Harwell knocks out Simson in reaching US Senior Amateur quarterfinals
Steve Harwell of Mooresville reached the quarterfinals of the 65th U.S. Senior Amateur on Tuesday, first beating Raleigh’s Paul Simson and then Kory Frost of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., in match play.
Harwell, 56, and Simson went 20 holes at Old Chatham Golf Club in the round of 32 before before Harwell won 1-up against the two-time U.S. Senior Amateur champion. Harwell then defeated Frost 3 and 2.
Co-medalist Dean Channell of Cary also was eliminated in the Round of 32.
In the Simson match, Harwell missed a 3-foot par putt to win the match on the 18th green, but won with a birdie on the par-3 second hole.
“I am from North Carolina and I have been battling him for 30 years,” Harwell told the U.S. Golf Association. “We have had our battles. I have won some, but he has won probably more.”
Simson, 68, has a 34-11 match-play record in the U.S. Senior Amateur.
“I have gotten a little revenge on him this year, so I had a little confidence there,” said Harwell, the 2019 N.C. Senior Amateur winner. “I hit it really good, but he is just a magician. I have seen it and I know I just have to play my game.”
Harwell is one of three players with North Carolina ties among the final eight, including former Pinehurst Resort & Country Club superintendent Paul Jett, of Southern Pines, who defeated 2014 Senior Amateur runner-up Bryan Norton, of Mission Hills, Kan., 1 up, in the Round of 16.
Jett is the championship’s youngest competitor – he turned 55 on July 7. Earlier Tuesday, he won seven consecutive holes, starting from No. 9, in beating Terry Tyson, of Perrysburg, Ohio, 4 and 3.
Charlotte-born Rick Cloninger, 62, of McDonough, Ga., defeated Mark Knecht, of Paducah, Ky., 5 and 3 in the round of 16. Cloninger, a former quarterback at Wofford College, has also lived in Florida and South Carolina.
Defending champion Jeff Wilson of Fairfield, Calif., defeated a past champion (Louis Lee) and a longtime California rival (Craig Steinberg) to reach the quarterfinals.