th U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Troon Country Club didn’t faze Cavaliere, who is a former Boston College standout and now operates Tremont Sporting Company – a custom golf apparel business specializing in headcovers, head ware and leather goods.

But on this particular day, Cavaliere was all business on the Tom Weiskopf design hosting its third USGA championship. He took the lead for good with a par on No. 8 and never relinquished it in posting a 4-and-2 victory.

Cavaliere is joined in the quarterfinals by defending champion Evan Beck, 35, of Virginia Beach, Va.; 2024 runner-up Bobby Massa, 37, of Dallas, Texas; Brandon Holtz, 38, of Bloomington, Ill.; Justin Hueber, 37, of Fort Wayne, Ind.; Jeg Coughlin III, 28, of Dublin, Ohio; South Dakota State men’s golf coach Parker Edens, 35, of Brookings, S.D.; and 37-year-old Christian Brand, of Hurricane, W.Va. Brand reached the Round of 16 of last year’s U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club.

“I like to think I have a good chance against anyone if I’m playing well,” said Cavaliere, “so I try to stay in that mindset.”

Hagestad, 34, of Newport Beach, Calif., was coming off the USA’s 17-9 Walker Cup victory at Cypress Point Club, where he went 2-0 in singles, but he struggled against Cavaliere, making three bogeys and a double.

Cavaliere, however, came to Arizona off a highly successful summer that includes a victory in the Azalea Invitational at the Country Club of Charleston (S.C.), site of the 2028 U.S. Mid-Amateur and the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open, and the New York State Open at Glen Oaks Club, in Old Westbury, N.Y., in a playoff. The 2023 U.S. Open qualifier also reached the semifinals of the Metropolitan Golf Association Amateur, and he tied for seventh in the Met Open. Last year, he was the runner-up in the Met Amateur.

“It’s just building,” said Cavaliere, who is in the quarterfinals for the first time in eight USGA amateur championship starts. “I try to put one step in front of the other in terms of tightening my game, filling my weaknesses. I’ve been playing well these last couple of years, and it’s nice to see it come together.”  

Competitors not only had to deal with temperatures in the upper 90s on Tuesday, but also gusting winds that reached the upper teens.

Massa, who escaped in his morning match with a 19-hole victory over Matt Liston, made sure he didn’t stay out in the searing sun too long in his afternoon encounter against fellow Texan Ryan O’Rear. In fact, the 37-year-old gave his opponent the proverbial kick in the rear, making five birdies and an eagle in a 4-and-2 triumph. O’Rear, a former Baylor University golfer who played his final 30 holes of stroke play in 8 under par, was coming off a 7-and-5 drubbing of George Ordway on Tuesday morning.

But it was a bittersweet day for Massa. Older brother Cody, the co-medalist and top seed, was eliminated in 21 holes by Michael Buttacavoli in the Round of 32. That included a hole-in-one by the Cave Creek, Ariz., resident on the 130-yard 15th hole with a sand wedge. It was the third ace recorded in this year’s championship.

Buttacavoli, however, was ousted in the afternoon by recently reinstated amateur Hueber, 4 and 3.

Beck also survived a second-round scare on Tuesday morning against lefty Logan Harrell, who rolled in a 15-foot birdie on the ninth hole – their 18th of the match – to force extra holes. But a clutch wedge approach from the fairway after hitting 7-wood off the tee on the par-4 first hole led to an easy two-putt par and 19-hole win after Harrell made 5.

The afternoon match against Denver Haddix, of Lexington, Ky., went smoother for Beck, who has now won 14 of his last 15 matches in the Mid-Am, including a 2023 defeat in the final to Hagestad at Sleepy Hollow C.C. Playing 2-under-par golf with no bogeys, Beck, bidding to become just the third repeat champion in Mid-Am history, posted his most dominant win of the week, 5 and 4.

“It’s just getting tighter, dispersion’s getting tighter,” said Beck, the runner-up in this year’s U.S. Amateur Four-Ball with partner Dan Walters. “Remembering how to do things, now that I’ve played a couple of consecutive rounds. It’s always good to make a run in these things, and get a couple of rounds in, and remember, ‘This is how you hit a wedge shot.’ It's just continually gotten better the more I’ve played.”  

Coming from a family of drag racers, perhaps it was apropos that Coughlin III, who used to work for the family’s high-performance auto parts business (JEGS Performance Parts) before it was sold in 2023, got off to a fast start against Floridian Jonathan Fricke in his 3-and-2, Round-of-16 victory. Interestingly enough, Coughlin and Fricke went 1-2 in their July 21 U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifier in Gulfport, Miss.

With family friend and two-time PGA Tour winner Kevin Streelman on the bag – he started caddieing on Monday after returning from last weekend’s tour stop in Napa, Calif. – Coughlin, a former Ohio State golfer who briefly tried mini-tour golf and reached the second stage of PGA Tour Q-School last fall as an amateur, has been confident and comfortable in his third USGA start, but first appearance in match play. Having Streelman, a Scottsdale, Ariz., resident who became close with the family years ago while playing the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village, has been a bonus.

“Kevin’s been amazing,” said Coughlin, the 2025 Ohio Mid-Amateur champion who works for a family-run private investment company. “We get to talk about our faith a lot together. It’s special. Having his experience on the bag is invaluable, to say the least.”

Holtz, a former Division I shooting guard at Illinois State, might have been hotter than the outside temperature. In his two victories, he was the equivalent of 13 under par with no bogeys, including a 6-under performance in a 3-and-2 victory over 2024 U.S. Open qualifier and Colorado Springs, Colo., high school science teacher Colin Prater in the Round of 16. He played 7-under golf in a 5-and-3 win over Daniel Faccini.

“They told me about it,” said Holtz of Prater and first-round victim Matt Vogt, both of whom competed in the 2024 and ’25 U.S. Opens, respectively. “They were both great to play with and we had great conversation.”

Of course, winning the title would give Holtz a tee time next June at Shinnecock Hills. But he’s not thinking about that. He’ll face Hueber in the first quarterfinal match on Wednesday morning.

What’s Next

The quarterfinal and semifinal matches will take place on Wednesday, beginning at 6:50 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. MST, respectively. Thursday’s 36-hole championship match will commence at 7 a.m. and continue after the lunch break. Admission is free, and spectators are encouraged to attend.

Notable

• All of the quarterfinalists are now fully exempt into next year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur,which will be conducted at Sand Valley Resort, in Nekoosa, Wis.
  
  
• With Chris Kamin’s 19-hole loss to 2023 quarterfinalist Parker Edens in the Round of 16, no Arizonans remain in the field. Drew Kittleson and Cody Massa were eliminated in the Round of 32. Kittleson was a semifinalist last year.
  
  
• Five Round-of-32 and two Round-of-16 matches went to extra holes after just two went beyond 18 in the opening round. Besides Edens, the other third-round match to go extras saw Christian Brand edge 2015 runner-up Marc Dull in 19 holes. Earlier on Tuesday, Dull eliminated 2019 quarterfinalist Yaroslav Merkulov in 19 holes.
  
  
• Jimmy Gunn, a native of Scotland who tied for 27th in the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, was serving as Stewart Hagestad’s caddie this week. Gunn worked on oil rigs and built homes before moving to the U.S. in 2007 to play professional golf, where he competed on the Web.com Tour (now Korn Ferry) and Gateway Tour. He qualified for the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay as an alternate from final qualifying and was the runner-up to Andrew Landry in the KFT’s Bahamas Great Abaco Classic. Gunn owns three professional wins.
  
  
• Speaking of caddies, co-medalist Cody Massa had fellow Arizonan Chaz Aurilia on his bag. Chaz’s father, Rich Aurilia, was a long-time major-league shortstop with the San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres, winning a Silver Slugger Award in 2001 with San Francisco. Chaz, who attended UCLA, Arizona and SMU, is currently a professional golfer.
  
  
• Daniel Faccini, of Colombia, the last remaining international competitor in the field, was eliminated in the Round of 32 by Brandon Holtz.
  
  
• A year ago, at Kinloch Golf Club, Michael Buttacavoli lost a 21-hole match to eventual champion Evan Beck in the Round of 16. This year, the Floridian went 21 holes again, this time prevailing in his Round-of-32 match over co-medalist Cody Massa.
  
  
• Jeg Coughlin III comes from a family of highly decorated Top Fuel drag racers. His grandfather, Jeg Sr., was among the top 10 in the sport in 1980, while his father, Jeg Jr., won 84 National Hot Rod Association titles, including six world championships. His uncles combine for four more World Championship drag racing titles, but Coughlin III never really fostered any racing interest of his own.

Quotable

“It’s been a process over the last couple of years. Trying to get myself to a place where I can be a little bit more hands off, especially in the summer. My team is amazing at Tremont. I hit balls a few times a week, but I don’t play that much, other than tournaments. It’s always, ‘What’s the priority?’ And so, obviously work is the priority for most of the guys in the mid-am scene.” – Christian Cavaliere

“For sure. It’s nice to see my picture on the board, walking to the first or 10th tee just knowing that I was able to get it done after having so many close ones – the seconds, the runner-ups – it was nice to get that win last year.” – Evan Beck on his match-play experience  

“Let’s keep it rolling…Honestly, been hitting it the same all week, [I] just made a few more putts today. So, tee the driver up and rip it.” – Brandon Holtz on his aggressive course strategy  

“Not really. I love it, I love going to the [drag] races. Been around it my whole life, which is a lot of fun, but I picked a little different speed in the game of golf to say the least.” – Jeg Coughlin III on not following the footsteps of his father and grandfather into racing cars

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