ST. LOUIS -- Jefferson City's Alex Gentry and Ashland's Walker Kesterson both dropped their matchups in the match play Round of 64 on Wednesday at the 115th annual Missouri Amateur Championship at Bellerive Country Club.
Gentry, the No. 64 seed, lost 2-and-1 to top-seeded Brad Nurski of St. Joseph, a two-time Missouri Amateur champion. They were the first of 32 pairings in the opening round of match play.
Gentry and Nurski each parred the first four holes. Nurski took a 1-up lead on the fifth hole, then Gentry won back-to-back holes with a par on the sixth and a birdie on the par-4 seventh to take a 1-up lead.
Nurski squared the match by winning the eighth hole and Gentry won the ninth hole to take a 1-up lead into the turn.
Nurski never lost a hole on the back nine, shooting an eagle on the par-5 10th hole and winning the 13th hole with a bogey. Nurski then birdied the 17th hole to win the match.
Kesterson, the No. 31 seed and 2019 Missouri Amateur champion, lost 1-up to No. 34 seed Tradgon McCrae of Plainville, Ill., in his first-round matchup.
McCrae led 3-up through seven holes. Kesterson birdied the 10th hole and parred the par-4 12th to cut his deficit to one.
McCrae won the 13th hole, Kesterson won the 14th hole and two matched scores on the remaining four holes gave McCrae the 1-up win.
Nurski and McCrae will both advance to the Round of 32, which begins this morning. Nurski faces No. 32 Calvin Dillon of Louisburg and McCrae plays No. 2 Preston Richardson of Mount Vernon.
The Round of 32 and Round of 16 will be played today, followed by the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds Friday. The remaining two golfers will play 36 holes of match play Saturday for the championship.
III
115th Missouri Amateur
At Bellerive Country Club
Town and Country
Par: 72
Wednesday
Match Play
Round of 64
No. 1 Brad Nurski, St. Joseph won 2-and-1 against No. 64 Alex Gentry, Jefferson City
No. 32 Calvin Dillon, Louisburg won 3-and-1 against No. 33 Christopher Ferris, St. Louis
No. 49 Chase Gafner, Springfield won 7-and-5 against No. 16 Tom Barry, St. Louis
No. 17 Elliot Soyez, Goddard, Kan. won 1-up against No. 48 Kade Prentice, Overland Park, Kan.
No. 8 Thomas Henson, Hermann won by forfeit against No. 57 John Kelly, Wildwood
No. 25 Nicklaus Mason, Shawnee, Kan. won 1-up against No. 40 Kanon Kendrick, Shelbina
No. 9 Chad Niezing, Manchester won 7-and-6 against No. 56 Michael Winslow, Overland Park, Kan.
No. 24 Chris Martin, Rolla won 4-and-3 against No. 41 Andrew Ganey, St. Louis
No. 61 Jeffrey Johnston, St. Joseph won 5-and-3 against No. 4 Cameron VanLeer, Beaufort
No. 29 Alex Locke, Springfield won 4-and-2 against Kory Bowman, Springfield
No. 13 Joel Sylven, St. Louis won 2-up against No. 52 Ryan Eckelkamp, Washington
No. 20 Hudson Dubinski, Columbia won 4-and-3 against No. 45 Phil Caravia, St. Louis
No. 5 Addison White, Nixa won 2-and-1 against No. 60 Max Harres, Kirkwood
No. 28 Yuta Tsai, Columbia won 1-up against No. 37 Carsen Silliman, Jackson
No. 12 Curtis Brokenbrow, St. Louis won 1-up against No. 53 Ryan McNeil, Fenton
No. 44 Alex McCulla, Quincy, Ill. won 2-and-1 against No. 21 Zach Shirley, High Ridge
No. 2 Presten Richardson, Mount Vernon won 3-and-2 against No. 63 Kal Kolar, St. Louis
No. 34 Tradgon McCrae, Plainville, Ill. won 1-up against No. 31 Walker Kesterson, Ashland
No. 50 Hank Lierz, St. Joseph won 2-up against No. 15 Ryan Sullivan, Arnold
No. 47 Tryn Titus, Springfield won 1-up (19 holes) against No. 18 Gage Brauns, Columbia
No. 7 Zachary Vandolah, Kansas City won 2-and-1 against No. 58 Wade Thompson, Creve Coeur
No. 39 Blake Heimburger, Wentzville won 1-up against No. 26 Wayne Fredrick, Springfield
No. 55 Zach Decker, Crystal City won 4-and-3 against No. 10 Peter Weaver, St. Louis
No. 42 Dawson Meek, Ozark won 5-and-4 against No. 23 Nicholas Sheppard, Springfield
No. 3 Maxwell Kreikemeier, Chesterfield won 1-up against No. 62 Ian McCrary, Overland Park, Kan.
No. 35 Kaden Macha, Iola, Kan. won 5-and-4 against No. 30 Buddy Allen, Pevely
No. 14 Justin Bryant, St. Louis won 3-and-2 against No. 51 Zach Unnerstall, Washington
No. 46 Brad Carpenter, Washington won 5-and-3 against No. 19 Brooks Jungbluth, St. Joseph
No. 6 Sam Migdal, St. Louis won 4-and-3 against No. 59 Trey Burton, Huntsville
No. 27 Richard Berkmeyer, Town and Country won 1-up (19 holes) against No. 38 Tony Gumper, St. Charles
No. 11 Ryan Schuenke, Palmyra won 4-and-3 against No. 54 Hunter Parrish, Columbia
No. 43 Adam Pfeiffer, Quincy, Ill. won 1-up (23 holes) against No. 22 Warren Crow, Kansas City