ALEXANDRIA — Upsets rocked the Men’s Regular first flight semifinals Friday.
Both matches ended quickly, taking only 15 holes or less.
The No. 8 seed, Corey Pelzel, eliminated the No. 5 seed, Luke Resler, 4-3, while the No. 7 seed, Riley Larson, knocked out the No. 3 seed, Logan DuBe, 6-5.
Pelzel and Larson will square off Saturday, starting from the No. 1 tee at 8:10 a.m.
Here’s a look at how they got into the finals yesterday:
The match was a rollercoaster ride on the front nine with a lot of ups and downs for both competitors. Pelzel grabbed the first lead, a par on No. 1, but Resler answered with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 2 and 3 to steal the lead.
Sam Stuve / Alexandria Echo Pres
Pelzel tied it up on the next hole with a par and regained the lead with a birdie win on No. 6. Resler drew even with a par win on the par-3 7th hole but Pelzel stormed back with birdie and par wins on Nos. 8 and 9 to go 2-up at the turn.
Pelzel kept his streak going with a par win on No. 10 to go 3-up and added a key birdie win on No. 12 to pad his lead to four.
Pelzel, who took down the top-seeded Jack Cummings on Thursday, put together another solid round stroke wise, shooting a 1-under-par for the day.
A five-hole streak propelled Larson to a quick win over DuBe.
The match was deadlocked after four holes, with Larson winning Nos. 2 and 3 with pars and DuBe taking Nos. 1 and 4, also with pars. Larson vaulted into the lead for the second time with a par on No. 5. After both golfers halved Nos. 6 and 7 with bogeys, Larson’s hot streak began. He won Nos. 8 (bogey), 9 (par), 10 (par), 11 (birdie) and 12 – with an eagle no less – to take a commanding 6-up lead. Bogeys on No. 13 ended the match with Larson riding to a 6-5 win.
It was just an off-day for DuBe, who shot a 73 in the qualifier. On Friday, he was 11-over-par after 13 holes. Larson, meanwhile, was 3-over-par on the day.
MEN’S REGULAR FIRST FLIGHT FINAL PAIRING – SATURDAY FROM THE FIRST TEE
8:10 a.m. – Corey Pelzel vs. Riley Larson