Jackson Solem advances to Round of 32 at U.S. Junior Amateur
Jackson Solem won five of his last seven holes, and as a result, will move on to the Round of 32 at the USGA Junior Amateur tournament.
He defeated Tampa’s Jackson Suber 5 and 3 on Wednesday, paving the way for the 2016 Class 4A runner-up to advance in the tournament at Flint Hills National Golf Club in Andover, Kan.
Solem started his day with four straight pars to remain all square with Suber. But a double-bogey on the par 5 fifth hole put him in a one-hole deficit.
He rebounded with a par on six as Suber made bogey, putting the match back to all square.
Starting on nine, Solem began his run to victory. He sank pars as Suber shot back-to-back bogeys, moving to two-up.
Birdies on 12 and 14 moved the match to dormie on 15, where Solem made par and Suber ended his day with another bogey.
Next up for Solem is Aman Gupta out of Charlotte, N.C. The two will tee off at 7:10 a.m. Mountain Time on Thursday.
Eaglecrest’s Davis Bryant was on the verge of joining Solem in Thursday’s round, but lost a marathon match to Korean Won Jun Lee.
On two separate occasions, Bryant was 2-down, but made a comeback.
He trailed by one heading into 18, but was able to square the match and send it to a sudden-death playoff.
It took three more holes, but Lee was able to make a birdie, ending Bryant’s tournament hopes. He will return to the Raptors for his senior season before moving on to play college golf at Colorado State University.
