Tennessee Match Play Championship Down To Final 4

After starting with 64 golfers all sharing championship aspirations on Tuesday morning, the field at the 26^th Tennessee Match Play Championship has been whittled down to four survivors.

Left standing are a quartet of golfers who survived two rounds of match play on Thursday, and each will be seeking to earn his first Tennessee Golf Association title. All four of them – Will Jackson and Ryan Ward of Nashville, Conner Brown of Shelbyville and Brentwood’s Trenton Johnson – have experienced the rigors of athletics at the collegiate level, although one of the semifinalists is somewhat of an outlier.

Ward was a hockey player throughout his childhood in Indiana, something that continued into his years at Indiana University where he played club hockey. Having honed his hand-eye coordination with wicked slap shots instead of ticklish chip shots, his Happy Gilmore-like transformation has landed him among Friday’s Final Four.

As a relative newcomer to golf and playing on his home course at Vanderbilt Legend Club’s South Course, the 28-year-old Ward never trailed at any point on Thursday while picking up a pair of wins. He defeated Collierville’s Jackson Whaley, 5 & 4 in the morning Round of 16 match, then took down Nashville’s Tucker Jenkins in afternoon quarterfinal play, 3 & 1.

Ward will take on Shelbyville’s Conner Brown in the semifinals. The rising senior at Belmont had a nailbiter in his first match, closing with a birdie on the 18^th hole for a 1-up decision over Sewanee’s Taylor Mottern. He had an easier time in the quarterfinals against Cleveland’s Jonas Rayfield, breaking open an even match with birdies at 14 and 16 to claim a 3 & 2 win.

In the other quarterfinal contests, Brentwood’s Trenton Johnson needed 20 holes to eliminate Knoxville’s Jack Smith, while Nashville’s Will Jackson cruised to a 7 & 5 victory over Grant Milling of Nashville.

Johnson, who started his college career at Tennessee before finishing his last two years at Abilene Christian, held a 2-up lead over Smith with three holes to play. However, Smith refused to go away, making birdies at 16 and 18 to force extra holes. After both combatants parred their 19^th hole, Johnson ended the match with a birdie on the next hole.

Johnson earlier won his Round of 16 match in convincing fashion with a 6 & 5 defeat of Harrogate’s Ian Taggart.

Jackson took an early 3-up lead in his morning match with Nashville’s Cameron Quinn, only to see his advantage trimmed to 1-up after 13 holes. But the Dayton University sophomore won with a par at 15 and closed out a 2 & 1 win with two more pars.

In other Round of 16 matches, Milling downed Brentwood’s Adam Condello, 4 & 3; Jonas took down Nashville’s Billy Whalen, 2 & 1; Smith eliminated Clinton’s Alex Gaetz, 5 & 4; and Jenkins got the better of Nashville’s Scotty Hudson, 4 & 3.

For complete results, go to Tennessee Match Play.

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com