Voges Wins Twice; Field Reduced to 8 at U.S. Amateur

Mitch Voges of Simi Valley equated the paucity of grass on the lightning-fast, closely cropped greens at the United States Amateur golf championship to a “bald guy combing all his hair up over his forehead.”

For Voges, at 41 one of the tournament’s graybeards, Friday’s competition was hairy indeed. Today, he will battle another seasoned veteran.

Playing on the Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn., Voges won a pair of hard-fought, match-play battles to advance to the final eight.

Voges defeated Shaun Micheel of Cordova, Tenn., 2 and 1, in the morning round, then rallied to beat Sean Gorgone of Brunswick, Me., 1-up, in the afternoon.

In this morning’s quarterfinals, Voges will face battle-tested Jay Sigel of Berwyn, Pa. Sigel, 47, is the last man to earn back-to-back U.S. Amateur titles, winning in 1982 and 1983.

In the afternoon match, Voges lost four consecutive holes to go 3-down through No. 14. Gorgone, however, hit his ball in water hazards to lose both the 15th and 16th holes and let Voges back in the match.

On the 17th, a par five, Voges hit his second shot, a two-iron, within eight feet to win the hole. Voges parred the par-four 18th by two-putting from eight feet and won the match when Gorgone missed a seven-footer for par.

Sigel defeated Todd Murcer of Oklahoma City, 4 and 3, then hammered Randy Sonnier of Kingwood, Tex., 7 and 5, in the afternoon.

“He’s Mr. Amateur golf,” Voges said of Sigel. “He’s got the best amateur record of anybody since Bobby Jones.

“He’ll be the favorite, but I know I can beat Jay Sigel and Jay Sigel knows I can beat him.”