Marathon day pays off for Dayton golfer at S.C. Amateur Match Play

Columbia’s Tripp French followed up a 25-hole marathon Friday morning with a second come-from-behind victory in the afternoon, booking a place in the quarterfinals of the South Carolina Amateur Match play with a 1-up triumph over Bryce Howell.

French, a rising junior at Dayton, trailed 2-down as he and Blythewood’s Howell stepped to the 16th tee at Bear Creek Golf Club. But he won that hole and the next to even the match, then drained a downhill 5-foot birdie on No. 18 to win the match.

“Honestly I was just trying to make it through the round. I was pretty tired,” French told a tournament liaison. “Hopefully I can close out a match sooner tomorrow.”

French, who transferred from Xavier after his freshman year, earned a quarterfinal matchup against Aynor’s Johnson Holliday, whose 34 holes played Friday were nine fewer than French.

USC Beaufort golfer Riley Schank, the No. 1 seed after posting the top score on both days of stroke-play qualifying, saw his progress end one step before the quarterfinals with a 3 & 2 loss to Columbia’s John O’Brien.

O’Brien, one of the older entrants in the field, survived the opening round with birdies on four of his final five holes and carried the momentum into his match against Schank. O’Brien won two of the first three holes and never looked back.

“After making birdie on four of the last five in my morning match, I had this mentality that I don’t care who I am playing,” O’Brien said. “That mindset is tough to beat.”

Schank’s USCB teammate, Brad Curren, also came up short of the quarterfinals, falling 3 & 2 to Columbia’s Jarrett Grimes in the afternoon. Bluffton’s J.D. Hoft was the only one of 12 golfers from Beaufort or Jasper counties to advance through the first two rounds.

Quarterfinal play will take place Saturday morning, followed by semifinals in the afternoon. The 18-hole final will be contested Sunday morning.

This story was originally published June 17, 2016 at 8:56 PM with the headline "Marathon day pays off for Dayton golfer at S.C. Amateur Match Play."