Voges Falls in 2nd Round of Amateur Tournament

Mitch Voges, a 36-year-old carpet sales manager from Simi Valley who scored a stunning upset of defending U.S. Amateur champion Jay Sigel on Thursday, was eliminated Friday in the second round of the U.S. Amateur Golf Championship.

Voges lost Friday to Jim Hagstrom 4 and 3 in the second round. Hagstrom was then eliminated by Chris Kite 3 and 1 in the third round.

Voges, who entered the nation’s most prestigious amateur tournament only because he happened to be in the Southeast on a business trip, defeated Sigel, a three-time Amateur champion, in a 20-hole match in Thursday’s first round.

Kite advanced to the quarterfinals with his victories Friday over Hagstrom, and Wake Forest teammate Len Mattiace 1-up.

In the quarterfinals, Kite will face University of Florida sophomore Chris Gustin, who defeated Todd Franks of Fort Worth, Texas, and Greg Davis of Portland, Ore., by identical scores of 4 and 3 in his two Friday matches.

“Overall, I’m pretty pleased with the way I played,” said Kite. “It’s sort of a shame I had to play Lenny this morning. It’s the first time I’ve had him as an opponent. I always played with him at school.”

The surprise of the tournament has been 17-year-old Brian Montgomery of Bristow, Okla. Montgomery, a recent high school graduate who is headed for Oklahoma State on a golf scholarship, quickly fell 3-down in both his matches, but rallied to win both on the 18th hole.

He defeated Adam Kase of Socorro, N.M., 1-up in the morning, and Bryan Sullivan of Kitty Hawk, N.C., two up in the afternoon.

Montgomery won both the USGA and PGA Junior national championships this summer. He won the USGA at Murfield Village in Ohio in July, and took the PGA only last week at Palm Beach Gardens in Florida. He is in the U.S. Amateur only because he received an exemption by winning the USGA Junior.

In other matches Thursday afternoon, Mike Smith of Conway, Ark., defeated Ron McCann of Orlando, Fla., 4 and 2; Nolan Henke of Fort Meyers, Fla., beat Jim Sorenson of Bloomington, Minn., 3 and 1; Bob Lewis of Warren, Ohio, beat Ed Pfister of Marilla, N.Y., 1-up in 19 holes; Stewart Alexander of Baton Rouge, La., beat John Hayes of Appleton, Wis., 4 and 2; and Todd Hamilton of Oquawka, Ill., defeated Bill Mayfair of Phoenix, Ariz., 1-up in 20 holes.

Montgomery, who took up golf only five years ago at age 12, was 3-down to Kase at the turn Friday morning, but went quickly ahead at the 14th hole. After they tied at the 10th, Montgomery won five consecutive holes.