Baxter, Buchanan Capture U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Title

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Baxter, Buchanan Capture U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Title
Late Semifinals Comeback; 3-and-2 victory lead SMU duo to Championship

MAMARONECK, N.Y. (SMU) — SMU teammates Ben Baxter and Andrew Buchanan won the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship Wednesday, topping Brandon Cigna and Ben Warnquist, 3-and-2, at the Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y.

"The whole time we've been saying we're going to stay in matches, we're going to win the match and just not let any doubt come in," Buchanan said.

All square through 11 in the championship match, Baxter gave the SMU duo its first lead, draining a par putt on the 12th to win the hole. The Mustangs capitalized on a missed putt by Warnquist on the 14th to take a 2-up advantage, before stretching the lead to three with a win on 15. On the 16th hole, Buchanan lagged a birdie putt within two feet of the pin, resulting in a victory conceding par.

Cigna and Warnquist, the No. 27-seed, jumped ahead early with a win on No. 2. The lead was short-lived as Baxter and Buchanan squared up the match with a birdie on No. 6. The two groups traded wins on the seventh and eighth to square up until the back nine.

Earlier in the day, Baxter and Buchanan, the nine-seed, used seven birdies over the final nine holes of the semifinal match to overcome a four-hole deficit and clinch a 2-and-1 comeback victory. The fourth-seeded pair of Patrick Christovich and Garrett Rank took an early 4-up lead, winning four of the five opening holes. Mustang wins on the ninth, 11th, 12th and 15th holes squared up the match, before Baxter and Buchanan closed the door with wins on the 15th, 16th and 17th.

SMU golfers hold both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Amateur Four-Ball titles. Bryson DeChambeau won the 2015 U.S. Amateur Championship last August.

[mustangxc]

Awesome!!! On the front page of ESPN golf.

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/1572 ... eur-4-ball

[gostangs]

These are both really great young men. They represent SMU very well.